Oh, the joys of homeschooling!

You know, if someone had told me that homeschooling my kids would be easy, I would have believed them.  I wouldn't have known any better.  Dear God, now I do!

Its bad enough that we chose the first year of homeschooling for our oldest son when he was 13 years old.  Its bad enough that my youngest, 10, is ADD with an auditory processing disorder.  Still, I felt confident.  I'm smart.  My kids are smart.  I have worked as a teacher in some way, shape, or form for as far back as I can remember.  Granted, I was never actually an official teacher.  But between Sunday School, teacher's aide, preschool teaching, or even the trainers position I held at a retail store, surely I could manage my two kids.
How could I have been so obtuse?  Oh, there were good moments . . . there were great moments!  The learning process was very painful, though.
So, here's what I learned.  While I knew the problems I faced in teaching my children, I was not prepared for the fact that I would have to search for ways to approach the concepts.  You can order the curriculum, you can get the support offered from the suppliers of said curriculum.  You can be presented with the concepts to teach and even the ways to approach the concepts.  What I couldn't plan for was that everything given to me to teach my youngest (with auditory processing disorder) how to multiply, would only create frustration in both of us.  Or that getting my oldest to understand percent, rate, and ratio would get us both hot under the collar.  I had to do some serious creative thinking.  And I'm happy to say they both learned these concepts (and all the rest) without any major bloodshed.  Who could have foreseen that my youngest took to division like a duck to water, after all the fighting over multiplication?
The joys, though, far outweigh the frustrations.  Watching my youngest finally grasp the concept, having him demonstrate it to me, seeing that light in his eyes and knowing that HE KNEW he knew, was awesome.  Seeing my two boys, who fought like cats and dogs, develop comraderie and inside jokes and a general tolerance of each other, was amazing.  The ensuing peace was beautiful!  Sure, we still have squabbles.  But the tolerance wins out every time.  And maybe they have developed a friendship as well.  My oldest is going through the hormonal, self-study stage that comes with the age range he is entering in to.  I find that he has created in me a confidant, which I am loving!  If we can keep the communication open, then I'm not AS worried about what's in store.  Plus, if my youngest sees that big brother can come to me, then perhaps we, too, will have that communication.
Sure, I didn't really like the grade-keeping, the testing days (Mom, why can't I just use a calculator?), the struggle to get them up and learning.  But we managed to get the subjects learned.  We managed to have some fun (the book of 101 Science Experiments was a huge hit with my youngest) and even to learn how to get along too.