Finding Balance

This week, Munchkin will be wrapping up her current school year.  Homeschooling year around can make it difficult at times to really judge when one year ends and the next year begins.  This time, we’re using her main subjects as our guide.  If she completes all her work as planned this week, she’ll happily enjoy a week off from school next week.

I’m using this current time to evaluate how I did as a teacher and mom over this past year.  I’m making a few adjustments in how I handle things, and I’m putting my expectations of Munchkin in writing.

For this coming year, I’ve written up grading descriptions for each class.  This will allow Munchkin to see exactly what she needs to earn a specific grade in a class.  I took this idea from my college classes.  I always liked seeing exactly what I needed to do in order to achieve my desired grade for that course.  Munchkin likes to have things laid out for her, so this should be a welcome addition to our homeschool this year.

As the new TOS Crew year begins, I realized that I need to find more balance in my home life and computer life.  I love doing reviews as it’s a challenge for me.  I’m the type of person that always enjoys a good challenge.  Unfortunately, I’m also someone that can really get caught up in what I’m doing, so other things may be neglected when that happens.

Last year, I spent too much time on the computer with emails, blogging, reviews, homeschool things….  While I wasn’t neglecting my home, I was neglecting other important things such as exercise and playing.  I want to make more of an effort this year to be more active and not chained to my computer.  I need to take better care of myself so I can take better care of my family.

It’s not so much about doing less on the computer.  It’s more about better usage of my time while on the computer.  I tend to go off on tangents when I start reading someone’s blog or an email.  I’ll start clicking links and following those links somewhere else.  Before I know it, I’ve wasted way too much time and never accomplished what I set out to do in the first place.

I’m still working on what balance will look like for me this year.  One thing that I know for sure is that I want to spend as much quality time with Munchkin as possible.  She’s growing up way too fast.  I don’t want to miss out on these special years and moments because I needed to get “one more thing done”….