No, I'm not having a baby, but I really relate to this picture. Tired snuggles with a sweet baby. This is similar to how I spend most of my mornings lately: three boys climbing into bed with me every morning to snuggle and say good morning.
I've been struggling with fatigue, headaches, sluggish metabolism, and chronic pain for years. Ironically, getting diagnosed with ADHD has helped me to actually formulate and recognize what I've been experiencing physically.
Because of this, getting up in the mornings can often be a struggle. I am working with my doctor to get to the bottom of what's going on (our best guess at the moment is Hashimotos + PCOS, however I need to get screened for Lupus as well because it runs in my family), but until we figure out the best course of treatment I need to create accommodations for myself to get things done in the best way possible.
As I have progressed in my "chronic illness" journey I've realized that I need to prioritize my needs in specific ways that I have neglected in the past. Some things I've started to focus on for my own healing are:
Getting enough sleep. Since my ADHD can cause insomnia, I need to ensure I sleep when I'm tired. If this means going to bed early, or taking a nap, then I do it.
Physically resting during the day. In addition to sleep, I also get physically tired throughout the day, fatigued by pain. One important key is for me to get off my feet periodically over the course of a day, and staying off them for at least 30 minutes.
Getting adequate exercise. Doing my daily stretches, as well as focusing on my physical requirements for my belt level in Taekwondo increases my mobility, strength, and endurance. This helps with the chronic inflammation and pain. I take it easy on days when my migraines are high, and do my best on other days.
Improving my diet. There are several factors that have played into our decreasing quality of diet over the last few years, and as I've introduced more convenience foods I've been able to observe my health degrading. This year I have the goal of moving back onto the Paleo diet, and eventually starting the AIP to help me identify dietary triggers.
Finishing my Associates Degree & taking a break from college. I've been taking part time classes for years now, and the stress of homeschooling my children and being in college myself has become too much. I've seen the biggest downward changes in my health while I've been back in school, and I can't keep it up right now. I'll start up again in a few years, when the boys can be a little more independent with their own studies and work.
Planning my garden. We have been incredibly blessed to be able to move into a new rental that has an apple tree, a plum tree, and three spots for vegetable gardening! It has been years since I have been able to garden at my own home, and I am looking forward to growing our own organic produce for the coming year. On days when I'm feeling particularly low I like to plan my garden to bolster my mood and give me some hope to look forward to.
Reengaging in my personal interests. I have spent so many years focusing on my schooling that I've lost touch with my own interests and hobbies. Handwork like knitting and crocheting, sewing clothing, watercolor painting, reading books, have all fallen by the wayside as I've been in school, but special interests with ADHD aren't just pleasurable activities. They are essential to our good mental health. I want to recover from my mental burnout from school.
In all of this, I also have to make time to do school with the boys in a way that doesn't leave me worn out and unable to function the next day. Which brings me back to our morning bedside snuggles.
I use this time to do our scripture study (which at the moment is revolving around watching a video from Living Scriptures and then talking about it), to do some reading together as a family, and to get them on the same page with our plans for the day.
I've written about our math work here, and I highly suggest you read my review of CTC Math on Great Homeschool Reviews. This has been a fantastic resource for us all this year, and I am so glad I decided to give it a try.
The boys have handwriting that they do during the day, and each boy spends time reading out loud with me. For my younger two I have been using this curriculum, called Reading Better Together, to work on their foundational reading skills. Since we have dyslexia in the family, a phonics based approach is the gold standard, and I especially love how this method has us literally reading a book together - parents read the left-hand page and children read the right-hand page. I've taken this process to my oldest boy as well, and I read one page in his book, while he reads the other. This way the storyline progresses, he still gets reading practice, and he doesn't get bored or lost from the story.
Then we do either science or social studies (usually history in some way), to round out the day. I use a variety of resources for this, including Generation Genius, Tuttle Twins American History, videos, and audio books. I help the boys record their thoughts either on video or by taking notes.
The older boys have tutoring that they go to twice a week, a homeschool co-op group once a week, and we are considering signing them up for gymnastics (along with the Taekwondo we all do in the evenings 3 days a week).
I've created a simple meal planning system to help us through all of this, and it has been another life saver. It is easy, predictable, and nourishing, which we can all use right now.
While the boys are in their classes I am able to have a small break to get errands done, or work on my own interests and hobbies. I always lay down for a while after we get back to recuperate.
There are lots of reasons why my health is taking a downward turn right now - and I'm slowly working on identifying what is wrong. Until then, I'm working on making our homeschooling journey as smooth and stress free as possible. I'm giving myself some grace, and utilizing screen time in ways that I never anticipated needing. As I go through this next month and begin to fully transition out of classes, I want to work on creating a personal schedule for myself, similar to what Charlotte Mason would use, to make sure that I'm giving myself time to fulfill household responsibilities, and using my rest time effectively.
What about you? Have you dealt with chronic illness? How has that affected your homeschooling journey? Leave a comment below, or even better, join our discussion group for support!
Comments