Dr. Mom Online

Well, our first couple months of homeschooling certainly haven’t been picture perfect! We’ve had our fair share of bumps and bruises! When folks ask how it’s going, my typical response is, “When it’s good, it’s really, really good. When it’s not, it stinks!!”

I am very happy with our decision, though.

I had anticipated a transition time – for our daughter, and for me, especially – but I wasn’t necessarily prepared for “battle of the titan” moments with a 6 year old!! Thankfully, we seem to have emerged from that stage, for the most part! In all fairness, she models what she sees and experiences. If she’s being “too bold” or “too opinionated” or “too demanding”, I consider that her perfect mother is perhaps demonstrating some of the same behavior!!!

Hard to believe, I know!

Anyhow, there have been countless precious times I’ve spent with out children in the past two months, since beginning our official homeschooling journey, that I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to share, had our daughter been in school this year.

(Of course, I understand that there are moments with her class that she has been unable to share as well. Many of those moments, I’m Ok that she wasn’t part of! Others, I’m working on dealing with that.)

As far as the educational component, homeschooling my daughter, and even my 3 year old son, ROCKS! I keep abreast of what a first grader ‘should’ know through various state and national resources. I’m also still on her previous school’s e-mail list and receive weekly updates and lesson outlines from the current first grade teacher. I have no worries that, academically, she’s totally fine. We incorporate lessons from several different grade levels to meet her needs, instead of sticking with only first grade. She loves this.

Oftentimes, I finish a lesson with her, only to wonder, “Am I doing enough? That just seemed way too easy, or way too quick.” I find that, like many kids and even grown-ups, my kids do exceptionally well staying focused for little snippets of time. When there’s only one kid in ‘the class’, I can teach her right when her learning potential is at its peak. What might normally have taken her an hour to learn or review in a classroom with her friends may only take 5 or 10 minutes without all the distractions and teaching to various levels. She often looks at me like, “OK, is that it? Are we done with that? I’ve got it mom. Next.”

Mom says, “Okaaaaaayyyy…… now what?! Guess we should go play or dance or read a book or make something! Or let’s hop in the car and go to the nature center!”

So, academically, we’re good. Not perfect, but very, very good.

At this age, I also love having my children at home. I love to see them interact with each other… in a loving way. The days that they’re on each other’s nerves are another story! But the vast majority of the time, they are getting along swimmingly. This was an important part of my decision to homeschool in the first place. Family comes first for me. I love having both kids spend more time together – as long as they also each receive their private times and one-on-one time with mommy and daddy. There’ll be plenty of years when they’ll be tossed into the social scene without family at the forefront. For now, this is where I want them to be.

One of the most important improvements I’ve seen, as a result of having the kids with me throughout the day, is that my daughter’s nutritional habits and mindset have improved dramatically. Actually, they’re almost back to where they were before she ever started school! (insert dramatic eye roll of the mother figure!) As you may recall, the drastic changes in her nutritional outlook and intake -while at school – were very near the top of my list of reasons for homeschooling.

The general population’s opinion and awareness of what is and is not acceptable for children to eat does not meet my minimum requirements for creating optimal health… to say the least! Based on speaking to countless parents and school administrators on this subject, I know that certain schools are much better than others when it comes to enhancing and protecting a child’s health through nutrition. Unfortunately, that was not our experience.

Anyhow, nutrition “battles” and strong differences of opinion that began when we sent our eldest to school a couple years ago, have nicely toned down to an occasional uproar. We used to have these heated moments daily, as a result of my daughter being exposed to different foods and opinions from authority figures that opposed what her mommy and daddy believe.

I remember that she used to ask for all the cupcakes and cookies and juice boxes and chips and pop and snack crackers and candy and fast food and so on and so on that she’d see kids at school eating on a daily basis. Of course, when my response was, “no”, I was seen as the worst mother on the planet!! Forget the fact that I was trying to protect her from setting the stage for every disease of lifestyle we suffer from today and provide her the foundation for creating a lifetime of wellness! Nah, I was just a big meanie!

What I’ve found for the past couple of months is that she’s just not asking for all that junk… unless, of course, we’re out somewhere where she sees other people eating it. Even then, I just don’t hear the pleading nearly as often as I used to. It’s the same with television… if my kids are somewhere where they’re exposed to kids’ television for any length of time, they eventually start to request some of the foods they see marketed to kids on the commercials.

Whatever they’re surrounded by on a regular basis becomes their norm. Now, they’re primarily surrounded by mom and dad. Their social activities – gymnastics, dance, homeschool classes with our local group, etc. – aren’t centered around food.

The kids are getting 3 healthy, home cooked meals each day, and healthy snacks between. What I hear the most now is, “Mom, can I have an apple?” “Can I have some almonds?” “Can we have a bowl of fruit?”  “Can I have some carrots with hummus?” The “worst” I hear is, “Can I have a protein bar?” Know why that’s the worst? Because that’s the worst thing I’ll keep in our house!!! Simplifies things for me exponentially!

Their requests are music to my ears, after the past two years!

Oh, I take that back. I also keep yogurt or peanut butter-covered pretzels from Whole Foods Market around, on occasion. Sometimes after dinner, they’ll get a couple of those.

Yes, we still eat out at restaurants! We haven’t become hermits! The kids have come to know what to expect in that setting. Although mommy doesn’t care for the simple, refined carb choices  on a kids’ menu, they know they’re going to have some veggies and a healthy protein, if we can find one! They know they’re going to be drinking water vs. the high fructose corn syrup loaded kids’ drinks or hormone-laden milk. They don’t expect fries or dessert – their dad and I have simply told them, “We just don’t do that.”

By the way, when we ARE out an about and the kids request something that’s more toxic and deficient that usual, I DO sometimes say “yes”! They’re continuing to learn about making responsible choices when it comes to their health. It’s important to my husband and I that WE be the ones to decide when and what toxins we’ll allow into our children!

As I’m writing this, my children are sitting on our bed, next to my desk, waiting patiently for their mom to begin today’s “school fun”. They’re munching on banana slices and berries… not very quietly, I might add! Their biggest food concern of the day so far is, “Mommy, for our protein this morning, can we have some of that organic turkey bacon? Or can we have some of the organic chicken sausages? Or maybe can we have both???”

I know I can’t keep them in this little protective bubble forever. But, as their mother, I know I’ll always be driven to protect them and do what’s best for them… whether near or far. For now, I like near!