New phone and blogging

Going to try blogging from a phone! I always have it with me, just hard to type ;)

PCOS

My fight with PCOS has been a long battle and it effects my family and loved ones.

I used to think I had a depression problem but its my body releasing different hormones that affect me.

I am fine one day and then the next day my mood would be depressed and unmotivated. I'll have days that I feel "normal" and then a day that I'm angry and everything is stressful and frustrating.

On my good days I try to do as much work as possible, just to captilize on the energy I have. Then on my bad days I try change something up. Take the kids to the park, or do something fun. Its not always easy to get away from the house when there is seven little people needing care and schooling, so when I can get out, I do!

The biggest culprit is food. If I dont eat a meal I can be come very frustrated and agitated. Its worse if I eat the wrong thing, sugars and some carbs can cause a topsy turvy day. Sugars can either pull me up for awhile and make me feel happy or they can make me feel aggitated, but the drop after the sugar high is worse. It almost always makes me feel angry.

Another affect of PCOS is that it can effect my appearance. Most woman are concerned about appearances. As woman we worry about our hair, skin and weight. Pcos causes my skin to have achne problems and my hair slowly thins out more, losing hair everyday.

Being Insulin Resistant I can gain weight very easily, actually my body seems to like doing that more then using energy to function. I can have times of feeling very tired and gain a lot of weight. Even eating right and exersizing doesnt help alone. I have learned I need Metformin to help my body process food. I couple that with eating the right diet for my body and doing vigorous exersize.

This new life style has helped with all my symptoms and even helped even out my mood. My husband has been very supportive of my life style change. He participates in my diet and exersize program. And he is a lot better and sticking to things then I am. He has been my motivator, trainer and coach. I am very grateful for all his efforts and perseverance.

Learning styles

Every child is born bursting with personality. It amazes me how different they are from the minute I hold them for the first time. And so it follows that children learn in different ways.

One student may need a lot of visuals and need one on one tutoring, while another student can read material alone and grasp the concepts needed to go forward in the subject.

My daughter needs a lot of time with me explaining her math and sciences, and she learns better with visuals. My son on the other hand can be given a book, notebook, pencil and a quiet place to learn to read and understand the material alone.

Sometimes finding what works best for the student takes trying different methods. There is no right way or wrong way to homeschool. Thats why I like homeschooling, it really is taylored to the student not to a group.

Date your Spouse

Remember all the work you put into your relationship at the beginning. All the calls, notes and planning time together. During the time you spend together you focused on having fun together not the list of life's responsibilities.
Every relationship takes work! We need to date our spouse, let them know you enjoy time with them. Let them know the positive things you see in them, the things you like about them. Dont assume they know! When you make your spouse number one again, the fights get fewer and easier to overcome. The ditches along the way dont destroy your happy home because your marriage is so much more then house, kids and work.

Wonderful Hubby!

My husband helped work on the layout of my blog!
And now it looks amazing

A lesson I keep having to learn is that young children need A LOT of positive reinforcement. When I tackle school as a task it lands up being very stressful. The kid moans and fights the work and I land up with a headache. This morning I looked for positive things to say even when my 6yr old was fussing about the page he needed to work on. After a few positive points about what a great job he does, and what a great reader he is, he started working and then added more spelling to his task to show me what he can do.

On a difficult road at the moment!
Doc says I need to lose weight to control my Insulin Resistence. Thankfully the doc put me on Metformin which helps my body to process food better.
Since I started this med I have lost 10 pounds :) But it is hard work. I have a low carb diet and have vigorous workouts

What does your school room look like? I picture students working quietly in an organized school room, but that does not seem to fall together for me most days. I have two students in a quiet place, but the other three I set up around the dining room table. Give them work to do and deal with all the complaints: " I dont want to do this!", " She took my pencil." "thats too much work!". When I have a morning like that I wonder if they are learning enough, but I'm grateful for tests that show they are getting it!! I have to remind myself why I homeschool. Their character and well being is far more important then a clean house and a quiet classroom :D

Guilt

I think every mom has a load of guilt that they carry. Guilt that their home isn't clean enough, organized enough or decorated as well as it should be. Guilt that they dont do enough for their kids, spend enough time with them or school them enough. I can sit around and beat myself up about what I don't do well and let it steal my joy or I can accept I can always improve and spend everyday enjoying the wonderful family I have been blessed with.

To Write

Writing has been an outlet, a way to process thought and beliefs. A way to look deeper into my heart and mind and express the truth, even if its only the way I see it. It helps me to be honest without fear of others, fear of reactions and debate.

What holds me back from writing are all the rules, correct grammar, punctuation and sentence structure. But the advice I have been given by an award winning author is not to let rules hold you back from writing.

Writing is an expression an art, let it flow with out restraint. Allow the soul to be free.

but from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in distress, and the things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to the Lord your God and obey His voice for the Lord your God is a merciful God, He will not foresake you nor distroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them. Deut 4:29-31

feeling alone and tired this verse was an encouragement this morning.
Mom's normally spend so much time alone. We have our kids and our work but little else.
I'm finding this constant alone time very depressing.

It's hard to try school when you feel depressed.
The kid you are trying to work with responds to how you are communicating and they become very hard to work with. This morning my seven year old just refused to work saying he couldn't do what I asked of him.
I had overwhelming feelings that he wasn't accomplishing what he needed to in school and he was behind. Which made doing school next to impossible.

My husband asked me what the opposite of shame was. Just thinking my words might be causing my son to feel despair and shame changed our time together. I was able to relax a little.
He needs a lot of calm encouragement and he can do excellent work, but its not always easy to do.

Going to try Blog about life in the madness of Home schooling 4 grades and watching 2babies all at once. I have to admitt there are times when I look at my six doing their different things and I wonder how we are going to accomplish anything. But every day is an accomplishment. We always get most of our school work done, and done well. And we keep the house livable.