My oldest two kiddos are going the homeschooling route. Not too big a deal since I have been homeschooling my oldest for the past couple of years now so I know I won't warp them forever. (More on not warping your kids by homeschooling them later.) My next-in-line is starting what very well could be the fun-filled journey of angst through middle school. Junior high should be illegal. Seriously.
Moving on, before I break out into a cold sweat of remembrance of junior high mean girls and bad hair days let's talk a little bit about the baby in our family. She's going into second grade which is the seven year old socialite equivalent of: Heaven on Earth. "My teacher's going to be awesome! My class is going to be awesome! I am going to say yes ma'am and no ma'am and it's going to be awesome!" Admittedly, her positive attitude and beaming smile are infectious.
My matching smile immediately begins to fade as I am quickly sobered by the reality of having to shuttle and guide all of these growing people in four hundred different directions to meet all of their nine hundred different needs in an effort to shape strong, independent, Godly people, who contribute to society. YIKES! Did I sign up for this? How on earth did we arrive here? Just yesterday I was holding babies whose most immediate needs were food and a diaper change. Now we are traversing life, love, adolescence AND barbies. What's a girl to do when Ken fancies the brunette this week? Better yet, what's a teenager to do? What do you mean you need me to help you with algebra? I don't even remember how to DO algebra! I'm starting to feel faint.
These are the moments when I know that being a mother is a bigger job than I initially thought it was. These are also the moments when I realize there are no perfect mothers. Only people doing the best they can with the best they have to offer. As I stand at the base of parenting Mount Everest feeling a bit overwhelmed I know that with a lot of hard work, lots of sweat, lots of tears, (mainly when I am trying to remember how to do algebra), and a passionate labor of love we will eventually reach the top. Battered and bruised probably but stronger and better for it too.
I am also beginning to realize that once we arrive at the top no matter how much time we have put in as a team the view (as well as the journey) will be quite different for each of the individuals who arrive there and for now I am totally okay with that. Praise God.
Now tell me friends, what was YOUR favorite year in school?
My favorite was second grade! I had an incredible teacher that let me read whenever I wanted!! She had a puppet that gave us our spelling test and read stories to us. :)
ReplyDelete@Becca - I love that a puppet gave you a spelling test!!!! That is adorable!
ReplyDeleteThe year I remember as being the best was the second grade. That was the last year that I truly feel that I looked forward to going to school every day. I had an awesome teacher named Mr. Barick ( I even remember his name!)that was kind, warm, generous of spirit and encouraged creativity in all of his students. For a tiny, shy, and very quiet little girl he was an inspiration and a role model, I really could look up to. I missed him terribly all the years after that, but I feel so thankful that I was able to have such a wonderful teacher at that time in my life. I'm also grateful that I'm able to still have such fond memories of that year. God Bless teachers like that! :)
ReplyDelete@cmdwire - That's beautiful. I am always thankful for good teachers for my kiddos who are in school. A great teacher can really help to shape a life for the better! Sounds like you really had a good one!
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