Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Oh right, it's February

I have not been much inspired to blog lately. I prefer to blog about growth, novelty, progress, discoveries, creative energy and fresh ideas. There hasn't been much of any of that. Lately I have felt mired in a swamp of boredom, stagnation, frustration, brick walls, lassitude and sickness.

And then it dawned on me. It's February! That explains everything. It's the traditional nadir of our upside-down learning year. Everything is always grey and ugly in February.

I hereby give myself permission not to sweat that Fiona is not interested in Hands-On Equations anymore and rarely even touches her Singapore Math. Not to fret over Sophie's increasing interest in computer games. Not to wonder why we're two weeks from having Erin home and I can't really point to anything tangible that has come out of the increased time I've supposedly had to devote to the other three kids. Not to tear my hair out over various string ensembles that have barely rehearsed since before Christmas, or if they have, have made little apparent progress. Not to look at the ever-present stinky disintegrating carpet and the absent deck. I won't worry that Noah can't tell you the name of the notes he can play so beautifully on viola, or that Sophie has begun complaining about going to aikido. I will set aside the feeling of impending doom I get when I think about the fact that test-anxiety-prone Noah is supposed to have completed the BC Grade 7 literacy & numeracy achievement testing by the end of the month. I will not get angry and depressed about the fact that my formerly-wonderful Canon ImageClass copier/printer seems to be dead. The heaps of laundry, the cobwebby ceilings ... I won't look, and I won't feel guilty. Picky eaters, slothful slovenly children, hens that are supposed to be laying hens but are actually just layabout hens, a dog that likes to sneak to the basement and poop in dark corners, days that seem simultaneously fleeting and interminable.

It's February. It will end.

9 comments:

  1. I hear ya. I so dislike that Blah February feeling. Perhaps you all have Seasonal Affective Disorder and a happy light would fix you right up!

    Still, I think it's healthy to have a period of mental "down-time" and it sounds like yours is now! Hubby and I were just talking about how important it is to take time to process and allow learning to sink in from time to time. I have this idea that real learning happens during this processing time when nothing tangible shows. Who knows... I am no expert.

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  2. Anonymous6:41 pm

    Hey, don't get me started about the cat that goes in carpeted closets to poop because he doesn't like the wood shavings that our cats are supposed to use and because the litter boxes at the Humane Society were in the closets. Or that my daughter is coming back next week after a month away, and what was supposed to be the "Month of Johanna" wither watching Netflix on line and playing Tetris on her sister's computer...

    Deborah

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  3. Thank you for this post! I'm a school teacher and we are so going through these same kinds of things in the class right now. I have been getting way too worked up about the blahness and the irritablity that has infiltrated our days. I will now keep repeating "It will end. It will end."

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  4. This is perhaps one of my favourite posts ;-)

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  5. Ack! We're going through the same things here! I know it always happens at this time of year and I know I shouldn't be bothered about it, but each year I work myself into a frenzy of guilt over what we're NOT doing. Thank you! I'm going to give myself permission not to sweat it. Spring will come and these blah feelings will end.
    (((HUGS)))

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  6. Anonymous5:54 am

    Yikes, typos! I meant to say that my younger daughter was supposed to do all kinds of cool stuff with me while her sister was away, and she spent it online watching movies and playing Tetris. Anyhow, it's a relief to know that we're not unique in this February thing.

    Deborah

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  7. Anonymous7:45 am

    That is January for us. I am glad that I am not the only one!

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  8. It just hit me - I've been reading your blog for a year. One of the first posts I read on your blog was last year around this time with the same type of theme. It was a wonderful post for a mom with young kids to read - to get me ready to be relaxed when that happens in our home.

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  9. Same stuff, different part of the country. We are having some blahs here, although we've noticed it's lighter now when we sit down to dinner, which makes us feel a bit more hopeful.

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