I’m currently playing catch up after Caroline was sick for a week and then I was down for a week. Thankfully David did not get it so we managed to keep things running fairly normally in terms of the home. I kept up with some of my work, but not all so I’m putting in extra hours to get back on track.

I’m soaking up as many hours as I can re-reading favorite books by the fire this month as I know fireplace weather is down to just seven or eight weeks. It’s truly one of my favorite relaxing things to do and I miss it so much during the summer!

I’m trying to figure out how to make Tailwind work for me in order to simplify my Pinterest tasks. This website keeps me busy, but I want to be able to also write regularly on A Quiet Simple Life because writing about those topics over there feeds me personally. We got AQSL all set up and I haven’t been able to do much with it since it went live. I’ve found a number of services that make my work life so much easier (like Easy Product Displays – I LOVE that service!), but am still looking for ways to free up time for other endeavors. (Updated: I combined the two sites.)

In Our Homeschool This Month

Now that we’ve completed the testing, we move on to finding solutions! We have a meeting this month with a new OT who specializes in the areas where Caroline needs assistance and hope to start actual sessions later in the month.

Honestly, we’re really just in a holding pattern in terms of most of our homeschool work (especially math) until we get some answers and further direction. We have been playing more games together – Connect Four, Monopoly, Battleship, Uno, etc. and that’s been fun.

Caroline has also been trying out some new art projects and has been talking about wanting to start a YouTube channel. We’ll see how that develops (or not) in the days ahead. This is a journal she made this week.

Through a series of events related to one of David’s clients, he ended up in contact with the people at Rush Revere in order to coordinate some publication materials. They offered to send us some books so we were expecting a few books to try out.

Instead, they sent us a huge box of everything! All the books, all the books on CD, and a large stuffed Liberty horse. Caroline was thrilled with the stuffed animal since they are her favorite toys. We’re going to start reading the books aloud as a family. They should make for some interesting conversations.

Places We’re Going and People We’re Seeing

I think I might need to drop this section from my monthly updates because there never is anything exciting to share. LOL! The reality is we live a very quiet, home-focused life. We have so many things we all enjoy doing at home that none of us feel an overwhelming urge to get out and do stuff all that much (except for Caroline’s trips to her mothership – Hobby Lobby!).

That said, I do foresee many trips to Home Depot, Lowe’s and Menards in our future. We have a number of necessary house projects to tackle over the next six months so we’ve been looking at options, checking pricing, etc. The things we have to do are going to cause a lot of upheaval in the house, not a great thing for a bunch of homebodies. We plan on doing Caroline’s room first so she can retreat to her peaceful sanctuary while other parts of the house are torn up.

My Favorite Thing This Month

My favorite thing this month is my birthday! I will be hitting the big 50 later this month. I have mixed feelings about it. I don’t feel that old. I think having a younger child makes you think of yourself as younger than you are. At the same time, when I realized I was 25 when my mom turned 50 and Caroline is 10 when I’m turning 50… It makes me realize how different my life flow is from those around me.

What’s Working for Us

I’ve been thinking a lot about the pressure on kids to grow up quickly. With the creation of the “tween” idea, I think kids as young as nine or ten feel pressure to “grow up ” and be a tween. It’s really crazy. I don’t remember feeling pressure in late elementary school and middle school to hurry and grow up.

This includes the pressure to decide what you want to be when you grow up. I’m almost fifty and I’ve just now figured out what I mostly want to do with my life. LOL!

I’ve made the point of taking that pressure off Caroline as much as I can. I’ve told her time and again to enjoy being a kid as long as she wants. To enjoy her Littlest Pet Shop toys and stuffed animals and everything else she likes as long as she wants. Homeschooling allows me to give her that freedom. She isn’t constantly surrounded by peers who are growing up too quickly and are pressuring her to do the same.

I feel like this is important for her and our family. I’m glad she understands that the critical work of childhood is to play and she’s still free to enjoy her childhood for some time. Life is difficult enough when you grow up. I don’t need to catapult her toward it any sooner than necessary.

Homeschool Questions and Thoughts I Have

All of my homeschool questions and thoughts revolve around math. I’m hoping we get some good answers in the weeks and months ahead.

A Link to Share

I’m so excited to have my editable homeschool planners available for the upcoming school year. And obviously people are planning ahead because they are already selling at a steady rate.

On My Blog In Case You Missed It

A few recent posts you might have missed!

• Should I Have My Gifted Child Tested?
• Using Minecraft In Your Homeschool – Educational or Learning?
• Alternatives To College After High School – Praxis

Happy March!