While homeschooling, disruptions are inevitable. Maybe not every day, but even with the best laid plans, they are bound to happen occasionally. Thankfully, the following disruption happened one afternoon when our structured studies were already finished for the day. If this had happened in the middle of our morning, our routine would have been quite sabotaged.
On a lovely spring afternoon, I opened the windows and doors to let in the fresh air. While the children played in the backyard, I worked in my flower garden in the front yard. The weather was warm and sunny. After a while, I needed a drink of water and walked in the front door. There, in the front room, what was lying in my path to the kitchen? A snake! Knowing they could hear me through the screen slider, I used my biggest voice and hollered, “Boys!” As they came running, Ben said to his brother Daniel, “I think the snakes got out. I can tell by her voice.”
This occurred on a Monday. Over the weekend, the boys had been happily collecting garter snakes from the pasture behind our house. On Sunday afternoon, they decided to keep a couple of them for a few days and put them in a spare aquarium. This was common practice for our boys—to keep critters for a short time, after which they would turn them loose again. Brian had supervised the transfer of the snakes to the aquarium. At the end of the day, I asked Brian if the screened lid was secure on the aquarium. He assured me that it was, but I did not double check.
After the boys returned the loose snake to the aquarium and secured the lid properly, the hunt was on for the second snake. At one point, Ben and I were searching the closet in his and Daniel’s room. As I thought of Brian being out of town for the next few nights, I said, “Ben, I don’t want this snake to crawl over me in my bed in the night.” My six-year-old said with quite an adult-sounding tone of voice, “Mom, a snake is not going to crawl over you in your bed.”When we passed through the kitchen, we noticed that our orange tabby cat Milo was tipping his head to peer under the refrigerator. Ah … perhaps that is where the second snake is hiding. Sure enough, after looking ourselves with the help of a flashlight, we found snake number two. I expect he liked the warmth of that dark space. The boys were excited and wanted me to move our huge refrigerator. They just could not understand why Mommy couldn’t lift the fridge, so they could grab the snake. I informed two disappointed little boys, “It will have to wait until Daddy gets home.”
My husband traveled for work, spending two or three nights out for most weeks of the year. That evening after the children went to bed, Brian and I had our normal phone call. When he was out of town, we usually talked for about thirty minutes each evening. About halfway through our conversation, I said, “Oh, and there’s a snake under the refrigerator.” There was a long pause on the other end of the line. Then Brian asked, “Are you okay?” I replied, “Oh yeah, the snake’s not going anywhere because Milo is standing guard.” Then my kind and patient husband went on to say, “I’m so proud of you, honey. You didn’t call and leave me a scathing voice message.” This is something I was occasionally guilty of doing, especially if I thought the current crisis was ultimately Brian’s fault. He would say that he could take the blame, his shoulders were broad. But instead, I replied, “Well, this is nothing compared to last week’s head lice.”
Whether it’s snakes or head lice, you might wonder if anything can be redeemed from such disruptions to your homeschooling. Can anything be learned? Maybe not necessarily academics, but learning life skills and building character can certainly redeem the day.
I learned that for recently captured critters, I better double-check that the aquarium lid is secure. My sons learned that Mom does not appreciate loose snakes in the house. We all learned that our cat Milo earns his keep serving as a snake guard. And we all learned to practice patience, waiting for Dad to come home and help us bring this lesson to a final close. No matter the disruption, at the end of the day, I bet you can find something valuable that you and your children learned.
I leave you with a photo of the pollinator garden in my neighborhood. Have a good weekend!