A New Thursday Plan

Traditionally, our school week has run Mondays through Thursdays, year-round, with Fridays off for errands, appointments, and hanging out with Dad. After today, I realized that is not going to work this year. For some reason, the planets, stars and traffic lights have all aligned to make Thursdays our new Activity Days. (If I didn't know I'd be getting out of it here in a couple of weeks, I might have a more colorful moniker for it, but we'll use this. For now. Zorak may voluntarily rename it himself after the baby is born.)

The two big boys have piano on Thursdays. This made sense to me when I scheduled their lessons, as it requires a drive into town and we could hit the market on the way home. It wouldn't interfere with Zorak's alternate days off, or with any spontaneous long weekend plans we might want to make. Boy, did I feel smart! (S-M-R-T...)

But then, I'd forgotten about Scouts. The boys' pack meets Thursday evenings. Well, okay, I thought, that's not too bad. It still gives us most of the afternoon to finish up projects and lessons, and we can still have supper together as a family before they have to go.

But THEN (and all you well-seasoned baseball families started laughing at me two paragraphs ago, didn't you?) I'd forgotten about baseball. Specifically, about how three teams' worth of children might muddy the scheduling waters.

As it turns out, two out of three have practices Every. Stinkin'. Thursday. Smidge probably will, too. I'll find out more on Monday. I'm afraid to find out more.

My beautifully orchestrated Thursday brainchild has suddenly morphed into scheduling hell, erm, "Activity Thursdays". We have to be somewhere, or en route to somewhere, from one in the afternoon until NINE THIRTY at night! Kill me now. Please.

The boys handled the stress quite well today. I am beyond proud of them. EmBaby held it together very well, also. Can't complain about the success of our indoctrination plan: "Flexibility, Grace, and A Can-Do Teamwork Attitude" (or, as I call it in my lesser moments, "Just work with me here, will ya?") By six o'clock, though, I knew something would have give.

*cue drum roll* *angels sing* *light shines in a very conspicuous manner from above*

What we have here is another beautiful point for the Homeschooling Flexibility Plan (HFP). For the rest of Spring Term (and possibly Every Spring Term Hereafter), we'll implement the HFP. We'll now have school on alternate Fridays, with Thursdays reserved for Music, PE, and Group Study. Yay. (I was going to say "Thursdays off", but Zorak pointed out that it's not like we're all sitting around on beanbags, eatin' Cheetos, watchin' TV. Yet another reason I love this man.)

We'll spend Thursday mornings in preparation for the Activity Gauntlet, instead. My hope is that by enacting the HFP, we can attempt to make at least 80% of our obligations under the following conditions:
1. Nobody's out of breath from bolting across three parking lots.
2. Nobody's crying because Mommy lost it and threatened to move to The Mosquito Coast.
3. Nobody has to starve during one of the many Long Periods At The Field.
4. We don't go broke at the Snack Shack in order to meet condition #3.
5. All gear is, if not actually ON the correct child, as least IN the correct vehicle.
6. We can come out of the season without major scarring, an automobile accident, or having left someone at home (at piano, at Scouts, etc.) inadvertently.

If we can keep our focus on the fact that each of the activities they're in, when taken separately (and preferably on different days), are high-quality, life-enriching activities, each chosen for a clear purpose and in order to provide specific benefits, and that all of the above activities are those which the children enjoy and from which they learn a great deal... (breathe in, breathe out)... then I think we're all good.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy