Last week, we were all sick. We fell ill at different times and we had different symptoms. It could have started as a ragweed allergy. Then, it became an infection and one of us even ended up with a high fever. Another had the beginning of bronchitis.
On a car in the parking lot at our co-op
When sickness strikes, all you can do is hunker down and do the bare minimum around the house: make tea, heat up soup, take out the trash overflowing with facial tissue, and rest. As such, it is a miracle that my son and I still managed to get our SAT prep done. We have a goal of 5 hours per week and we got it done through fits of cough and while downing gallons of herbal tea.
Since my daughter did not get sick until Friday, she and I managed to finish a chapter in her math book through the week. So yay for that.
There is a lot of learning that happens though through sickness. We can still read out loud from the history book and we can still do a devotional. The kids see the difference between tea with honey and lemon and plain tea.
They are more willing to try oregano essential oil as a home remedy – they are so sick and ready to feel better, they will ignore the horrible taste for a few minutes. Ginger tea – something else that we do not like but we have on hand for emergencies – becomes the star of the show, especially as it curbs coughing.
As my children learn about home remedies, they will remember them when they have children of their own. So, in essence, a sick week is still a school week, a learning week.
Personal Growth
In other news, we started reading John Maxwell’s book, The 15 Invaluable Laws of Personal Growth. I read to them out loud, one chapter a week, and we implement his suggestions. Every chapter has practical steps at the end. You just have to do it.
We are reading John Maxwell’s book out loud
I have one child who is very interested in personal growth and another one who does not care about it. In such cases, I recommend what John Assaraf recommends, “Reduce it to the ridiculous.”
You child will not read to herself for 20 minutes a day? Make her read five minutes. Sit there next to her with the timer set for five minutes and make sure she reads for five minutes. If she does not like the idea of five minutes, switch the goal to “one page.”
