The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

When I first started writing my blog, I promised to record, "The good, the bad and the ugly". Well this week, I think we had all of that!

The good. First of all, our trip to the Symphony and museum was terrific. JT enjoyed himself (he did complain a little about the amount of walking we had to do around Harrisburg). He told me he definitely would like to learn to play the flute, now that he experienced an orchestra first hand. He already plays piano and guitar, so what's one more instrument? The museum was also a good decision. It was a school day, so we practically had the place to ourselves. If your kids are in public brick and mortar school, I highly recommend taking a day and getting them the "educational journey" permission slip so you can enjoy things like museums without the crowds. JT zipped through pretty quickly and I was afraid we were not spending the kind of time we needed to really see the exhibits. When we were leaving, he immediately asked to go to that museum again, so I guess he did get something out of the trip.

The bad. Wednesday will be the last day JT has his virtual class for an hour in the afternoon. At first, I would spend the whole hour hovering over him to see if he was listening and responding appropriately. About the 3rd week in, I suddenly realized he had somehow managed to be "alone" in his previous school all day. So I started using that hour for things I wanted to do! Whenever I feel JT is working independently and I can leave the classroom for a few minutes, I get a horrible guilty feeling. Like I should be in the room at all times or the education will not happen. It may be a silly thought. But when the online class is happening, I know he is doing something he's supposed to be doing and the responsibility is temporarily removed from me. I'm REALLY going to miss that class. I hope they offer something else he is interested in the next time around!

The ugly. Tuesday was one of those days where JT can't seem to focus. I was feeling stressed because I wanted to get a good, full day of school in due to interruptions I knew we would have later in our week. He was working on part of the Geography test for the next mail in packet. I gave him instructions and he was being flat out defiant about doing the work the way it was supposed to be done. I started with the ticks on the board process. Within 5 minutes we were almost at ten. I was losing my temper big time. Finally I said, "Get out of the classroom!" He just sat there, so I picked him up (not so easy anymore!) and dumped him outside the door. Then I told him, "Go see your dad." My husband has been acting as our principal on occasion. He works from home, so he's in his office about 20 feet away most days. I had to propel my child into the room where I announced, "Talk to your son. He's been kicked out of class."

I waited in the classroom feeling awful for losing it. Ten minutes later he was back. He apologized for not doing what he was supposed to be doing. Then he told me what his punishment would be. His father had assigned a composition. It was to be two pages long. One page is "what I like about cyber schooling", the other is "why I'm lucky my mom is teaching me". Until it is finished, he has lost all computer/video game privileges. He's actually very upbeat about the whole thing. He's planning to finish it in time for Saturday when he typically has extra computer time. The best part was, he sat down and finished the Geography assignment without a problem.

From the very beginning of this whole adventure, I have been waiting for the day I just CAN'T take it anymore. So far, the day has not come. If my husband had not been home Tuesday, that may have been the day!