Does a "kink" ruin your whole day?

[mrsrandolph]

I have 2 children with genetic disorders which mean therapies and dr. visits. It seems that a 2-3 hour window is missing from our school day on those days, and I'm like "why bother with any of it??"

I teach out of the home one day a week already, so we are on a four day week as it is. Thoughts?

Feeling like a failure today...

[LovingJesus]

I have extra Dr. Visits too with my youngest.

Regular doctor visits or therapies I schedule at 4 or later so it doesn't throw off school and we can do school first.

Hospital doctor appointments are every 3 - 4 months and are at 9 or 11 in the morning. They throw the day. I need my energy for the appointments so I make a day off from school for it: we have to leave early, lunch afterwards, sometimes a park after that, home by 3.

I do home school 10 months a year (Sept. 1 - June 30). This is so I don't stress over hospital days, sick days, days that we don't accomplish as much, and so we can enjoy some field trips (that includes the first warm day next spring!

I hope this helps. It is definitely a balancing act with extra doctor appointments. I am very grateful for how much stress Carrie's TMs (with Julie's editing) relieves me from by having done all the lesson planning for me.

Prayers for your appointments.

[StephanieU]

Would it be possible for your Preparing kids to do at least a small amount of their school work at the doctor's office? Maybe some of the independent and semi-independent things you can bring with you to do there. Also, if you need to, shorten things for the younger ones on those days. We have found that there are ways to make LHFHG slightly shorter on days we just haven't had time to do everything, and nothing was really lost.

[my3sons]

Oh Shannon, I remember multiple doctor visits for either me during pregnancies or for my dc with speech or OT or PT. I know what you mean! It is true... a kink can sometimes ruin a day, but I would say an 'unplanned' kink. Appointments are difficult to be sure, but they are usually planned ahead of time. I found this to be outstanding advice as I read it...

I have extra Dr. Visits too with my youngest.

Regular doctor visits or therapies I schedule at 4 or later so it doesn't throw off school and we can do school first.

Hospital doctor appointments are every 3 - 4 months and are at 9 or 11 in the morning. They throw the day. I need my energy for the appointments so I make a day off from school for it: we have to leave early, lunch afterwards, sometimes a park after that, home by 3.

I do home school 10 months a year (Sept. 1 - June 30). This is so I don't stress over hospital days, sick days, days that we don't accomplish as much, and so we can enjoy some field trips (that includes the first warm day next spring!

I hope this helps. It is definitely a balancing act with extra doctor appointments. I am very grateful for how much stress Carrie's TMs (with Julie's editing) relieves me from by having done all the lesson planning for me.

Prayers for your appointments.

I actually took my HOD stuff for Wyatt and Riley to helmet appointments and therapy regularly when Emmett was a baby. They realized I was trying to homeschool and gave me my own room. I know, that was definitely God's intervention! I'm not sure if anything like that would work, but I thought I'd mention it, as it really helped me. HTH, and here's a hug in the meantime!!!!

In Christ,
Julie

[psreit]

I have been dealing with appts. for 24 years, with a daughter born w/ spina bifida among other abnormalities. My 10yo was born with CP. I still have to take my older daughter to appts. because they are 3 hours away, in Philadelphia(since birth). She does drive with hand controls, but is not comfortable driving in the busy city. My younger daughter see doctors an hour or more away for her CP and also an ophthalmologist. She has orthodontist appts. once a month. Both wear leg braces, and the brace shop is a little more than an hour away. This has been a major part of my life for all these years, and I have just learned to be flexible. Most appts. are scheduled ahead, but many things come up unexpectedly. I've tried to do school with my 10yo at appts. when we are waiting for her sister, but it doesn't work. She is very easily distracted. So, when we have to go to a Phila. appt., we just take the day off. If they are local, I try to schedule in the afternoon, and those an hour away, we just do what we can. I try to get reading and math done, since those are areas in which she needs a lot of work. This is why I will not plan to finish an HOD guide in one year. When we did LHFHG and Beyond, I tried to do the complete guide in a year, and at the end of the year, I felt like I was just pushing to get it done and really not getting the full benefit from it. When we begin Preparing next fall, I will do it at a pace that will not make me feel like I am just fulfilling requirements.

If you need more than 9 months of school to get the required days in, that may be something to consider. I have dealt with too much stress over the years, that I have finally learned to take a day at a time, and if I don't get accomplished what I would have liked, I just pick up the next day. Because of this, I have never been able to really keep a schedule for school. God gives us all different things to deal with, so not everyone's school day will look the same. Your responsibility in caring for your dc's medical needs is not being a failure. I remember when my 24 yo was born, someone gave us a card that had, I believe, a poem about us being special because God chose us to have this special child. These years were not without frustrations, but we can find peace in knowing that this is God's plan for our lives. 'School' is also real life.

[mrsrandolph]

We already school year round, but make it lighter during the summer. May need to go full speed ahead in the summer too!

[MelInKansas]

Are you concerned because you don't finish a whole guide in a year's time? I don't either (especially the 5 days/week guides). Do you feel like your children should be moving ahead and these schedule conflicts are holding them back? If you have at least one doctor's appointment each week I guess I would start trying to figure out how to fit in at least a little school work on those days. What might be easy/fun to do and not too stressful on you. Then for us, things like math and reading can get done in the evening as long as there isn't an evening activity going on. They LOVE doing it with Daddy far more than with me.

It never looks right on those days but you can still try to get some things done. Or you can say "this is where God has us, and we are going to roll with it and not stress out over not moving as quickly as others might be able to." Meaning not do school on those days, do other things that are also learning, and not worry about not finishing the guide in a year. I think both perspectives are fine, it's where God has you and what you have peace with.