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LLMom
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I have a lot of little children. I have difficulty hs with them underfoot. My oldest is 15 and my youngest is 9 months. My biggest challenge is my very active and destructive 2year old. I have a hard time helping the others. He takes all of my time and energy in addition to nursing the baby. We use nap time but its only 2 hours and that doesn't go far with all the rest of the kids. By the time dh is home, I am wiped out and ready to let him take over everything. No energy for even the olders. Any ideas?
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Lisa
For veteran & former homeschool moms
homeschooling ideas
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Mary G
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| Posted: Jan 09 2006 at 12:54pm | IP Logged
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Lisa -- except that you have 7 and I have 5, you sound like me! My 3 yo is known as BamBam and is always into everything.........
I don't have any suggestions or solutions, just wanted you to know you are NOT alone!
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MaryG
3 boys (22, 12, 8)2 girls (20, 11)
my website that combines my schooling, hand-knits work, writing and everything else in one spot!
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Leonie
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This blog is by an Unschooling mother of seven .
She has young children too. HTH!
Mary, love the Bam Bam nickname. We have had a few of those - they *do outgrow it! 
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Leonie in Sydney
Living Without School
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Mary G
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Leonie wrote:
This blog is by an Unschooling mother of seven .
She has young children too. HTH!
Mary, love the Bam Bam nickname. We have had a few of those - they *do outgrow it! |
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Leonie -- are you sure? I have a 16 yos who has really never outgrown it!  As a matter of fact when Joe (now 16) was 3 and Cate (now 14) was 1 they were Pebbles and BamBam -- Joe even had a stuffed felt club that he couldn't hit anyone with (otherwise he wouldn't get his trick-or-treat candy)!
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MaryG
3 boys (22, 12, 8)2 girls (20, 11)
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Leonie
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Mary G. wrote:
| Leonie -- are you sure? I have a 16 yos who has really never outgrown it! |
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Well, Luke, my eldest, was terror as a littlie and a terror as middle grader.
Now, he is a reasonably sane and normal young man of twenty five! 
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Leonie in Sydney
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Mary G
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Leonie wrote:
Mary G. wrote:
| Leonie -- are you sure? I have a 16 yos who has really never outgrown it! |
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Well, Luke, my eldest, was terror as a littlie and a terror as middle grader.
Now, he is a reasonably sane and normal young man of twenty five! |
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Leonie -- thanks, that gives me hope!
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MaryG
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Sarah
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LLMom wrote:
| My biggest challenge is my very active and destructive 2year old. I have a hard time helping the others. He takes all of my time and energy in addition to nursing the baby. . . No energy for even the olders. Any ideas? |
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No ideas. Just want to say I know how you feel and I could have written this. My 2 y.o. is a girl and so sweet, but very much into everything.
Just for laughs. . .my last couple weeks:
DD 2. . .
*tried to flush a rugby shirt in one bathroom
*tried to flush a whole roll of toilet paper still on the roll on the same day
*dumped a huge container of bird seed on the carpet.
*Got foundation on the carpet
* dumped glue on the couch-now it looks like someone blew their nose on it (and maybe they did!)
*wrote all over her dresser with permanent marker and some clothes, and a nice bin. . .
*ripped the buds off my Amaryllis which was just going to bloom and looked perfect. . .and ate some (poisonous?)  She was fine and I found the bitten bud hours later, though!!
*somehow got poop on the floor, twice
*totalled our manger scene 
*Wore 4 pairs of her brothers' underwear at once
*used 1/2 of a 6 oz. bottle of hand sanitizer during Mass (so I didn't have to take her out. I think that might be why the woman in front of us finally ran out of the church . . .but she was really quiet!)
I love her dearly and she is a constant source of excitement here, but I'm tired, too. So, so tired with baby 5 mo. who squirms like a monkey, trying to throw himself out of my arms!!
Trying to read a chapter book aloud to the kids can be ridiculous at times, although I persevere daily. ds4 sings too loud for the olders to hear the story, dd2 wants to see the pictures. . .there are none! ds 5 mo. tries to rip the pages, wants to nurse, or tries to wiggle onto the floor. To add to the comedy, everytime I sit down the dog comes over to me! She knows the command- AWAY!
I'm just trying to make you feel better.
Somehow, I think the kids are learning.
I don't have an answer. That's just the season we are in-littles are tough, but do add sweetness!!
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Six boys ages 16, 14, 11, 7, 5, 2 and one girl age 9
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LLMom
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Thanks Sarah! Those are some funny things. I guess they do learn despite all the business.
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Lisa
For veteran & former homeschool moms
homeschooling ideas
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Mary G
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Sarah,
Have I got a little boy for your little girl -- he's 3 and nicknamed BamBam altho he insists his name is "Big Joe, Bone Crusher" and that his 16 yo brother (who is really big Joe) is "Little Baby John-Paulie"!
One of those you laugh and cry at the same time kind of kids....
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MaryG
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juliecinci
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Oh my goodness.
Those little ones -toddlers are the killers for read alouds. I also found that I could nurse and read aloud either. I had three in a row who wanted my undivided attention while they were nursing. It frustrated me no end!
We went to books on tape over lunch for quite awhile. A lot of the Songlight books can be found on tape. And if they couldn't we didn't "read" them. :)
"Table time" is really hard with toddlers too. They want to climb up where the action is and then destroy it!
Unschooling can help because it decenters the table and workbook. You can play with the toddler (or simply corral her!) while another child is working on his or her own project... maybe in another room!
One other thing I did early on is I had a friend's daughter come over once a week for an afternoon. I used that time to work (I was an editor back then), but I could see it being used to spend time with the older kids while the girl played with the younger ones.
I do think learning is still happening. The biggest struggle with so many and pregnancies and all is the energy level of the mother. It is so easy to be absolutely exhausted and unmotivated... living appointment to appointment or disaster to disaster.
I would most definitely look at the week or month rather than the day. Try to get one good interaction in with each kid over the course of a week/month!
Hugs to all you dear mommas!
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Julie
Homeschooling five for fourteen years
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