by Tricia
There has been something else going on that was helping to drive the cutting of my hours. I have debated discussing it on here because it involves our son. I try to respect privacy as much as I can so that’s why I don’t write about neighbors or my siblings. Discussing my son is tough. I don’t want him to grow up and be mad that I discussed him. But I would welcome some public comment on it so I am treading lightly with it and keeping out some of the details.
Let’s just say that another reason I wanted to cut my hours was so I had more time to work with my son with school-related items. Even with some extra assistance at school, my son is struggling. He’s a bright kid, but he needs extra guidance that a teacher with 24 kids in the class cannot give. For example, he brought home a worksheet that was littered with wrong marks. I sat down, explained it to him and he was able to complete it just fine.
When I was working full-time, he wasn’t very receptive to doing more work by the time I got off work. He was already in “winding down” time and even reading was met with frustration. Since cutting my hours, I have been able to work with him about an hour a day shortly after he gets home from school. Then he starts shutting down. I can’t say I blame him. After 8 hours of work I don’t really want to go back to work either. So I have been trying to have some structured work with him and then I sneak things in here and there.
In the back of my mind, I am wondering if homeschooling would be the best option. Homeschooling isn’t cheap, though. While you can do it frugally by finding used material or by using some of the great free information on the internet, there is also the lost income of the parent that is teaching to take into consideration. That is the part I am really having a hard time with right now. Then again, I asked him the other day if he likes school. For the first time since preschool, he said he didn’t like it. He is even concerned with his performance and frustration is setting in. I can sense that his attitude towards learning is turning sour and that really concerns me.
Even if all of our debt was paid off (mortgage and school loans included), homeschooling would still be rough on our finances. It is a tough decision to make for more than just the financial implications, but that is a big one for us to overcome at this point. I’m wondering if any of you reading out there has been in a situation like ours and would be willing to offer some insight.
