bleigh
04-15-2008, 06:18 PM
Ok. So, maybe we can discuss the issues that specifically come up with raising kids while suffering with fibro. I stay home and raise two little ones, take care of my house (most of it anyway), and plan to homeschool the girls. Sometimes I get very frustrated, short tempered, and just down right unpleasant for my children. I've had days that I cried just tying their shoelaces because my back hurt so bad. I'm trying to come up with ideas that will simplify my life and make things easier and happier for all of us. I want the girls to have happy memories of being home with me.
Anybody here interested in this topic? Anybody have any tips they've done to make life easier and more enjoyable when dealing with little ones?
Anybody here interested in this topic? Anybody have any tips they've done to make life easier and more enjoyable when dealing with little ones?
Sponsor
Hope4All
04-16-2008, 07:21 AM
Hi :)
Im right there with you! I do homeschool my children........I started 4 years ago..... My oldest went to school until 8th grade, the others were in 4th and 1st!
I find that homeschooling isn't that hard as long as you do it when you feel well. If you feel bad one day, give them some work OR wait til the weekend! The great thing about homeschooling is you can do it in the evening/weekends and when the schools are off you can be teaching yours!
This is my oldest last year..........and Im pregnant! Talk about having your hands full! I do think though when my baby is ready for school I will enroll him/her in public school. I'll be older and with the fibro my brain will not function as well.......lol! Homeschooling was VERY positive in our home. And many more people are doing it in my area. You will do just fine.
Hope
Im right there with you! I do homeschool my children........I started 4 years ago..... My oldest went to school until 8th grade, the others were in 4th and 1st!
I find that homeschooling isn't that hard as long as you do it when you feel well. If you feel bad one day, give them some work OR wait til the weekend! The great thing about homeschooling is you can do it in the evening/weekends and when the schools are off you can be teaching yours!
This is my oldest last year..........and Im pregnant! Talk about having your hands full! I do think though when my baby is ready for school I will enroll him/her in public school. I'll be older and with the fibro my brain will not function as well.......lol! Homeschooling was VERY positive in our home. And many more people are doing it in my area. You will do just fine.
Hope
bleigh
04-16-2008, 08:09 PM
Wow, so glad to hear that you've homeschooled your children. I do worry about my ability to be somewhat scheduled, but we're just going to have to figure that one out. My oldest will be kindergarten and my youngest pre-K. They are both such good "students" that I know they will be the easiest part of homeschool. ME, on the other hand, will be my biggest challenge. My DH is a great teacher as well and I know some weekends will be big days for learning. He's already doing geography with them....they know Canada, Australia, UK, Mexico, Japan, Russia, China, Alaska, Spain, and Ireland...of course the US too. I'm so proud of them I just had to share. I pray that together we can provide them the best education they deserve.
I look at some of my friends who homeschool and I know I can not ever be like them. They start first thing in the morning and have everything meticulously planned. I realize not everyone is so strict but it makes me worry sometimes that I'm not even close. I didn't even crawl out of bed until 1030 this morning. Again, didn't sleep well. My friends would rather be run over by a bus than be creeping out of bed at that time. OH, well. My kids are still smarty pants even with a mommy like me.
Thank you for sharing!!
I look at some of my friends who homeschool and I know I can not ever be like them. They start first thing in the morning and have everything meticulously planned. I realize not everyone is so strict but it makes me worry sometimes that I'm not even close. I didn't even crawl out of bed until 1030 this morning. Again, didn't sleep well. My friends would rather be run over by a bus than be creeping out of bed at that time. OH, well. My kids are still smarty pants even with a mommy like me.
Thank you for sharing!!
CDS75
04-16-2008, 09:06 PM
Parenting with fibromyalgia, for me, is awful. I have very, very little energy. My poor kids have really paid the price for my illness. I very rarely have the energy to play with them or take them anywhere. If I do have energy it usually gets trumphed by pain.
My husband had to start working from home because I cannot take care of the kids by myself. I don't have the energy or stamina to cook, clean, or do laundry. There are piles and piles of clutter on all available surfaces in our house so my dd has to push things out of the way to do homework. We have 2 rooms in our house that we cannot even walk into. I haven't even gotten the Christmas stuff away and it is April.
It is such a good day for me if I am able to take the baby to the swing. I think parenting (or lack there of) has been/is the worst part of this awful disease.
My husband had to start working from home because I cannot take care of the kids by myself. I don't have the energy or stamina to cook, clean, or do laundry. There are piles and piles of clutter on all available surfaces in our house so my dd has to push things out of the way to do homework. We have 2 rooms in our house that we cannot even walk into. I haven't even gotten the Christmas stuff away and it is April.
It is such a good day for me if I am able to take the baby to the swing. I think parenting (or lack there of) has been/is the worst part of this awful disease.
Smithville mom
04-20-2008, 10:21 PM
YES! Parenting with FM is so hard - I'm totally with you on the being tired and getting snippy with the kids... I have 2 boys 4 1/2 and 3 and I also am homeschooling. There and days that I just cry because I said something mean to one of them and feel horrible about it. There are nights that I don't sleep at all and than when breakfast time comes I'm so tired and frustrated I don't want to be around anyone! Forget wanting to get them cereal...
I do LOVE homeschooling them! It gives us time to be together - it gets frustrating once and a while, but that's when you say, "OK - lets take a 10 min. break".
Thankfully, I have learned to manage my fibro with vitamins - I take no prescription drugs - but I also don't "do" a lot of things that most 26yr. olds do... like ride bike, ski, bowl, eat beef, drink... etc...
I try to remember that I need to keep my relationship with my kids fun - I try my best, some times I fail, we all do.
I thank God when I have a good day and try to remember it could always be worse on a bad day... either way I have my family and they love me - ya know!
I do LOVE homeschooling them! It gives us time to be together - it gets frustrating once and a while, but that's when you say, "OK - lets take a 10 min. break".
Thankfully, I have learned to manage my fibro with vitamins - I take no prescription drugs - but I also don't "do" a lot of things that most 26yr. olds do... like ride bike, ski, bowl, eat beef, drink... etc...
I try to remember that I need to keep my relationship with my kids fun - I try my best, some times I fail, we all do.
I thank God when I have a good day and try to remember it could always be worse on a bad day... either way I have my family and they love me - ya know!
gorgee
04-21-2008, 08:54 AM
I stay at home with the boys, they are 2 and 4. My oldest is going to be 5 in June and we decided to keep him back, and start kindergarten in 2009. It is a full day kindergarten and he goes to preschool down the road at a home-based small preschool, tues and thurs 9-11. He has been home with me since he was born, and I am nervous about full day school, and also he is a bright, brillant child, but slightly behind in social and emotional skills. For the first 4 years, he was with me constantly, and now his father is more active in their day, and my youngest has a much better relationship with his father than his older brother. Oh, yeah the reason why I mentioned this is at first, though having this illness and others, it would be nice to have him in kindergarten from 8:30-2:30, but I know it would be harder on him and me stress wise and also some emotional trauma. When he was sick and also had a minor operation he was out of preschool for a month, and when he went back it was pure ****. Crying, kicking, screaming, begging, not letting go of me were draining me, and I have talked to his teacher, his pediatrician, and the guidance counselor and they all agree he would benefit from waiting a year. He is going to go back to the same preschool but add an extra day, and 1/2 hour each day.
I started my battle with everyday pain last September. The boys are really great, and they help me most times. The 2 year old is starting to have terrible tantrums, and they wiped me out until I learned just to let him go. If he wants to have a tantrum over my getting him out of the van when it is time to come in then I go in another room, and let him have at it.
On the days where I have been curled up on the couch, my oldest really has helped me. He always tells me he will take care of me. It does upset me about not being able to stand on my feet that long, maybe an hour at most. It limits our activities, and I am nervous about walking with the stoller to the park, I just drive now, so that way if my pain skyrockets then at least I don't have to manage my 1/2 mile walk home with 2 screaming kids who are mad because we had to leave.
In Maine, we just got warm weather, around 60, and they can be outside. I am a homebody by nature, and my oldest it too. This winter we stayed in alot, our winters are unpredictable, much harder on my body than ever before.
My husband often says I keep the boys in the house too much, let them watch cartoons, and that they do not deserve what I am doing to them, and what a great life I give them going back and forth to dr appts., but they are healthy, and happy boys.
Even as I look back and think if our 2 year old has the same life as the 4 year old did back then, and he does. He probaly has more of an active life, as I think my oldest never went to the park until he was 2.
We are all doing a great job, and we work even harder to make sure to cover our short comings. Good Job Moms!
Kassandra
I started my battle with everyday pain last September. The boys are really great, and they help me most times. The 2 year old is starting to have terrible tantrums, and they wiped me out until I learned just to let him go. If he wants to have a tantrum over my getting him out of the van when it is time to come in then I go in another room, and let him have at it.
On the days where I have been curled up on the couch, my oldest really has helped me. He always tells me he will take care of me. It does upset me about not being able to stand on my feet that long, maybe an hour at most. It limits our activities, and I am nervous about walking with the stoller to the park, I just drive now, so that way if my pain skyrockets then at least I don't have to manage my 1/2 mile walk home with 2 screaming kids who are mad because we had to leave.
In Maine, we just got warm weather, around 60, and they can be outside. I am a homebody by nature, and my oldest it too. This winter we stayed in alot, our winters are unpredictable, much harder on my body than ever before.
My husband often says I keep the boys in the house too much, let them watch cartoons, and that they do not deserve what I am doing to them, and what a great life I give them going back and forth to dr appts., but they are healthy, and happy boys.
Even as I look back and think if our 2 year old has the same life as the 4 year old did back then, and he does. He probaly has more of an active life, as I think my oldest never went to the park until he was 2.
We are all doing a great job, and we work even harder to make sure to cover our short comings. Good Job Moms!
Kassandra
Round1
04-21-2008, 02:42 PM
Kass, I am just after reading your post................ today I can just say how do you do it????????? My husband had to leave for a meeting today at 6 am and wont be home till 9. My son got ready for school and I sorted brekkie and took him. My dad collected at one.........by this time I had to lye down for an hour....... i took him to afterschoolers where it is play fun and games and out if the weather is good.... My Brother-in-law collected as i couldnt do that plus the dinner plus the homework, plus allowing him to play with the friends after dinner. plus the getting ready for bed. I am here, so sore,,,,,,,,,,,, and I didnt even have him all day. I couldnt do the park, or the walk. I cried when i came home. I said this is not normal. I should be saying okay homework and we will go out somewhere, and do this, and sure daddy wont be home for dinner so we can eat out. Here I am sitting inside my window watching while he is playing with his friends, and typing away................... to be honest I am trying to take my mind of the pain. ....... I cried and phoned my sister today and said this is not a normal life........... but then reading posts here it seems to be, doesnt it? Am I searching for something that isnt going to happen? One thing that came me a smile was he said mum I think you are doing so good. you didnt need any help today !!! if only his little heart knew.........
Round1
Round1