I am always so amazed at how 'easy' it is when one kid gets taken out of the mix. It doesn't matter which kid, but something about the dynamic of 2 versus 3 is so much easier. Cameron stayed at my in-laws last night, which gave Logan and Brody some "best-bud" time. Then, my mother in law graciously took the boys to see Epic, and I almost didn't know what to do with myself ;) Should I pay bills, exercise, do laundry, do dishes, clean, read??? So, I decided to do something that I don't normally get to do when the boys are around... go for a walk. Pretty mellow stuff. It was a rare occasion in which I didn't have scooters nipping at my heels, or having to answer thousands of highly intellectual questions. Moments like that, although infrequent, are so nice because they give me an opportunity to think, pray, and reflect.
While walking today, one thought in particular stood out far above the others; "So this is what it would be like EVERY single day if my boys were in 'regular' school (as opposed to homeschool). I would have so much free time." But guess what? I didn't feel like I was missing out. Correction, I don't feel like I am missing out.
As many of you know, homeschool was never in 'our plan'. I never had a desire to be that mom, or quite frankly, to have those kids. We all know that most homeschool kids have a 'label' attached to them, it might be a positive connotation, but more likely it is 'nerdy', 'anti-social', or 'weird'. I'm not going to lie, I labeled 'them'. I attended a home school conference. I didn't fit in... at all. I wear makeup, and many of those precious women do not care about that. High five to them, but I like makeup, and I would probably get really tired of people asking me if I was sick, when in reality, I was just bare faced. Many of those sweet women also sew their own clothes. Considering it takes me about 3 months to sew the arms back on the boys stuffed animals, I would probably be in the same dress everyday, and it would have just one sleeve sewn on. The biggest difference I noted between most of the home school families and myself was that our boys play sports. Most of the mothers I spoke with said that they either didn't believe in sports, or their children weren't interested. Our boys play sports 12 months out of the year. Sports has been a big reason why homeschool does work so well for us. And, outside of the homeschool conference world, we have met numerous wonderful families who are similar to us :)
This isn't a post about why you should homeschool, because it's definitely not for everyone. However, I'm amazed by the moms who find out that we homeschool and look at me in bewilderment and say "Wow, that's really great, but I could never do that." There is nothing that sets me apart from them... aside from the fact that I have a desire to homeschool. It's as simple as that. Not everyone has that desire, and that's OK! I didn't always have that desire :) I just decided that I really wanted to spend more time with my kids. I wanted to be the one to raise them. I desire to be their main influence. I desire for them to have more rest. I desire for them to stay innocent for as long as possible. I desire to cater to each of their educational needs. I desire so much more for them than what they were receiving in traditional school. Homeschool allows us those things. It works for us. On most days it works really great for us. It is time consuming, and some days it's really hard, but 90% of the time it is smooth(ish) sailing. The boys thank me for homeschooling them. They enjoy it, which is a blessing, because it would be really difficult if they didn't. There are rough days, days where I am not proud of my behavior or reactions to situations. Thankfully those are outnumbered by the good days :)
When school was ending several weeks ago, I spoke with many mothers who said that their kids were already driving them up a wall. They (guiltily) said they were looking forward to the end of summer vacation. I can understand what they are saying. I remember those first couple of weeks after school got out and my boys didn't know what to do with themselves. They would constantly bicker and be bored out of their minds by 9am. Homeschool has given us such a cool routine that the boys have learned how to keep themselves busy. It's normal for them to be home during the day, so we didn't have to go through that 'adjustment period'. I don't feel like I have to entertain them. They aren't coming to me throughout the day stating that they are bored. Do you know how awesome that is?
Homeschool has been such a blessing for our family in more ways than one. Our boys have been extremely healthy this past year. Our boys aren't constantly asking for cell phones because all of their school friends have one. Logan still thinks that the 'S' word is shut-up. We no longer have to rush home from school, rush to get our homework packet done, rush to eat a snack, rush off to practice, rush back home to eat dinner, and rush off to shower & bed. I LOVE THAT. And guess what? My boys PLAY again! I mean, they literally find stuff to play all day long. They are imaginative again. They are creative again. They have free time again. They were starting to get to the point where it was 'lame to play with toys', according to Cam's fellow second graders. Seriously? Last week my sweet boy sat down at the ballpark and played in the dirt and rocks for one hour straight. He's 10. I believe that is so important for little boys. To be little boys. Can I say that again? I strongly believe that it is So important for LITTLE BOYS to be LITTLE BOYS.
So, for now, we will be 'that' homeschool family. We don't necessarily fit the mold, (I would like to think that we have created our own mold or trend) but here we are. And we love it :)
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