Perpetual State of Catch-Up

Since starting school this year two months ago, Casia has been sick a total of eight days. She's well today after three days off last week for a bad ear infection, and she's ready and eager to jump back in, but we're now two full school weeks behind. Our weeks are essentially four-day weeks because we spend Thursdays at her homeschooling group.

It really shouldn't matter because we're homeschooling, but my New-School-Year resolution was to keep to the schedule. We follow the public school year because of my son, and I really wanted to keep them on the same calendar. I have daily schedules, weekly schedules, monthly schedules and even one grand year-long schedule. I had everything broken down so that I knew exactly how much we would cover and I was determined to get through all the curriculum this year. But since the first week of school, I have felt like we are falling further and further behind..

If there is anything I've learned this past couple of years homeschooling, it's that I have got to stay flexible. Whether it's sick days, impromptu field trips, family emergencies or a need for curriculum change, I have to be ready to ditch what I've got, or at least make modifications, and move on from where I am. I've learned the importance of this, but I never feel satisfied with it.

I often wonder if this is a me factor. Am I unable to allot the proper time for the material to cover? Am I expecting too much? Am I too easily distracted? I think the answer is probably yes to all these, but it makes me wonder: are there other homeschoolers out there that are like me? Or are there some that never run into these hiccups? Casia reassures me that even in public school the teachers didn't always get everything accomplished and projects went unfinished. But it doesn't make me feel less frustrated.

I'm trying to let it go and I've already adjusted our schedule and topics to try to squeeze them in a shorter time, abbreviate what needs to be covered or just eliminating it all together. I just wonder if anyone else struggles with the feeling of being in a perpetual state of catch-up.