So the start of term 2 didn’t go as planned.
A child with a bad reaction (possible infection) to a bee sting (she’s ok).
Lupus symptoms flaring (I’m ok).
Ran out of bread which meant an extra trip up to the shops (not much for most people but when fatigue and other flare symptoms kick in you really notice the extra running around).
Blood test for me too meant an extra trip and just a little more tired than normal.
Oh well...one of the pros of homeschooling is that we don’t have to strive to recreate school at home. Even NESA homeschool reps have stressed this to us.
What to do?
Go back to our rhythms. Morning rhythm of our responsibilities (aka chores) kick in.
We slow down and take time to nourish our bodies.
We eat.
We rest if we need it.
We adapt.
We take meds.
I drink coffee.
And we default to our favourite rhythm of poetry tea time.
Today neither myself nor Miss Z could walk down the back to our fave table and chairs under our tree so we sat out the front in our tiny yard instead.
Mr 9 made tea and got out treats.
We took some freshly picked sunflowers out there in a vase and continued with our current read alouds of Heidi and then Seven Little Australians.
There is a familiarity within the pages of these books that brings comfort to us even when our world is a little on the crazy side. We feel at home with the characters, the setting, the rhythms of the author's words. It is like coming home.
My MIL joined in our tea time.
My SIL kindly washed and hung out clothes.
Dogs were fed, books read, menu planned, conversations had, words typed, stories said and games played.
Life happens - we can either get stressed out by it or go with the flow.
Sometimes we get overwhelmed by the chaos - today with the help of family and our long established rhythms, we chose the flow.
TOP TIPS:
If you are homeschooling and you (or your child) has chronic illness, begin with whatever anchors you (that you are able to manage).
Receive help gratefully when offered (so blessed to have my SIL do all that washing while she was visiting).
Preserve your energy and chose to invest in activities that can nourish you all rather than deplete you. If you've never come across Spoon Theory before, have a read of this article: HERE.
I'd love to hear from you on our Facebook or Instagram if you are homeschooling with chronic illness too.
Happy living and learning,
Lusi x
Read Part 2 in the series HERE
We just did our first 2 days of full time school after homeschooling for a decade. I’ve always homeschooled around chronic and severe illness, and now I am single I am needing to go back to uni, get a full-time job and provide for my kids, I finally decided to let go and enrolled them all in school. I am flaring so bad right now, and we haven’t even done a week! I am realising the slower pace, the flexibility to match my capacity each day and having little helpers to haul stuff and pick up stuff was how I managed my illness. I can’t do all the things alone! I would argue (having experienced the other side) that homeschooling…