De-inning

Many parents who pull their kids out of brick-and-mortar schools to home school them speak of the need to let the kids de-school. During the de-schooling period, you should avoid setting up a rigid schedule or expecting much academic work from your kids. Instead, you are supposed to read a ton, watch educational videos, and take field trips. Just get used to being at home, they say. The recommended de-schooling time varies, but some suggest one month for every year your child was in school.

In many ways, I feel like I've been de-inning since we moved to the house at the end of August. I haven't been a complete lump on a log; I don't think that's possible with four kids. I'm still working full time. The house is at a reasonable level of cleanliness. The kids are maintaining their usual level of outside activities, which, admittedly, is not much this time of year, and I have my weekly Pilates class. Michael and I have joined a monthly book group that we enjoy, and we were both involved in a local theater production in February.

All that said, I find that home is my favorite place to be. If we don't have a specific invitation (which I do enjoy!), I have no desire to seek out something to do. I'm quite content to sit in front of the fire with Michael and read. Or, when the weather is nice, sit out on the deck and listen to the birds and the sound of the creek.

I can't even quite muster the energy to start the projects that await. With eight acres, there is plenty to do outside. And at some point I really would like to paint over the orange walls in the basement.

I've been feeling guilty about my sloth, but when I mentioned that to a pair of local innkeepers, they immediately pooh-poohed my professions of guilt. "Of course you want to stay home and not do anything!" Which reminded me of de-schooling.

According to the one month for every year formula, I should be approaching the end of de-inning sometime between the end of March and the end of April. And I have noticed a faint desire for spring cleaning and yard work stirring deep inside.

Maybe, just maybe, it's time to come back to the real world.