"So, how's the homeschool thing going?" is a common question I'm asked these days. Some, dare I say most, are genuinely interested & sincere with their inquiry. Some are rather astounded that I would take on such an endeavor and can be quite verbal with their amazement: "You're homeschooling & you have a 10 month old?!" Now I wonder, what is the best, most politically correct way to answer that question? That is without getting way up on my soapbox & quite certainly offending them. I've concluded that there's really no way for me to do that other than to simply smile, nod & say something like “we make it work”. It’s a lot like the other comment I hear quite often, “THREE boys?! So, are you going to try for a girl?” Really?
I remember being introduced to the idea of homeschooling & literally laughing out loud at the thought. But I also vividly remember early on in my marriage talking with my dear friend Gina about children & swearing that I never wanted to have any. God has a way of changing your perspective. Sure, we can stamp our feet, fight it, run the other way & internally argue until we finally realize that all that resisting was a waste of time. Because somewhere deep inside, we knew all along the path we were destined to take. I’ve known for quite some time that homeschooling was what we were supposed to be doing. We exhaust ourselves mostly out of fear of the unknown; I know I do. Every time I thought about homeschooling, it was like being a first-time mom all over again. I questioned my abilities & blocked out the basic aspects of myself as their mother. I’ve been teaching them since they were born! The best piece of advice I ever received was to always rely on my motherly instincts when it came to doing what was right for our children. That & an extensive amount of prayer have enabled me to make some of the best decisions for our sons. I suppose I can say I’ve “matured”, because I'm submitting faster & taking these giant leaps of faith much sooner than in previous battles. Funny, my resistance began to wear down after we started having children. And yet, I said oh so many years back that I never wanted to have children. Let’s retrace this: I went from never wanting children, to having 3 boys, refusing to homeschool to totally loving it & can’t get enough information about it on a daily basis. I wonder what other perspectives God will be changing for me.
Yes, it's true. It's funny how certain circumstances can always guide us down a path we didn't otherwise imagine. And it's easy to think one think one way until you've lived another. Guess it goes to show we should never judge.
ReplyDeleteGlad it is going well for you. I bet it is a huge learning process!
I think most people react to homeschooling the way they do because they don't know any better. They think we sit around with our hair in buns, wearing denim dress and teach our kids that everyone else is crazy. :) If they only knew!
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