A Slow Start Day (2003)
Rebecca Prewett
By the time I emerge from the shower, get myself ready for the day, and make a couple of phone calls (including placing an order for mats for our martial arts ministry) it's even later than I had feared. Miriam is on the couch, doing her "homework" for the worldview course that I'm teaching to her and her older brother. Jesse is at the kitchen table, still lingering over his breakfast. Benji joins him. Sunny, the Senegal parrot, is perched on a abandoned cereal bowl, hardly able to contain his excitement over his discovery of several milky crumbs.
The rest of our bird "flock" is upstairs, calling to one another.
Isaac, aka "The Gopher Hunter", is checking his traps. He's caught the second gopher in two days. We are so plagued with gophers that my husband has put a substantial bounty on their heads. When Isaac returns, we discuss how long it would take for him to earn enough to buy a dog and housing/fencing for said dog. AHA! Our math lesson for the day! (Just kidding..)
Jesse, our youngest---and the only one below mandatory school age---suddenly gasps dramatically, "We haven't started school yet!" So we do, gathering quickly around the kitchen table.
Our Bible lesson makes a natural transition to the subject of history. Somehow several birds have migrated downstairs, so they have to be carried back to their cages before we begin working on our salt map project. We're studying ancient history, beginning with creation. (This is our second time through this sort of study.) Currently we're studying the Old Kingdom in Ancient Egypt, so we're making the relief map suggested in the Greenleaf Guide to Ancient Egypt.
After the salt map project is ready to set aside, we contemplate that, since we made far too much of the dough, we should do something with it. Isaac quickly decides to make a volcano. (Oh, no---we're veering from the lesson plan!) The other boys are eager to assist.
The younger boys take a break from school. It's time for Logic. We're working through The Fallacy Detective and enjoying it immensely. Benji has decided to join Miriam and Isaac as we discuss appeals to popularity.
Math time: we get out the Developmental Math books. Benji and Isaac also do some timed drills (Calculadder). Kelly, an Indian ringneck, sits on Benji's shoulder, but refuses to help him with any answers. Angel, Miriam's female Senegal parrot, wanders over to charm me. In an attempt to curry favor with me, she regurgitates for me---a very loving parrot gesture, but not one I find particularly charming. This inspires an impromptu discussion of a recent article about parrot behavior that we read in Bird Talk. Then it's back to Math, now with Cheekie, my green-cheeked conure, on my shoulder.
Lunch time! The birds eat in their cages. Isaac and Danny make tuna fish sandwiches. I correct math work, and then hang my favorite karate gi out in the sun, hoping it will dry in time for class.
After lunch, I drive Miriam and Isaac to the office. Miriam does light cleaning and clerical work two afternoons weekly, while Isaac assists his older brother, who runs the optical lab full time. One the way there, Miriam reads aloud from Courage by Darkness.
Then it's back home to finish school with the younger set. Except that, as I drive, I remember how low we are on groceries. We make a detour to the store. When we do arrive back home, I glance through the mail. The bill for my pre-Christmas ambulance ride has arrived. ACK! (I'm fine. It was just unexplained chest pains---a lot of high drama, but now all is well.) Instead of ranting and raving at the high cost of ambulance rides, I decide to thank God for my health while I prepare myself a vegetable salad and do some preliminary work on dinner. (I was too busy to eat while everyone else had lunch.)
The three remaining children put away groceries and wash grapes while singing the Veggie Tale song about grapes of wrath who never take a bath. Some of their grapes are eaten right away; others become characters in an involved story.
Benji practices piano, leaving the two youngest to their grapes.
While eating my very late lunch, I sort mail, peruse a packet of homeschooling ads, and skim the local paper. The fairly relaxed pace of the day---after a week of hectic, work-filled days---coupled with the quiet house, has made me sleepy. I linger far too long over my afternoon coffee and the newspaper, until I'm interrupted by the phone.
In the meantime, Benji takes apart an old leather purse in order to use part of it to make a holster for a toy gun that Isaac made had made for a movie prop.
Between phone calls and chores, and a few attempts at finishing school, the afternoon passes quickly.
It's time to head to the dojo for sparring and grappling. I grab some math worksheets for Jesse (he insisted) and we're out the door. At the dojo, we discover that the class was cancelled. We decide to use the time to work out and Soke Marx (also known as Pastor Karl, the founder of the Keichu system) graciously coaches us. Danny, Benji, and Isaac take turns sparring. Miriam does bag work and practices her kata (forms). I concentrate on training with my bo (a long staff).
After a good workout, we return home. My husband surprises us with a delicious dinner that he and Matthew have prepared. Our day winds down. I go over school work and plan lessons. My husband plays games with some of the children. Matthew does his laundry. Soon it's time for bed.
copyright 2003 by Rebecca Prewett
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