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Life as a Single Father of One
Jun. 25th, 2012 09:46 pmNo, don't worry, you haven't missed some news about JD and I. Last week was the local Cub Scout day camp. JD volunteered to work and both of the boys were there. They needed to be at the park by 7:15am and were there until around 4pm each afternoon. This was a huge thing for the three of them to do and I'm so proud of them for doing the whole week.
For those of you that don't know, we homeschool (actually, we belong to a sub-group of homeschoolers called "unschoolers," where the educating of our kids is nearly entirely led by their interests and not a curriculum). So, none of my kids have a school routine in any way; they wake when they want, they play when they want, they eat when they want. Other than the heat and being away from his computer all day, Nigel's biggest complaint was the regimentation of time; he really got annoyed when "we do certain things at certain times each day. *sigh*"
While they were off at camp every day, I was at home alone with Harper. From when she woke up until 5pm, it was just the two of us in the house. I had crammed on work the week before, so I was fairly guilt-free on how little work I was getting accomplished. I helped deal with a few urgent items, but otherwise spent my days playing with Harper and doing errands/chores. The house was cleaner at the end of the week than it was in the beginning.
I now have the sidewalk to the front porch and driveway pressure washed practically white. Harper kept herself entertained while I sprayed the cement by riding her bike back and forth through the mist. When I'd finish up the for day, I'd shut off the motor and we'd have a water fight to help get the debris washed off my arms and legs.
And Harper got a week of complete one-on-one time with someone. She didn't have to wait in line behind her brothers for a while. The amount of spontaneous hugs and kisses I get from the girl definitely grew a great deal as the week went along.
For those of you that don't know, we homeschool (actually, we belong to a sub-group of homeschoolers called "unschoolers," where the educating of our kids is nearly entirely led by their interests and not a curriculum). So, none of my kids have a school routine in any way; they wake when they want, they play when they want, they eat when they want. Other than the heat and being away from his computer all day, Nigel's biggest complaint was the regimentation of time; he really got annoyed when "we do certain things at certain times each day. *sigh*"
While they were off at camp every day, I was at home alone with Harper. From when she woke up until 5pm, it was just the two of us in the house. I had crammed on work the week before, so I was fairly guilt-free on how little work I was getting accomplished. I helped deal with a few urgent items, but otherwise spent my days playing with Harper and doing errands/chores. The house was cleaner at the end of the week than it was in the beginning.
I now have the sidewalk to the front porch and driveway pressure washed practically white. Harper kept herself entertained while I sprayed the cement by riding her bike back and forth through the mist. When I'd finish up the for day, I'd shut off the motor and we'd have a water fight to help get the debris washed off my arms and legs.
And Harper got a week of complete one-on-one time with someone. She didn't have to wait in line behind her brothers for a while. The amount of spontaneous hugs and kisses I get from the girl definitely grew a great deal as the week went along.
