We've Become an Afternoon Kindergarten

With all changes in life, there come modifications to the previous norm.  With that being said, we have become an afternoon kindergarten at Household Schmidt for the time being....gone are the days where we were rolling with school at 9:00 a.m. and finished not too long after lunch.  Let's just say that a little one who is approaching her second birthday is keeping life adventurous on the home-front.  When she is awake, there is seldom a dull moment.  Someone visiting our home might find her shenanigans comical.  I, however, am amazed that I am not completely gray by now.  She is adjusting to not being the baby of the house anymore, and I find myself thinking that perhaps it would just be easier if I put MYSELF in time-out rather than put her in time-out.

She is mesmerized by the workings of all things.  Call her an engineer.  Call her innovative.  Call her a problem solver, and call her BUSY!  She is a little bee buzzing around and leaving a trail of destruction behind her.  One minute, she will be UNDER the dresser moving the drawers in and out examining how they truly function.  The next minute, she will be exploring each and every outfit combination IN her drawers.  Then, while picking up the wardrobe disaster zone, she will have escaped and rigged up an amazing contraption for her doll to go ZOOMING down the stairs in the baby's bathtub after attaching the "It's a BOY" balloon to the tub perhaps in an effort to make the tub float like a hot air balloon.  Knowing full well that after her doll's trip down the stairs, she will likely think that she can ride the bathtub down the stairs next, I try to busy her with a more safe alternative to play.  Then, while I change a newborn's diaper, she has a party in the kitchen by getting the stool from the bathroom, utilizing it to climb into the cupboards, and proceeding to dump the entire LARGE bag of animal crackers all over the kitchen floor.  Who needs a snack cup when you can eat animal crackers galore from the floor?  I oftentimes find her smiling from ear to ear, and I ponder if she oftentimes finds me with smoke coming out of my ears!

With all of this busyness that she exudes, one can imagine how EXHAUSTED she is by lunchtime and how EXASPERATED I am. Therefore, she is quick to lay down for a nap, and I am quick to pull myself together and transition from role of "safety officer" to role of "homeschool teacher."  There is an eye in the hurricane in the afternoons now, and that is when homeschooling is at its optimum.  Less distractions lead to more learning, so we will roll with our afternoon kindergarten time slot now until there is a calm after the initial storm.  Learning can happen in the afternoon.  The sweet little people need time to find a new "normal," too.  And, perhaps with this modified schedule, this mommy can keep herself from having to go to time-out before noon each day.