Routines...

and/or the lack thereof is my current thought. Actually I have this amazing love/hate relationship with routines. I rebel against the monotony of routine while at the same time craving the familiarity. Yes, it's quite the conundrum. I have never been, as my husband so aptly puts it, "a nine to five kinda girl". I despise Monday thru Friday jobs with set hours. That's why I worked retail for so long- the variety of shifts and no set schedules works much better for me. I completely rebel about doing the same thing everyday at the same time. If you'll notice...almost none of my blog posts are ever at the same time of day...they range throughout the day. I cannot keep a schedule. Which explains alot. I'm rarely punctual, my children were not always on time for school, in fact some days they didn't even show up, and I didn't last long at some of my jobs. Now, I suppose that some (okay, maybe alot) of individuals would see this as a problem. Maybe even a fault. But I prefer to think of it as creative, gypsy-like behavior. No, I'm not delusional, I just think outside the box. My spirit is not a square.

In fact, my family has made it work for us. The kids ended up being homeschooled and they've turned out really well. I know that some people in our lives (my parents, my husbands family) were a little worried when we decided to homeschool, at least in part due to my lack of scheduling discipline. But it worked. I'd done my homework. And my research actually backed me up. Not everyone can function in the routine 9-5 world. My youngest son certainly doesn't. He was bored spitless in school and did much better at home where I allowed him to work on schoolwork on his own schedule and research things driven by his own interest rather then a set plan. Did I mention that he's only 16 and will be starting college in January? My daughter preferred to get up and start school immediately and work til she was done. Fortunately, homeschooling allowed her to get up at 10 and then start. She turns 18 in two weeks...finished high school last December. She's currently taking some time to travel but is enrolled in her college program for next fall.

Now, homeschooling definitely isn't for everyone. First, (and no, I'm not bragging) you have to be relatively intelligent yourself. Second, you have to really (and I mean REALLY) like your children. Third, you have to commit the time and energy that it requires (and it's alot of both). I think it also worked well for us because we have intellectually motivated kids. And yes...they got plenty of socialization. They both had outside activities like scouts and dance. They went to camp, they worked at a camp for kids with disabilities, they went to homecomings, football games, basketball games, my daughter went to 3 proms. They really didn't miss anything, except the tediousness of sitting in a classroom for 6 hours everyday. Both have turned out incredibly well adjusted, intelligent, and mature for their age. And I can't take all the credit. Part of it goes to their father, friends of ours and to the kids themselves for choosing to make the most of the situation instead of using it to slack off.

Wow...I kind of rambled. That happens. But I guess to get back to what I was saying earlier...even though I loathe routines and schedules on a (I swear) molecular level, I find myself craving them every once in awhile. Times like these last few months, when everything has been hectic and up in the air, I've longed for them to settle down so that I could find some sort of predictability to my days. Maybe it's just a natural response to chaos, or maybe I'm getting old...

♥Spot