Day 132 - A Rainy Day of Worldschooling in Italy

Day 132 started the same way as the last couple… slow, quiet, and with the sound of rain outside. Another sleep in, another grey sky, and another day where a run just wasn’t going to happen. We were all keen, but stepping outside made that decision pretty easy. Too wet, too miserable, so we stayed in.

We eased into the morning with coffees and no real rush to do anything. Kia jumped into a Tabata workout straight away, while I sat back for a bit longer before eventually getting moving and doing one myself just as she was finishing up. It actually worked out well, both of us getting a solid hit-out in without needing to leave the house.

Emmett and I did our usual run to the local shop for fresh bread rolls, then came back to get the day rolling properly. Kia got stuck into setting up schoolwork for the kids, but Maddie had other ideas. She wanted to bake first. So the three of us headed back to the shop, grabbed some Oreos, and before long she was in the kitchen making Oreo cupcakes. Once that was done, she was finally ready to sit down and focus.

I ducked upstairs and got stuck into the website again. It’s in a good place now, more maintenance than build, which has been nice, but I’ve found myself wanting something else to put time into. So I’ve been going down the rabbit hole a bit… researching ideas, trying to figure out what I actually want to build, what problem I want to solve, who I want to help. No clear answer yet, but I’ve been enjoying that process of just thinking and exploring.

Not long after, Maddie and Emmett came up and pulled me away again. They wanted to go back to the shop for something else, but this time it was all a secret. I wasn’t allowed to see what they were getting, so we’ll find out what that was about later on.

Back at the house, Kia and the kids got into their schoolwork properly, and it feels like we’ve finally found a rhythm with it. What started out a bit messy and uncertain is now flowing really well. The kids are engaging, we’re seeing progress, and it just feels more natural. We’ve realised we probably need to be a bit more consistent with how long we stick to each subject and make sure we revisit things so it actually sticks, but overall it’s working.

The rain didn’t let up all afternoon, so there was no real temptation to head out. Instead of forcing it, we just let the kids do their thing. They’ve been crafting heaps, drawing, building, creating… and it’s been good to just let that happen. No pressure to go sightseeing or tick boxes, just letting the day be what it is.

We tried to get a movie going in the afternoon so we could all sit down together, but that fell apart pretty quickly when no one could agree on what to watch. So we drifted back into our own little spaces for a while until dinner.

Kia took over in the kitchen again, and after we ate it was the usual wind-down into showers and bed. Nothing overly exciting, no big moments, just a simple, cruisy day.

But those are the days where you realise things are actually working. Even stuck inside with constant rain, the kids are happy, they’re creative, they’re not at each other, and they’re not constantly asking for more. We’ve found a bit of a groove as a family, and that’s been the biggest win out of today.