When Your Homeschool Day Gets Hijacked

The last few weeks have been going so much better as we've finally hit our stride and slipped into a rhythm that works well for this season, only to get hijacked...

...by the teething toddler.  Poor thing has been miserable as sharp bits of enamel and dentin make their steady outward push.  She has wanted to be held, rocked, comforted, nursed and fed on a rapidly repeating cycle...  She has desired 100% of my attention.  And that has rocked my precariously positioned rhythm.

Fickle-being that I am, I started to melt down inside.  The boys did too.  It is hard to focus on things like math when there is crying and mom is pacing around, only half-focused on the lesson...  Read-aloud time, my normal go-to during times like this, didn't even work.  Frustration grew - not at her, poor thing, but at the situation.  I found myself starting to grumble and looking for an escape.  Mercifully, the computer was not an option as she won't tolerate my attention being diverted to that bright beast.  In fact, she handles spelling lessons while I juggle her in my lap far better.

Have any of you ever felt like your day was hijacked? I know for me it can sometimes happen when a child repeatedly melts down in frustration, sibling bickering seems unending, we find ourselves in an unexpected financial situation with extra bills to pay or some situation crops up with a friend that deserves my prayer, but not my focused thoughts all day...

When any of these things interfere with what I need to be doing I sometimes flail about feeling defeated, but sometimes I listen to that little Holy Spirit nudge and seek to refresh my perspective.

He usually nudges me to do this:

Pray and release my concerns and circumstances to the Lord.

Pray for perspective.  It is a short, short season.  We have an opportunity to grow in compassion.

Pray for fresh eyes.  Life is beautiful, even in its mess and even in the midst of challenge. Necessity of the mother of invention. Focus in the midst of new challenges helps us find creative solutions!

Pray for renewed focus.  What COULD we get done that day?  How could we better capitalize on naptime? 

On this particular day, I grabbed my camera and searched for beauty.  I searched for tiny remnants of progress.  I looked to see where God was at work in our lives...

I calmed down, held my baby girl and focused on what could be done instead of what we could not accomplish...  And this turned around our entire day!  Everyone, even poor little Greta, felt better.
And I'm reminded yet again how much influence I have on the culture and atmosphere of our home.

 {spider diagrams for a writing assignment can be done while pacing!}

 {Auntie, Opa and a little cousin arriving for lunch help us relax and see the beauty as well!}

 

Linked to Titus 2 Tuesday and Hip Homeschool Moms.