It’s that time of year again. Back to school is just around the corner. If you’re not ready to face it just take a step into Wal-Mart, with their back to school aisles full of markers, binders and backpacks. It’s inevitable. My kids love back to school shopping, especially my sweet Hannah who is nearing the end of her high school career. There’s something about back to school that feels new, fresh even. Back to school time always becomes a time of reflection for me. A time to look back on what we’ve accomplished and how far we’ve come. This year I’m asking myself “have we really been doing this for going on 9 years?” Nearly a decade ago God stirred in our hearts the notion of homeschooling. To say it’s been more than we ever imagined going in would be an understatement. |
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It's a chilly morning with ice hanging from the tree branches like frozen sculptures. The weather threatens to stay below freezing all week with more chances for snow by the weekend. Personally I'm way past ready for the warmer days of spring, I have a feeling it's going to be a long February.
You can find tons of advice about going to Disney all over the web. I know this because I had an entire board on Pinterest devoted to it as I planned our first trip to "the most wonderful place on earth". So my disclaimer here is that I don't claim to have the secret tips that no one else knows about or hidden gem of advice that no one has ever thought of. I'm sure the things we found to be lifesavers are old news to veteran Disney goers. This is simply a few things we did and how our family of six was able to visit Disney without paying a royal fortune! It was a busy day. The toilet overflowed, the dog got into the trash and Kool-Aid spilled on the floor at least 3 times before 10am. Not to mention we were up to our ears in school work, have I mentioned there are days when teaching four separate grades can be a bit overwhelming to this momma? “Mom can you help me with my grammar?” “Mom will you help me figure out this algebra problem? I don’t know where I went wrong.” “When’s lunch?” “What does this say?” “Tell him to stop touching my paper!!” “Can I have a granola bar?” “Can we go to the park?” “Why do I have to write a paragraph for each answer? Can’t I just tell you what it is?” Sigh!! Have you ever wanted to lock yourself in the bathroom to save your sanity. I’ve done it. Honestly locked the door, laid down on the floor, shut my eyes and dreamed of the beach. Of course that doesn’t last long since it doesn’t take more than a minute or two for the kids to figure out I’m gone and then they are knocking on the bathroom door, inquiring “what are you doing.” “Mom, I can’t find my charger to my ipod” “When’s lunch!!??” When my husband and I made the choice to start homeschooling we were pioneers among our family and friends. Most everyone wondered what we were doing and why in the world we would do it. So, in the very beginning, we didn’t have the wisdom of an experienced homeschooler to give us advice. No one told me there would be days when I, myself, would question my decision and one more spill to clean or argument to break up would threaten to push my sanity over the edge. Don’t misunderstand, when we made our choice we never once considered going back. But there have been days when I’ve looked around at my house and thought of how clean it would be if I had even two hours a day to myself. Homeschool moms don’t get much of a break. While my husband is wonderful about making a point to get me out of the house once a month, I still spend 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with my children. I love it and I wouldn’t have it any other way, but that doesn’t mean I don’t get burned out and lose sight of the bigger picture from time to time. This morning I hear my littles laughing from the living room as they play the Wii and the teens are still asleep (in their defense it's only 8am lol). The house is mostly clean, which is a little unusual for this time of the morning. And I am on my first cup of tea. It's a rare, peaceful morning, as most moms can probably relate mornings are usually full of demands. I was spending some time listening to my littles talk and reflecting on how completely they trust their dad and I. Of course they believe the things we tell them, or promises we make. They've not had a reason to doubt it. But this morning I was reflecting on the way they trust things unspoken and believe we will take care of their every need. And that's when I began to wonder why we as children of God do not trust him completely with every aspect of our lives. As we are nearing the end of yet another school year I hear a lot of talk regarding testing. Many people, including other homeschoolers, are taken aback at our decision to forgo all achievement tests for our children below high school. Yes I know, we should probably make sure they are learning "at their grade level" but we've never felt that a standard test can accurately evaluate our children on all the levels we consider important. To us, education is more than academics. It's the whole child. And no one, or test, can better assess OUR children than we can.
In our house we are big on traditions and celebrating. We don't always do it up big, usually it's just the six of us celebrating birthdays and occasionally the grandparents come over. But whether it's having a family game night or an impromptu auction for drawn/colored/painted "masterpieces", we are big on making memories. This year our oldest son was turning thirteen and since it was such a milestone, becoming a teenager and all, we wanted to do something special. Since his sister's birthday was a mere week away from his we decided to combine the celebrating and that's when the epic idea of a Hunger Games themed birthday party, girls vs boys paint war was born. It's nearly the first of May and I'm feeling it, that burned out feeling. I love the beginning of the year with its thrill of new ideas and excitement. Somehow at that time of the year I'm always blissfully forgetful about May and its year end blahs. Even after seven years of homeschooling, the euphoria of August and its illusion of a perfect, fun-filled year of learning overshadows my memory of that end of the year burnout. Thankfully having a network of other homeschool moms on Facebook helps me to see that I'm not the only one. For the past few weeks I've seen enough posts about being happy for the year to be over to keep me from feeling like a complete failure. We were blessed to be able to spend the holiday weekend with family from out of town. The kids enjoyed spending time with their cousin (who, after living with us for some time a year ago, feels more like their sister. We definitely enjoy it when she comes "home". We found out that you are never too old for a glow in the dark Easter egg hunt, baskets and bubbles. I'm sweetly thrilled to see that even though we have teens in the house they still find excitement in all the traditions we have always enjoyed.
Summer is just around the corner and that makes this cold hating momma so happy. The kids are starting to enjoy the spring weather and look forward to summer days in the backyard. I was browsing back through some older pictures and realized how much bigger my kids have gotten just since last summer. My oldest teen started wearing makeup, my son who was lanky this time last year suddenly has broader shoulders and a deeper voice. The littles still look the same but are loosing those baby face cheeks and they are showing their age more in their maturity. It seems like when raising kids the days are busy, long and at times redundant but when looking back over the pictures I am always surprised at how quickly they've grown. Proving the old adage to be true; the days are long but years short. |
About MeI'm Becca, a former chocolate junkie, herbal enthusiast, curriculum writer, homeschool mom to four active kids, wife to my jack of all trades hubby, blessed child of God. Archives
November 2018
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