I'm a 'Type A' person. This is a really just a nice way of saying "A person who can't relax...ever." I'm really guilty of this on several different levels, but the level that it seems to create the most problems in, is our homeschooling. I hop out of bed each morning, guzzle some coffee and BCAA's, hop into my workout session, spring into the shower, scream thru my 'get pretty' routine, and then land on the threshold of our homeschooling room as if it's the beach of Normandy. All I'm missing is a flag to plant and a battle cry... really, it's that bad. It's at this point that I'm usually under the gun to leave the house in t-minus 60 minutes and counting, so I launch The Crew straight into their lessons and away we go. I have to give them credit. They answer the call to arms, every. single. time. They do their best and settle right into their work. They move from item to item with the efficiency of a well-trained soldier... I should be thrilled. Except... (yes, there's that word) Except, that's not what I originally had envisioned or hoped our homeschooling experience would be. (at all) Something (or Someone) has to change, and I'll just state the obvious here and admit that it's not The Crew.
It seems The Universe agrees. In the last week, several... shall we call them hints? gentle nudges? swift kicks in the??? have presented themselves to me, and forced me to take notice of the situation I have created. First, I was perusing the homeschooling boards over at WellTrainedMind.com, and amid the normal chatter was a post about what a fellow homeschooling mom was hoping to accomplish this year. Thinking it might have a mountain to conquer that I had inadvertantly left off my own battle plan, I clicked on the topic and read her top ten list.
The first item was: "Build more tents & forts".
Wait, what? Tents and forts, tents and forts, I frantically flipped thru the pages of my "To Do" list (don't judge) and realized that not a single fort or tent had been scheduled. Item number two was just as shocking:
"Play More Games." (uh-oh)
The list went on:
"More Read Alouds & Cuddle Time" (dammit!)
"Less Computer Time" (now wait just a minute here... no Facebook?!)
"Less Research of curriculum" (but let me just look at this last math sample...)
"More laughter and joy in the little things" (hmm, what's that your saying? In a minute.. my sample is downloading)
"More patience." (Right, right... why is it taking so long to download this %^&*% thing!?!?)
"Less focus on finishing and more focus on enjoying the process of learning." (oh. Now that one stung a bit.)
"Speak more encouragement" (I do this one! Excuse me while I do my happy dance...)
"Enjoy this time... it is not going to last forever, you NITWIT!" (okay, I added the nitwit part, but really it fits pretty perfectly.)
Soooo, I was feeling a bit down after reading that list. It stuck with me. To the point that I copied it down word for word (oooo, look another list!) and put it in our schoolroom as a gentle reminder in those moments that I feel I might be losing sight of the real goal. I even pinned it on our board and walked away feeling as if I had accomplished something... but not really sure what.
Fast forward a couple of days to me perusing Facebook (I said don't judge) and finding a "pin" from a wonderful friend of mine who is
Rather than try and tell you about it, I really think it's best that you go check it out. Be prepared for a bit of a gut check while reading... I had more than one occur. Ultimately I hope to be more mindful of the people that I care about most in my life, and to start letting them know more often, and in more ways, and well just more.
www.handsfreemama.com
Fair Winds!
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