On to something different...

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Restart

Talk about sidetracked...almost 2 years later and here I am with my second blog entry. 

Life is whirring by at a "break-necking" pace.  A new school year is starting, birthdays are around the corner, my lovely firstborn will be 9 years old.  What?  That can't be.  She was just a tiny 6 lb 1 oz bundle like last year.  Now she's blossoming into an amazing young lady with big goals and an even bigger determination. 

She reminds us almost daily that her restaurant/bakery will be opening up in a few years when she is a teenager.  Hmmm....I wonder if, and selfishly sort of hope, it is a passing desire.  But seeing that this has become a sort of obsession with daily kitchen experiments and constant beseeching to make this or that despite her overwhelmed mother's wishes to just be done with the kitchen for a few hours, or forever, I have my doubts that her interest is fleeting.  I am challenged to teach her all I know, though it is not much.  I love that she is over the top happy when I allow her to complete a meal on her own.  Last summer, at age 7, she made her first meal from start to finish which we documented with pictures that she is very proud to have. It was a lovely potato and carrot soup with a fresh garden salad topped with salmon salad. 

For a long time I prayed for my dear complex girl that God  would help us find her niche.  I prayed that we would find what makes her happy and embrace it wholeheartedly.  She is a creative soul and can at times be totally enraptured in her creative ventures.  We tried art classes and music lessons, two things imagined would satisfy and hone her creativity.  I was frustrated by her when she refused to love these endeavors, much less take a remote interest in them.  We persevered in lessons to teach dilligence and commitment all the while continuing to pray that God would reveal to us how to encourage her natural bents. 

Then, during one of our typical daily struggles to finish her 20 minute violin practice without a full blow up of some sort on her part, it slapped me in the face.  What in the world am I doing?  We have known her bent, her niche, for quite a long time now.  While I was praying all this time, God must have been saying "It's right in front of your eyes, just open them up."  While she was begging to cook this, bake that, mix up a shake or a smoothie or a new creation, I was lamenting my failure at knowing how to be an encouragement to her.  I was initiating repeated conversations with my husband about what to do about our girl's seeming disdain for any instruction.  All the while saying, "I'm too busy" or "maybe later" to her frequent entreaties for me to teach her something in the kitchen.

Can you say slow learner?  I'm learning that that's a total understatement for me.  It may take me a while to catch on...I guess you can say I have to chew on things a little bit longer to assimilate them.  I am thankful that God has answered our prayer to learn our child's passion and He certainly answered it in a big way.  Now for the task of embracing and encouraging and teaching.  My fervent prayer now is to put off my selfishness of wanting to be done in the kitchen when I want to be.  Whether my girl grows up to cook for her family only or for a large crowd of customers, I don't care.  I want to keep her love and excitement for all things food alive and thriving.     

So Much to Learn

After a year long break from homeschooling, here we are again. Only this time we have two young scholars and two wee ones. Can we do it? Of course we can. Will it be easy? Likely not. But we are here where we are supposed to be, where we have always planned to be.

The break was needed and afforded me some time to rest and recover and renew. With a refreshed spirit I am ready to walk with my children as they learn about life. They are just beginning their school careers and have so much to learn. It's a huge undertaking when I think about the scope of it all.

I have so much to learn. My first lesson: Letting Go. Letting go of all the preconceived notions of what is or is not going to work in our home school. Letting go of my love of planning and controlling outcomes. Letting go of trying to fit into one box or "style" or "approach" or another. I have always had my heart set on a Charlotte Mason Education for my children. I've read all the books, researched all the CM curricula, even started a CM homeschool group a couple years ago. But that's something I must let go of too, as I realize that what works for me may not be the best for all my children.

So for now my focus is on learning about my two oldest children. What moves them? What inspires them? What helps them to stay focused when they are intently working on a puzzle or lost in a work of art? What triggers them to be crazy and hyper and unruly at times? What do they most want to learn about? What are going to be their big motivators? Yes, I do have so much to learn....