Sabbatical??

My friends keep asking me, with big grins and voices dripping with irony, "So--how that's sabbatical going?"

It's true:  I'm still really busy.  But I KNEW I would be.  In fact, I could have been planning a wedding in addition to all I'm doing now, and without my "sabbatical," I'd be homeschooling on top of everything else.

So it's actually been a pretty manageable fall.

And it's about to become even more doable in ten days, when soccer is over!  Then we'll have 8 weeks before auditions for the winter show, when theater will replace soccer as our big activity.  Except the time commitment is about half, and the running-around factor is exponentially decreased.  (One place, three times vs. seven places, ten times.)

Even better--and for the last two weeks of soccer--I finally have another driver!  B16 passed his road test last week, and now he can drive himself to guitar, voice, soccer, soccer coaching, and band practice...and help me out with the younger kids' activities as well.

That's going to help me a lot.

Meanwhile, I'm still home educating.  The Bantams 16 & 12 are rockin' the virtual school--keeping up well and getting decent grades--but I'm the geometry tutor that B16 is going to need all year, I'm afraid.  He doesn't need my help at all with English or Spanish, and only occasionally for history or physical science, but math has always been his downfall.  Sigh.  I liked geometry in high school--it was so much more interesting than algebra--but that doesn't mean I'm eager to re-learn it.

So far, so good with the two youngest in public school.  They both have excellent teachers, and they're learning good stuff and are motivated to learn.  I am pleased that they have hardly any homework, except reading aloud, so we have time for flashcards and me reading to them.  I knew Chicklet would probably suffer as a third grader who didn't know her math facts, but whenever we worked on them last year, she just didn't retain them.  This year, she has a test every Wednesday on her "fridge facts" for the week, so she's finally learning them.  She's excelling in other areas, but like her big brother, math is her bugaboo.  It's also her favorite subject, she says.  Go figure.

B6 is doing just fine emotionally, now.  He still tells me he misses me, but only occasionally.  The only thing he asks about on a daily basis is whether it's a regular day or a short day.  Every Wednesday, they get out one hour early, so he has to keep straight what day that is.

So I'm enjoying my sabbatical, being busy...but not as busy as I could be! I've even started adding cooking back in to my life.  Not my favorite way to spend my time, but my family sure appreciates it.  With soccer ending, and my new driver, I may even find time for true sabbatical activities.

I'm not even sure what those would be.  The things I've always liked to do, I suppose.  Reading, writing, maybe a decorating or organizing project. Spending more time with my husband.  Reading more to the kids.  Having friends over for dinner.  No grand plan.

Just more of the good stuff.