I'm Sorry. I Did Not Understand.

Our new homeschooling schedule is working out great! By 9:00am all four of us are sitting around the kitchen table breaking open the workbooks. Well, two of us are sitting. The other two, the shorter ones, are standing, running, yelling, asking for things, and doing "school". It certainly has it's challenges, but it seems to be the best time of the day to do the toughies: math and reading". We do Bible, Math, and Reading, hopefully within an hour and a half and after some outdoor time (or errands), lunch, and quiet time, Kaeley and I will do the easier subjects like Art, History, and Science. The latter three usually include watching a documentary or listening to a book. They're activities that hopefully teach a lot but don't require too much thinking and analysing on Kaeley's part, because by this time her brain is just plum tuckered out with all the goings-on of a six-year old.
It's been an interesting week. It's been much better than my last week, so I'm not complaining, I'm just speaking the truth. Today, for example, I made sure to give Nathan plenty of time playing in the park so he would take a nap and Kaeley and I could do school work in peace. However, that did not happen. He stayed pretty busy with stickers and beads while I read out loud from Ramona the Brave, but would often interrupt with, "Mommy, you write my name on dis, peeze?" or "Why? Why dat mean?"
So, back to the early morning school. Yesterday was going well, but I was always having to shove new activities under the noses of Nathan and Alynna lest they lose focus and start screaming for snacks or trying to see what Kaeley was writing. You know, little ones can't really see unless their noses are practically touching the paper. Anyway, it was going well, but it was busy with multitasking, phonics, counting, play-doh, and yelling. Nathan's the one who always yells. It's just the way he talks. Alynna, on the other hand, spends much of her vocabulary on whining. Her motto is, "Uh uh!" She's perfected the long, drawn-out whine sound to tell us of her opposing a snack, a toy, a hug, or sharing her mommy with anyone else, including Nathan. I could have sworn that yesterday I heard an hour and a half straight of, "Uh uh!"
I had to make a phone call to the insurance, so I waited until Kaeley could do her math by herself, the two youngers were involved in something, so I rang the number and sat back down at the kitchen table.

The answering service picks up:
Phone: Thank you for calling..." blah blah blah, "Are you calling for yourself or someone else?
Me: My...
Alynna: Uh uh!
Phone: I'm sorry. I did not understand. Are you calling for yourself or someone else?"
Me: M...
Alynna: Uh uh!
Phone: I'm sorry. I did not understand. Are you calling for yourself or someone else?
Me: MYSELF! (Here Kaeley looks up at me thinking maybe she did a math problem wrong.)
Alynna: Uh uh! (At the same time I'm screaming into the phone.)
Phone: I see. Please state your...
Alynna: Uh uh!
Phone: I'm sorry...

I finally was ushered to an associate due to the lack of, or overload, of communication.

Ah, to be a parent. It feels like sanctification sometimes. Other times it just feels like I'm living out a sitcom.