Homeschooling two little children, aged 6 years old and 5 years old, is admittedly quite challenging especially when one throws in a toddler and a baby to the mix, in addition to the daily chores that come with managing a household. Oftentimes, I am barely able to finish the day's manual for each of the two children.  When I do, it would be already already time to cook dinner.  Sometimes, I homeschool as I cook.  Rare are the times when I am able to finish in the early afternoon, and rarer are the times when I finished the manuals without feeling so spent.  But somehow, it gets done.  There is just no other choice.   We chose this lifestyle and whether we like it or not, we need to rise to its challenges.  And this is the story of how we handle it.    While a large part of the job falls into my hands, homeschooling is in fact a joint effort between my husband, Husband, and me. How does Husband help?  Let me count the ways:

1. He makes life easy for me.   He prepares breakfast when he can, even when he himself needs to rush to school to prepare for his own classes. 

2. When he does not prepare the breakfast, he teaches part of the lessons for the day - mostly Math. 

3. He tries to lessen my chores.  When he does breakfast, he makes sure that there are no preparation dishes that are left for me to wash.  He also took to buying disposable plates and utensils so that I do not have to worry about dirty dishes in the sink.  He even buys this kind -

the dainty little flowers do take the sting out of eating out of  paper plate.  

4. He is our person-of-last resort: the superintendent, the principal, the arbitrator, most of all, the husband and Daddy who we call at every sign of trouble in homeschool - mostly, a child who does not want to do his work, who would not pay attention when told to several times.  Of course, it is never about Mommy.

5. He finishes whatever part of the lesson that I was not able to do during the day.

6. He lets me have some relaxing me-time in the evenings and on weekends too. 

7. He takes a child to his office when he can and teaches him there.

He does all of those and some.  I think that I have a great helpmate in my husband.  He is really really really wonderful.  (Sssshhhh!  Just between us, will he now get me that camera that I have been pining for?)