A Plan

I am one of those kinds of people who like 'a plan'.  I start off my day with a plan, and I usually try to get other people on board with me and my plan.  I just feel like the day is more in control and it makes me feel like I am dictating my day rather than just letting my day happen to me.  Not that all of my plans work and I certainly don't mean to imply that I have things under control, but it just makes me feel that way, and besides, you never know when something just might work out.  The kids and Jimmy tease me about me always saying, 'Ok. Here's the plan...'  They groan and roll their eyes when those words are uttered. 

But then if I don't say anything either nothing gets done or one of them will ask me, 'So, what's the plan?'

Recently, however, I have been plan-less.  My days have just been happening.  They have been broadsiding me, sending me spinning into some outer orbit where I have little or no control.  One of those things that has been really setting me off is the whole bedtime issue.  I would like to say that this issues is resolved, but it's not.  Today was a rough day in that because we went to a new friend's house this morning and ended up staying into the afternoon which meant that Gabriel was so tired he fell asleep in the car so I carried him to his bed.  Then he only slept for a little while, so by the evening, he was overtired and his schedule was way out of whack so it took him forever to sleep even though he was utterly exhausted. 

But other than that, I have just been missing a plan of action.  I don't have a plan for school for next year yet, and that was really really bothering me.  The homeschool convention is coming up next week, and I felt horribly overwhelmed by the whole thing. 

And that's where the whole new friend thing came up. 

I really felt like I was just floating around out here by myself.  I know that I am not the only homeschooling mother around here, and I know I'm not the only one with a highschooler (although I may be the only one with a highschooler and a kindergartener at once with no one in between).  But I just felt really lonely and confused about the whole thing.  With Elizabeth being so advanced, I was just worried that I couldn't do it on my own and that I really really really didn't want to mess up her chances of a good college by making some stupid mistake, which is what I hear from people it seems like all the time. 

In steps a friend of mine from church who put me in contact with a lady who has a kid who is almost Elizabeth's age and who was willing to meet with.  So this morning, I loaded up the 4 kids and we descended upon her house.

She was great!  She didn't bat an eye when Jesse spit up milk all over her floor, and she didn't even get worried when Gabriel dumped out all her nerf darts nor when he went up and then back down her stairs with a doll stroller.  She didn't even say anything when Jo and Gabriel ate all her watermelon and left a mountain of rind on a plate on her table.  It was, after all, there to eat, and at least they did it at the table, right?  So, even if the pile was as big as their heads, it just shows they liked it, right?

But the most wonderful thing was that she was patient with me and my questions.  She gave me advice on how to get through the convention and she showed me the books that she uses with her girls and the curriculum that she follows. 

Now I know what I am looking for at the convention, and I have a bit more of an idea of how next year will work.  I have a better grasp of how the curriculum guides work and how to get what I need for less money.

I'm so excited!  I have a plan!