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| Bohemian Waxwing |
One of my biggest frustrations as a homeschooling Mama is the abundance of questions I receive. Because my kiddos don't go to school for seven hours a day and give all of their questions to another adult, I get their questions. I get all the questions. All day long. Day after day.
And because I am a glutton for punishment, I've added my cousin's kids too. So there are nine kids to ask questions instead of four.
(Okay, to be fair, this arrangement brings Aunt Hannah with them which means we are dividing up the questions. But she's mostly with the little kids who ask more annoying but easier questions. I'm with the older kids who ask questions that I sometimes genuinely don't know the answer to or have to look up somewhere.)
Now questions are one thing. But questions at inopportune times is another thing altogether. For example, I can be out with my kiddos in the living room for an hour with no questions. Then I go into use the bathroom, and I hear a knock at the door. Then a voice will say, "Can you explain to me why there was no money in the banks during The Great Depression?"
And I say: "Can I discuss this with you as soon as I am done in the bathroom?"
And sometimes that makes them go away. But sometimes they will try to just stand there and wait for me. Or sometimes they will say just a smattering of seconds later, "Hey Mom. Are you done yet?" Or even better. Sometimes when they leave, another kid comes in to take their place.
It's like they are taking turns keeping me occupied or something.
So .... back on track here.
I've been working with the kiddos on not asking questions that are poorly timed.
Today, and I kid you not, I was moving a safe. Not a huge safe but a safe that required me to put my back into it. In the middle of trying to relocate the safe, I hear a voice behind me saying: "What does B-o-h-e-m-i-a-n spell Mama?"
I didn't answer because I was occupied. Said child waited three seconds and started spelling it again.
I stopped my safe moving and stood up and said, "Do you think this is a good time for a spelling question?"
And I kid you not, the child looked at me with an expression that said, "It seems pretty good to me."
(Child didn't say that outloud thank goodness.)
Oh and Bohemian was important because we were studying birds. Check out the bird at the top to find the culprit behind the question.
And for a good laugh, check out one of my very favorite video clips ever by comedian Jim Gaffigan. (It's clean and so fun!)
And because I am a glutton for punishment, I've added my cousin's kids too. So there are nine kids to ask questions instead of four.
(Okay, to be fair, this arrangement brings Aunt Hannah with them which means we are dividing up the questions. But she's mostly with the little kids who ask more annoying but easier questions. I'm with the older kids who ask questions that I sometimes genuinely don't know the answer to or have to look up somewhere.)
Now questions are one thing. But questions at inopportune times is another thing altogether. For example, I can be out with my kiddos in the living room for an hour with no questions. Then I go into use the bathroom, and I hear a knock at the door. Then a voice will say, "Can you explain to me why there was no money in the banks during The Great Depression?"
And I say: "Can I discuss this with you as soon as I am done in the bathroom?"
And sometimes that makes them go away. But sometimes they will try to just stand there and wait for me. Or sometimes they will say just a smattering of seconds later, "Hey Mom. Are you done yet?" Or even better. Sometimes when they leave, another kid comes in to take their place.
It's like they are taking turns keeping me occupied or something.
So .... back on track here.
I've been working with the kiddos on not asking questions that are poorly timed.
Today, and I kid you not, I was moving a safe. Not a huge safe but a safe that required me to put my back into it. In the middle of trying to relocate the safe, I hear a voice behind me saying: "What does B-o-h-e-m-i-a-n spell Mama?"
I didn't answer because I was occupied. Said child waited three seconds and started spelling it again.
I stopped my safe moving and stood up and said, "Do you think this is a good time for a spelling question?"
And I kid you not, the child looked at me with an expression that said, "It seems pretty good to me."
(Child didn't say that outloud thank goodness.)
Oh and Bohemian was important because we were studying birds. Check out the bird at the top to find the culprit behind the question.
And for a good laugh, check out one of my very favorite video clips ever by comedian Jim Gaffigan. (It's clean and so fun!)
1 comment:
Hey Wendy!!
Not sure if this would help you or not. But what if you made up a question box. The older kids can then write their questions down & at a certain time of day you could go through them to see if you need to look up or find out answers. Then at another point in the day or the next day sit down with all the older kids and go through the questions with them; 1st see if another kid knows the answer if not than answer it. Then they might learn to seek others to see if they know the answer before coming to you and then it could possibly stop them from asking you during your bathroom time. Plus doing it this way all the kids hear the questions & answers & could also save you from repeating.
Hopefully this makes sense & hopefully help make your life a little easier?!?!
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