Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Computer Mama

Have you ever wished you could be in two places at the same time? If you're a Mama I bet you've wished that more than once! Tonight I was... well sort of... thanks to technology and quick thinking.

Let's face it, we all want to be "perfect" mothers, and spend our leisurely hours sitting at the kitchen table tutoring our kids until they are geniuses... unfortunately life sometimes gets in the way... read on!

Last Saturday Hubby flew out to a camp job quite a distance away. He's up in the Queen Charlotte's and will be gone sometime between 2 to 4 months. I'm feeling a bit stressed because not only do I have all my jobs to do, but his as well. Although things will eventually fall into a routine, tonight was a bit hectic. Take water out and lock up the chickens, fill the wheelbarrow with wood and load the stove, get supper done, then the dishes, etc., etc., etc., ... all about the same time Sydney is asking me to please read out her spelling words. Arrrrrgh! In the time it would take me to read her spelling list I could have a bunch of this stuff done, and not only that but she will ask me again tomorrow night, and then the next, and then the next after that. What's a Mama to do? I grab my headset, bring up "sound recorder" on the laptop, hit record, and quickly read out her spelling words. I teach her to hit pause using the space bar, write out the word, and then hit the space bar again to resume. Wala, I'm in two places at the same time. She can simply click on the file and play it anytime this week... Ain't technology grand? :)

6 comments:

tanita✿davis said...

This is BRILLIANT.
When I was teaching we had listening centers and it was easy enough for me to come up with a simple story and insert their spelling words for the week so that they had context, pronunciation, definition AND spelling. Tech really makes learning go better if you just use it! Go, Mom!

Little Ol' Liz said...

Just further proff of what I've alway s thought -- you have MAD parenting skills, Kansas. Rockin' good solution. I hope the time your Hubby is away goes quickly and without problem(s).

Oma said...

Wish I could be there. What a great idea. She has one smart Mama!

Love Ya!

Anonymous said...

Right on Kansas...Only you would think of something like that...I would have had her follow me around while I was doing those jobs..That's why you get an A for being a great MaMa!!!....Pat

Anonymous said...

What an awesome idea. I should get my kids to read their own lists and then spell them. You could use that for lots of things.

David T. Macknet said...

Totally cool, and a great use of technology! What's it for, if not that?