Tidbits

Sometimes the best moments are moments that I forget after a few days.

When Victoria lost her first tooth (which was SO tiny), she received an Eisenhower bicentennial dollar from the Tooth Fairy.  She got up the next morning and was so thrilled that the tooth that was SO small could get such a LARGE coin!!  

Today while shopping at the mall, the kids saw Santa and his one elf sitting and waiting for children to arrive. My kids felt sorry for him and they said they wanted to go keep him company.  Victoria said she was going to ask him what HE wanted for Christmas.  They all had a good chuckle over that!

Some days....

Some days I want to quit.  I want to go hide somewhere no one can find me and ask me for anything.  I want to send the kids on that yellow bus and have seven glorious hours to myself.  I want to not hear any words for ten minutes.  I want to clean something and have it stay that way.  I want to get caught up with my scrapbooking.

Some days I wonder why I'm doing what I'm doing.  Does it make a difference?  Does it make enough of a difference?  Couldn't I just send them to school and get the same result?  Everybody else does it - why can't I?

Something odd about these thoughts....they're usually at night.  After a decent nights' sleep and some time spent with the Creator of the universe, I'm usually okay.

God says trouble will come. God says to stay strong.  God says He'll always be with me.  God tells the truth.  God IS truth.  God is who He says He is.  God can do what He says He can do.  I am who God says I am. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.  God's word is alive and active in me.

I'm not alone.  I can do this.  I can't do it on my own, of course.  I need God.  I can't do anything without Him.  He called me to do this.  I know that.  I know we're doing the right thing.  I just need a little encouragement.

Maybe that's why God keeps nudging me to encourage others.  Because it's so necessary.  Sometimes you're so close to just chucking it all - and that word of encouragement will make ALL THE DIFFERENCE.

Encouraged!

I have been homeschooling my kids since the oldest was five.  He's now thirteen (Lord, have mercy!).  This past week I finally went to a homeschooling convention.

I had no idea what to expect.  I had read some people's suggestions on what to do once you were there, but didn't really know how or even really why I should go.  But hey, when your husband says, "sure, go away for three days and two nights by yourself in a city 2 hours away and stay in a nice hotel", you're an idiot if you don't go.

I'm so glad I went.

I got there on Thursday, checked into the hotel (a KING-sized bed all to myself!!), and then walked the seven (wait, what?) blocks uphill (no, not both ways) to the convention center.  Lots of people milling around, getting checked in, looking at books.  Okay....so???

Then I went to the first workshop, Transcript Boot Camp.  The entire convention paid for itself in that three hour "class".  I left thinking, I CAN homeschool through high school!!!!  We wanted to, but I didn't really know how on earth I could....and how I could prove we did a good job.  Inge Cannon rocks.

Next day was good too, and I got to go to the Exhibit Hall and see all the vendors.  Way overwhelming.  I went to the Used Curriculum Sale.  COOL stuff on sale!!

But Saturday....I was just going to leave early and not go to anything after the keynote speaker.  But, well, there's a workshop that's supposed to be very encouraging.

IT WAS.  I laughed, I cried.  I love Rick Andreassen.

By the time I got home Saturday afternoon, I was wiped out.  That's okay.  I'm still sorting through my books so I can fit in the new ones.  That's actually fun and freeing.

Most of all, I'm still soaking in what I was taught and what I learned.  I hope I don't forget any of it.  I had some random stranger talk to me in the hall.  She said, "don't change what you're doing just because one of these speakers said to.  If what you're doing works, LEAVE IT ALONE."  Do you know how encouraging that is to someone who wonders every day if she's "ruining" her kids?

Anyway, I went, I saw, I learned, and I am so blessed to be home with my kids, with the blessing of my husband, and God's mercy to see me through this part of our journey.

It was worth it

Some days are horrible and I just want to send my kids on that bright yellow bus and have a few hours of peace and quiet.  Some days are just ordinary and I can handle it.  Yesterday was one of the good days, when I remember why I homeschool and we laugh and enjoy ourselves.

For those who don't know, I started playing the flute at age eight, piano at ten, did a year of french horn in school, and was in chorus from fourth grade all the way through high school.  I love music.  I have not done the greatest job of passing that love on to my kids.  We've tried doing piano lessons and learning how to read music, but my kids were never terribly interested.

Out of desperation, I got Beethoven's Wig, a CD of classical music.  The first time you hear the piece, they've added lyrics.  The next time, it's just the piece of music.  My kids love it!  However, I realized the other day that the kids couldn't identify instruments by ear.  So I hunted down a website where they could learn more about instruments.  It's called The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra, by Benjamin Britten.

My kids - all four of them - loved it and sat through the whole presentation and game, which was probably an hour or so. Then, we pulled out all of our instruments.  I have a violin, clarinet, flute, and trumpet.  I always hoped to have a Music Room where my children would play.  They all tried all of them and we're going to start lessons on the instruments they liked best!

It was so cool to see which instruments the boys gravitated to (Peter to the clarinet, Jonathan to the violin), and hysterical to hear the girls get the best sound out of the trumpet!!

Extra-curricular

I hate extra-curricular activities.  No, wait, let me explain.  When I was younger, kids got to be kids.  We played with our neighbors, did our chores, spent time with family and played (did I say that already?).  Extra-curricular activities were for junior high and high schoolers.  Now, everyone starts their kids at age five in some sort of sport or artistic activity.  Parents pay big bucks for their kids to be involved in these activities and family schedules revolve around them .  Pfffttt...

If you decide to buck the trend and make your kid wait until he or she is older, they're simply screwed.  My younger son just turned 11 and has started asking about baseball.  The neighbor's dad (the son is in baseball) made the off-hand comment that my son should really start practicing because every other kid has been involved since they were five.  So can my kids ever compete?  Will they always be woefully behind because I didn't have them in soccer every season since they were six?

I have news for you.  Kids need time to play.  To figure things out on their own.  To learn how to handle peers without the structure demanded by adult-led programs.  Kids need to know that the world does not revolve around them.  Kids need to know that relationships are more important than activities.

We're raising kids who don't have responsibilities at home and whose families' lives revolve around THEIR sports/arts.

And we wonder why young people think that everything should be handed to them.

A Schedule?

Ugh.  Just that word, "schedule", drives me nuts.  I know I need one, I know the kids need one....I even LIKE schedules....I just don't like to follow one.  No, check that, I don't like to feel like I HAVE to follow one.

However, as more and more gets added to our lives (and I work REALLY hard to control how much is added), I see the need more and more for a schedule.  A flexible one.

I have to be up by 6:30 or I don't exercise or read my Bible.  I'm a much nicer person if I read my Bible in the morning - trust me.  Or ask my kids - they know!

All the kids need to be up by 9.  There's only one kid who has a problem with that, and I know it's going to get worse as he gets older (he's only 13).  I get the whole "teenagers need to sleep" thing, but in the real world, he wouldn't get to, and I think he needs to know that.

Chores have to get done in the morning or they don't get done.  School needs to be mostly done by lunch, or it's not going to get done.  I have to meal plan.  This is a biggie.

Here's the crazy thing.  Everyone likes having a schedule.  They don't say so, but they're happier when they know what's coming.  I hear less complaining and they work harder.

Fine.  I'll follow a schedule.

Why am I Here?

If you're anything like me, you wonder and stress over many things.  Am I doing enough?  Am I doing too much?  Should I continue homeschooling?  Should I send them to public school?  I could go on and on.

Here's the thing.  I posted on Facebook one day about how I wanted to kick my kids off to school and do what everyone else is doing.  The best comment BY FAR was this one:  "Please define "do what everyone else is doing?" Because mostly, that means working a job to pay for the gas to commute to that job, the food that you couldn't cook because you were commuting, and the mobile phones for your kids so you can keep track of them while you're apart (most of the day). Nah, stick with the zero-commute home life. :)"

What a great reminder.  Thanks, John.