Baseball Knitter

Whenever I speak at homeschooling conferences I remind new homeschooling parents that it's important to remember the word "home" in homeschooling. Presented with many wonderful opportunities for their children, many parents believe they should sign their children up for everything so they don't miss any experience or opportunity. Often by February these parents and their children are burned out. They are tired and, truth be told, often behind in their schoolwork (behind being a relative term for every child or family). This is because in order to homeschool well it is important to be home some of the time.

We live in the country. We love our home, neighborhood and town. I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. The only real downside is that we are at least 25 minutes from anything - and often it's more like 45 minutes. I've had a busy week so far. On Monday I had to get a new driver's license as my old on had expired on my birthday. This meant driving 45 minutes each way to the DMV. On Tuesday I brought our kitten to be fixed - driving 45 minutes each way twice. Yesterday I drove my middle son to the airport so he could fly to Florida to visit my mother - another 45 minute drive each way plus the requisite waiting at the airport.

Today I do not have to be anywhere. I can't tell you how free that makes me feel. I listened to NPR on the computer this morning while I did a little knitting. I was able to walk this morning for the first time all week. I have laundry going and the kitchen floor washed. I plan to clean both the family and living rooms. Dinner is already planned and will be simple and delicious. I feel like I can breathe.

Next week our baseball schedule kicks into full gear. My oldest son has practice or a game every day of the month except Sundays (which could happen in case of rain). He often has practice or games for different teams in different towns on the same day. My younger boys will have baseball three times a week but Mr. Baseball is their coach which makes the transportation easy. Although we normally eat dinner together every single night at the dining room table this will not be possible for the next month. We'll have to do a lot of eating on the run and my oldest will have to eat a lot of sandwiches in the car as he changes his uniform and we drive from one town to another. We will all survive but by the end of baseball in June we'll be very ready for it to be over.

I need to keep myself healthy during this time. This means daily walks, plenty of sleep and eating well. It will take discipline but it can be done.

I'm hoping that I can continue to knit during baseball. I got lots of knitting done last year during practices. It's somewhat weather dependent - it's hard to knit when it's too hot or rainy or when the black flies are swarming. At least I can knit at night when everyone's home and showered. It's always easy to knit during Red Sox games (woohoo, what a game last night!). Knitting helps me feel centered. It calms and relaxes me. It makes me feel that I accomplished something. This is why I'm the Baseball Knitter.