It’s hard to believe that I’ve begun my seventh year homeschooling—I should be an expert by now, right?!
And, in some ways, I am. I know what type of schedule works best for us. I know that we’re good for a few hours and then—wham!—the wall has been hit. I know that I shouldn’t freak out when one child wanders off to play while I’m working with another, nor should I try to keep three kids sitting at a table for hours in front of workbooks: This just doesn’t work for us.
And, I even feel like I have picked out great curriculum choices for each child that is best-suited for the way they learn. In fact, our first week has been notable in that there were no tears, no huge dramatic scenes of “I can’t do this!“, no threats (from me) to “Do it or else!” as I scramble to think what that “else” could be.
So, yeah, great first week, right?
So why am I’m having a hard time feeling like, “This is it! We’ve found our groove!”
Maybe it’s because Belly will tell anyone who asks, “Yes, I’m definitely going to high school” (in just, gah, three short years!)
Maybe it’s because a couple of friends have opted to send their kids to school, which always shakes me up.
Maybe it’s because I worry that we’ll never quite fit into this predominantly conservative Christian community, especially as the kids get older and topics get brought up in conversation. I hope my kids don’t lose friends because they don’t share the same beliefs as so many.
And maybe it’s because the first few days of public school—the photos of kids at the bus stop, the cute stories about sweet teachers, the early days of little homework but lots of friends—make me kind of wistful for my days in school.
Let’s face it: It’s hard to swim upstream when everyone else is swimming down. And though there are definitely some shiny moments that make it clear why we’re doing this, I sometimes feel like, at some point–like it or not–the current may be too much, and I’ll find us swimming with everyone else.
But, until then, if you ask, I’ll say, “Yes, things are going great this year.” And I will mean it.
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