Imperfect Genius

I was really looking forward to starting a routine in our house with the return of fall but that continues to be an impracticality. With all the running back and forth from one house to another, our schedule is very unpredictable. I was hoping to have a few hours set aside each day so I could work one-on-one with the kids in a peaceful, unhurried way. So far that has not happened.

I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, dealing with contractors’ schedules while trying to get our own things done, but so far it’s been really hard. Practically every day that Chris has had off work we’ve been up at the other house doing stuff. The early morning meetings are particularly challenging, because I am NOT a morning person, and yet my brain needs to be fully engaged because we’re usually discussing complicated issues. There is a huge amount of problem solving involved in working on a historic house and, because of time constraints, the solutions need to be arrived at quickly.

Even though we’re turning the actual work over to other people, there are are still a lot of big decisions to be made. And we really care about the little stuff, too, because it’s our home and we’re quite attached to it. We’ve poured our own sweat and hard work into the house, and have lots of ideas about how we want things to turn out. We realize it’s impossible for us to finish the work ourselves - at least not if we want to live there within the next five years - but we still want to be involved in the process as much as possible. I’m not the sort of person who can say, “Oh, just do whatever. I don’t care.”

Even if I was, this project would still require lots of my time. Chris is working very long hours every week, so the day-to-day stuff has fallen to me. Which is fine, but it means I have less time and energy to devote to other things. One of them being my well laid plans to get started on a routine this year. Last year we were very unschoolish and that approach worked great at the time. But for many reasons a new approach is in order, primarily because of feedback from my kids but also because I’ve realized I have needs that must be addressed, too. Nothing radical, I’m still firmly committed to interest-led learning, but a few adjustments would make us all happier. Unfortunately, this renovation process is putting a kink in the plans.

I’m trying to decide if I should just wait until we’re moved (sometime in Jan or Feb) and the craziness has died down to a dull roar, or if I should try to get started on things now. The unpredictable schedule we’re dealing with and the constant interruptions throughout the day conflict with the type of approach I want to implement. But the thought of waiting is frustrating, because the changes I want to make are for everyone’s benefit - from catering more to their learning style to having more organization (so I don’t lose MY mind).

As with most other things in life, I guess there is no easy solution. I’m going to have to find a compromise between the way I’d like things to be and the reality of our daily lives.