Hi Community.
I have three kiddos. Two school-aged girls (4th @ 9years and 2nd @ 7years) and then a 3yr-old boy. We have homeschooled since the very beginning and my girls have never attended school until now. My children take violin/viola and practice Brazillian Jiujitsu and have friends through those activities. Up until the last two years (their brother needed a nap schedule), we were involved in play groups & co-ops - but these past two years have been a little more sparse in the regular interaction with other homeschool students and families.
Recently (also in the past two years), I have been struggling with health issues - what we can guess (doctors) - subacute lupus that is affecting the skin and to some degree the joints. This past summer it reached a new level of urgency in finding a diagnosis and treatment. So, we enrolled the girls in a very good school district (#5 in the state) - located 30 minutes from our house. My second grader wants to come home. My 4th grader has buddies (and is type A and thrives in a classroom) and doesn't really want to come back. My 3 year old and I spend 3 hours in the car every day - and frankly, it's taxing.
I'm so incredibly torn. Selfishly, I want my kids to come back....if the "break" was to help me reduce stress - driving so much is stressful, leaving the house early the feelings of rushing around are stressful, seeing that the curriculum is REALLY limited is stressful. BUT MY CHILDREN ARE "THRIVING" - they were thriving before - but I guess it's just so nice for other people to tell me.
On the other hand - my girls are obviously stressed. Super well behaved, happy, and popular at school, but at home, we are dealing with SO MUCH 'TUDE & disrespectful behavior.
Will I destroy my relationship with my older kid forever if I bring her home and she's not fully behind it?
Has anybody walked through a season like this?
Thanks for listening.