Maybe the key to having things go right is to blog your dirtiest laundry.
Today I got no real complaints from either kid. They did their work. They got up to go to their co-op class and we were out the door exactly on time after they fed themselves breakfast.
There was not one single bickering moment between the brothers.
I left my fifteen year old alone in the kitchen to do 1:1 work in the other room (a break in the family plan) and it worked out great. He had his space and my younger son and I could talk without worrying we were bothering anyone. I was near my computer and we could use it for online work and we were near the printer for what had to be printed off.
I did read alouds and my younger son did independent work. We cuddled with the cats on our old living room furniture which is now in the family room. It's the comfiest seating in the house although it's a bit in need of an upholstery cleaning and the fabric is no longer in style.
I did not yell one single time and neither did the kids.
They ate all their meals and had snacks too. I didn't hear one complaint that something they felt like eating was not in the house or that food they asked be bought for them was not good enough for them.
Let's hope this keeps up.
I am trying to remain calm and not stress my kids out. However I am not letting up and am still trying to get my younger son to keep up with the workload.
Someone just left me a blog comment saying to take the year off from schoolwork and do educational and fun exploration things while also doing Scouts and sports. I don't think my husband would buy into that even if I could wrap my mind around it, although I appreciate the idea.