It has been a long while since I updated my blog, but I
thought that it was time to brush off the cobwebs.
For those who are new here, I am Gabrielle, a first time homeschool
mama to two. I have a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Masters of Science in
Educational Psychology. I work full time at an office manager for a local
university. I have 3 children ages 11, 8, and 5 months. My husband and I
have been married for 14 years, and we have a sweet, orange beagle called
Maple.
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| Lennon and Mama at 2 months old. |
Now for the life update for all my other readers:
During the year of our Lord 2020, a new little person joined
our family of four. Now, we are a Watson Party of Five. Little Lennon is just 5
months old. He knows nothing of the world around him except his immediate
family and both Gavin’s and my families. He has rarely had interactions with
our friends and certainly none with coworkers, PTA, baby classes or even some
of our besties. It has been a weird 5 months in our life, and I am sure yours
too. However, this is life in a pandemic, and I am grateful for being able to work from home, care for my family, and be alive when so many people are ill or dead.
We found out when Lennon was four months old, that I was
still immunocompromised from pregnancy. My body has not fully healed itself
from the trauma that is pregnancy and birth, so on one of my very few
excursions out of the house, I picked up a minor virus. It began as a low-grade fever and within
days I was begging for that low-grade fever and chills to return when I was running
fevers ranging from 104—106.7 regularly. I wound up in the hospital with sepsis,
tachycardia, and systemic inflammatory response syndrome for several days.
While being treated, the doctors could not determine what caused my mystery
illness. I was in the covid wing of the ER for over 24 hours while they tried
to admit me to a nearby hospital (all local beds were full). Luckily, both of my
covid tests came back negative, and I was transferred by ambulance to a
hospital just minutes away. It took me another 2 weeks to recover from my
ordeal. As a nursing mother, I am not sure if my milk supply has fully returned
yet, but I hope so. Lennon does not seem to notice too much. That was a long
story, but I am happy and healthy for the most part, BUT this was the leading
reason is why we chose to homeschool this year.
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| I spent a total of 5 days in the hospital in June with sepsis. |
Also, I still scrapbook, and I still bargain shop. I rarely
practice photography, but do it for friends and family when I can. I am also a
freelance resume writer when folks need their resumes updated. Check out my
Facebook page: www.facebook.com/watsonresumes
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| Disney tri-fold interactive scrapbook folio that I created in July 2020. |
So, this post is really about our reasons to homeschool:
I am immunocompromised, and we have an infant with a
developing immune system.
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| Lennon at 4 months old. |
There are some other reasons of course that we chose
homeschooling for our family too, but those are not important. I am proud that we
have successfully survived AND THRIVED through our first week of homeschool. I
am here to tell you that it is doable, even if you work full time. Give yourself
grace. Be flexible, and you do not need everything to start homeschooling.
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| Our very first day of homeschool ever, July 27, 2020, all the kids enjoyed their first day. |
In the next few posts, I will talk about our academic
calendar, our method/curriculum, our homeschool space (aka dining room), our
daily schedule, our reference materials, and keep updating you on our daily
lives.
You can also follow my journey on Instagram @fromwatsonwithlove – I post
pretty much daily, and share a lot of stories.
Leave some love, if you enjoy posts like these or you are on a similar journey to ours. I would love to be part of a community of #newhomeschoolers.
Disclosure: Bear in mind that some of the links in this and other posts are affiliate links. If you click on them and make a purchase, I may make a small commission. I only link to items that are tried and true for our family. I will not link to items or services that I do not like. The commission I make, if any, is minuscule.
