A homeschool day...

Some days I'm just banging my head against the wall, but other days make up for it.

The kids were antsy to get started this morning. Well, honestly, don't assume that they love their school work that much, but they get the concept that the sooner they begin, the sooner they finish. That's progress, right there.

A friend called last night. A friend with an adorable little almost-one-year-old. Could we watch him for a little while today? You betcha :0) Partly because I remember what it's like to have all-consuming little ones and to need a break, but also because my kids like little kids.

Knowing that he was coming at 12:30, they jumped right into their writing and math assignments. We whizzed through "adding 9" (Gunnar), "multiplying round numbers mentally" (Tate) and "finding the area of circles" (Wyatt). We even wrote a summary of Amerigo Vespucci and Ferdinand Magellan. A very brief summary.

We were just finishing our lunch when Levi arrived. The boys had done a quick 'sweep' of the downstairs. Gee, it's been awhile since I had to think about child-proofing! They also found our box of baby toys and brought those down to the living room, along with the gym mat, ("He really doesn't need that, guys." "But mom, he'll like to look at the bright colors!") and - of course - Tate's big toy army vehicle.

Success :0) Levi is a happy and contented child, and - to my relief - not persistently into things he shouldn't be. Of course, he had 'fresh' toys to play with and three older boys who doted on him.

I love it. They actually like to play with little kids. Well, for awhile anyway. And I loved watching how they "managed" him. I had coached them ahead that it's okay to flat out tell him "No" if need be, but then to quickly distract him with something else. Oh, they were good. If he headed for the stairs, they were ready with a new toy or a funny sound.

I love watching them, like this, and picturing the future...