MamaArcher's Blog

Should I Be Discouraged?

In a previous post I shared about our plumbing woes.  I also shared that we had colds being passed around.  You would think that would be enough for Murphy to move on to someone else but NOOOO!!!  I have not updated here simply because of that.  He seems to still be making himself at home!

I told you a few of us had colds.  These are not your average colds and several of us have it.  In fact, I thought that if a cold could kill someone I was next!  I had a friend tell me she uses Zicam.  So I went the store and spent the almost $8 on the little box of medicine hoping that I hadn’t wasted that money and that it would at least give some relief.  Well, let me tell you, never again will I endure a cold without that stuff!  It was AMAZING!  I am talking like literally 6 hours later I was on the mend!  We still have some sick ones here but we are all on the mend as far as colds are concerned.

As far as our plumbing woes.  Well…….The walls are still ripped open and the carpet and padding is STILL drying but the leaks are fixed.  BUT our washer broke.  This machine is only 2 and 1/2 years old.  Not only did it break but it quit working with clothes and water in it.  So we pulled out our manual for our front loader to address the problem.  It book said to unplug and call a technician.  Since our water had been off so much the previous two weeks for the plumbing repairs our laundry pile had grown into a mountain.  We NEEDED clean clothes.  Not the best time for a washer to throw in the towel!  So I loaded everything up and headed to the laundromat.  Three hours and $50 later I was home.  I guess the upside is that all the laundry was finished and put away in less time than running single loads.

The repair man arrived yesterday and the repairs are going to be $250.  PLUS another $50 for the laundromat because it won’t be fixed for another 7-10 days.

These things are all inconveniences but nothing to really be discouraged over.  Then there was yesterday.  Yesterday we started school back up after our Christmas break.  Children who had been staying up late and getting up late now had to set alarm clocks.  Grumpy, Grumpy is not the best way to start the day.  Yesterday was the school day from…well….let me just say….it was not the perfect peaceful picture of children sitting and reading books!  Far from it!  People seem to think I have it all together.  If you had seen my home yesterday all admiration would have been lost!  My house is indeed generally calm and under control but yesterday chaos with a capital C prevailed!

I was actually so discouraged yesterday this thought went through my mind, “What am I thinking?  I so cannot homeschool anymore, I have LOST it!”  Yesterday, I was so discouraged!  More so than I have have been in such a long time!  I have been homeschooling since the fall of 1996, I have dealt with children with learning disabilities, I have dealt with chaotic days before, but yesterday…..I was like my washing machine.  I was ready to throw in the towel!

My house was loud!  The 1 year old cried ALL day.  Apparently, getting four molars all at once on top of a cold isn’t fun!  The three year old didn’t want a nap and she is sick with a cold too.  No one seemed to be able to focus.  Three of the children had piano mid-morning  and that always interrupts our day.  We were behind on everything, no one could focus, and it seemed we were not accomplishing what we needed to.  The things we did get accomplished I was sure would never “stick” because it was so stinkin’ loud in the house!  Ok, well as I type this, it doesn’t seem as bad as it felt yesterday! hmm

If it had been any day other than our first day back I would have just said we were putting things away and having a recess day.  You just cannot do that on your first day back, it sets the wrong tone.  In the end we finished all but a few things that I just deemed not necessary.  We packed up the school books and headed to ice skating.  Everyone was in a better mood.  Maybe just some physical activity was what was needed.

I just kept reminding myself that I couldn’t quit that day!  I forced us to trudge on and felt a small level of accomplishment.  I did go get a haircut and even the stylist was VERY pleased.  I have been working on loosing weight and have lost 8 pounds in the last week and half.  So there have been some ups.  I found that I was letting the circumstances dictate my outlook.  I need to refocus once again and apparently, my patience is far from perfected as well.

It is so easy to become discouraged amidst a chaotic day.  Discouragement causes one to question and give up.  The key is to stop and pray and to never give up.  Easier said than done. Easier to say after the chaos and before the new day begins.  Now to go begin my new day (as I hear a child yelling at a sibling**sigh**).  Pray for me that I would cultivate peace, calmness, and love in my home today so that chaos will not prevail.