Days Like This

I so often post the good things that are happening with OurPlace. There are the wonderful experiments and days full of positive learning. Before blogging, I wrote in a journal where I poured my heart out about the good and the bad. Here, I tend to only highlight the good. However, like it is with anything you pursue, there are days of struggle as well as success.
Yesterday was one of those days. I had all three of the kids doing Math at the same time, and it is as if nothing could go right. Carter just couldn't seem to grasp a concept that he has never struggled with and kept getting frustrated. Patrick had to fill in 6 play checks before getting it right and insisted on doing his Math problems in his head. I've told him that is fine, but in this particular case, I needed to see that he knew the process. It worried me that he might not. Madison worked very well, but messed up some multiplication problems that she said she understood. Plus, she was on Math for a very long time.
Now, take any one of these alone and it would have just been a normal part of a normal day. It was just that it happened all at the same time. Also, the boys were both in the frame of mind that they just really didn't feel like doing Math that day. I just felt like I was failing them at that moment. I don't usually have those feelings, and I know that they weren't justified, but they were real.
So, what happened? I finally poured my heart out to them about how I felt. Patrick went in his room for a few minutes to be alone while Ginger(our dog) roamed around wondering what was going on. Madison, with teary eyes and shaky lips, reassured me that they were learning just fine. Carter fought back tears and kept right on working.
How did it end? Patrick came back to the table. We all started talking about the bad direction of the day and suddenly found ourselves laughing....just laughing about it all and at Ginger's confusion from the events of the morning. We were okay.
All of this to say that everyday isn't perfect for us as homeschoolers. The way I felt yesterday reminded me of many frustrated nights doing homework with my children when they were still in school. We don't have those days often now. They are few and far between, but they do happen. I would be sugar coating it to say that they don't. However, we came out of it laughing. The frustration was real for all of us...the resolution of it a comfort.
We struggle
We endure
We laugh
We learn
A hard day at OurPlace is still better than an easy day before homeschooling!