HOME EDUCATION MAGAZINE: Winter Doldrums - Karen Vogel
Karen Vogel writes how she gets through February with humor and a little common sense.

/Washington News Articles/ - TONASKAT, WA, February 14, 2008 - http://www.homeedmag.com - February can be one of the hardest months to get through even if you don't spend it stuck inside with your bored kids.In the January Feburary 2008 Home Education Magazine, Karen Vogel writes how she gets through February with humor and even a little common sense in "Winter Doldrums".

She writes:

"Winter's here, and we all know what that means--days and days inside with the kids and their tired schoolbooks, with rotting science experiments (at least, that's what I call the stuff in the back of the refrigerator) and never-ending piles of laundry that mock my feeble efforts to keep up with both the house and the kids' schooling. The sun doesn't shine, the snow refuses to fall, and no one can remember the last time we had any fun. We've all experienced those February doldrums--I know I'm not the only homeschool mother who becomes suddenly sick of winter, sick of whining, sick of being sick of my own kids. By mid-February, the simplest household chores become almost unbearable, as does the whining pitch of the four-year-old's voice and the demands of the toddler who just does not understand that Big Brother needs to graduate from ninth grade and he isn't going to be able to if she doesn't let Mommy help him with his algebra.

Let's face it, the February doldrums make us do strange things. One February, I was so sick of serving three meals a day, every single day, that I attempted to cut back to just two. I had the kids do their clean-up chores and a little schoolwork and then I served a nice big breakfast at 10:00 AM. I gave them dinner around 4:00 or 4:30 and tried to distract them with baths and books afterward. My plan didn't work, of course--the little monsters were on to me in no time and complained to Daddy. Another time I decided we needed a winter picnic to liven things up (and to get the heck out of the house). The idea would have worked out fine if only the kids hadn't kept crying about the cold. I guess I'm just lucky the neighbors didn't call the police".


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