I’m Not Going To Do That!

Once upon a time, a young woman was engaged to a young man.  As couples do, they were discussing future plans for homes, children, and life in general.  After tackling the question of how many kids they each hoped/wanted to plan for (as if they had complete control over that or something), the question of school came into play.  The young man said he thought it would be nice for their kids to be homeschooled.  And the young lady looked at him somewhat horrified, stating, “I’m not going to do that!”

Fast forward approximately 8 years, and it would appear the young lady was quite mistaken.  For here she sits typing this post and reviewing a variety of curriculums while reading The Well-Trained Mind and feeling quite overwhelmed by the number of options out there for homeschoolers.

I’ve technically been homeschooling (unofficially) for the past year, if not from birth, for I am learning that teaching your children in any fashion is a start.  When you answer your child’s questions, when you teach them their ABCs, how to count to 10, and so forth, that is an element of homeschooling.  I have spent time throughout the past couple of years engaging in ways to help my now 4 year old (and even my 2 year old) learn how to read, illustrating simple math skills, and using fun, everyday life moments to teach.  There is a wonderful freedom and beauty in it.  Which serves as a source of encouragement when I wig out about the years to come.

So what took me from “I’m Not Going To Do That!” to joining a homeschool co-op and exploring my teaching style and my kids’ learning styles as I prepare to dive deeper into this journey?  Well, there are many reasons really, but the biggest of them all is the Lord.  I genuinely believe He is calling me to it, in spite of my adamance years ago that I would never homeschool.  Yes, I have a Master’s in Social Work and I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW),  and working as a child and family therapist was my calling for a time, but I do not feel a pull back to that.  Originally, I had thought I would resume being an LCSW once the kids were in school, but as the thought of homeschooling began to slowly take root, I realized that as crazy as it was, I wanted to homeschool my kids.  Even though the thoughts of teaching advanced math and chemistry scare me immensely.

Despite the fact that I had a great experience in public school, overall, that was (ahem) quite a few years ago now (even though I am still in the 90s in my mind).  (Disclaimer: There are some really great teachers out there and some wonderful things about public education- end disclaimer).  Overall, while our choice to homeschool our children is certainly affected by some of the negatives in the school system, the choice is primarily affected by the amazing opportunity to be able to gear lessons to my kids’ interests, to work with them on their level, to be able to experience a wider range of topics, to take field trips, to be able to interact with a variety of ages, and to know what my kids are learning and how they are perceiving it.

There is a part of me that is still terrified and not sure I can do it, but I do know that if God has called me to it, He will give me what I need to accomplish it.

And I will need grace.  A lot of grace!

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Early 2012 Fun

Things I am enjoying so far about 2012:

– exploring the wilds of Pinterest

– the crazy things my kids say and do (for example…Eila now likes to take a handful of her hair, drape it across one eye, and say (very dryly) “I’m a pirate”)

– working out!  Okay, I enjoy it during and once I’m done.  Until I get started though, I am not so into the idea.

– that the beautiful and mild weather days are outnumbering the cloudy, cold ones.  I do like cloudy, cold days on occasion, but I cannot deny it is a wonderful feeling to get outside and enjoy the sunshine and warmer temperatures in the afternoon!

– watching Once Upon a Time.   We aren’t big television fans (in fact, we only watch a handful of shows)- but I am really enjoying this new series.  I learned about it through a couple of friends and was hooked after the first episode.

– having conversations with my newly turned 2 year old (well, as of December)

-hanging out with my husband, who also doubles as my best friend

– homeschooling/preparing to homeschool Eila.  Now, I should probably clarify that I am enjoying certain aspects of this, such as watching her mind work, celebrating when she can pick out certain words while reading, talking about things she is interested in, and so forth.  I also quake with fear when I think about needing to start picking out curriculums in the next year or so.  And teaching her advanced math.  That scares me.  Thankfully, my husband has better skills in that area.  Oh no.  I just thought about chemistry.

– Cooking and baking new things.

– stirring up controversy/debate- yeah, just kidding on that one.

– Making slow but steady improvements around the house.

– Spending time with friends.

– Reading!  I love having time to read.

– Learning to hem curtains on a sewing machine.  In fact, using a sewing machine for the first time!  We won’t go into whether or not the hem was straight…

I’ll stop there for now.  2011 was somewhat of a rough year so I’m enjoying this new start.  I didn’t really make any resolutions- that’s never been my thing.  I am, however,  trying to remember that pretty soon, these days are going to be the days I look back on and wish hadn’t gone by so fast.  Which is good to remember since one of the things I am NOT enjoying so far about this year is my kids’ increasing tendency to fight with each other.

Good thing they are so cute.

Back to “normal”

I finished working part-time (covering for a former co-worker while she was on maternity leave) a week or so ago.  While I enjoyed the opportunity to use my brain in a more clinical way again and serve at the Yahweh Center Children’s Village, I am very happy to be able to give 100% of my attention back to my kids again during the day.  My time back at work really reassured me of God’s calling to be a stay-at-home-mom and refreshed my perspective in regard to what a blessing it is that we have been able to make it work!  Not to mention that trying to make phone calls and sound professional with your 2 year old and 3 year old yelling in the background is quite a challenge and one that I was tiring of quickly!  It’s bad when you have to bring out the M&Ms to buy a few seconds of silence.

So now life is back to whatever the Adair normal is.  Which means I am diving back (well, some days it’s more like wading) into focusing on homeschooling, potty-training Asher, reading and the occasional blogging.  And pinterest.  Which leads to other favorite  things such as baking, cooking, and decorating/DIY projects around the house.  Eila’s birthday is coming up next month (hello almost 4-year-old!) and Will’s birthday is 10 days after Eila’s.  I will be starting a MOPS group in the next few months and will be holding my first Veggietales event as a Veggietales Ambassador (more on those things later).

Add to that a new debate raging (in my mind) over the timeline on trying for a third child and perhaps life isn’t going to slow back down now that I’m back at home full-time.         And I’m okay with that.