The Beginning

Growing up in a family of 9 children had it's Plus's and Negative's. I always shared a room. Plus! My sister wasn't as "clean" as me. Negative. I had a wardrobe that was shared between 3, sometimes 4 sisters at a time. Major Plus!!! When I was a teenager, my job was laundry. Major Negative. I always had a buddy to talk to. Plus. I never had any space to be alone. Negative.

I knew someday I wanted to have a home of my own, with lots of children running around. I imagined a wrap around porch, a beautiful garden, children who would run in and out of the house. I imagined home cooked meals, warm bread from the oven, salad from our vegatable garden, and children who gobble everything up I ever made! I never imagined that they wouldn't get a long. That they would whine a whole whole bunch. That some would be HORRIBLE eaters and others would tell me point blank, "this is disgusting". That I would have to exercise an unbelievable amount of patience...daily. But more than anything, I never imagined how hard it would be to keep an orderly home. Looking back on my childhood I always thought my house I grew up in was tidy, well kept, even clean. However, I know my mom experienced the exact same feelings of disorder that I struggle with now. I also didn't realize that the responsibility of teaching my children the importance of cleaning and keeping tidy, would rest soley on my shoulders. How on earth am I to do this if I can't even seem to make my own bed each morning?

So while I'm feeling overwhelmed with my daily to do list, a nagging thought keeps popping into my head. "Homeschool". Ha, I'll just push that silly idea right out of my head. Nope, keeps coming for a full two years! Can I do this? Do I want to do this? To be continued...

Making a Decision

The decision has been made to home school Nathan for at least Kindergarten. Boy oh boy have I heard some interesting comments for this decision. Everything from, "aren't you afraid for his social development?", or "how on earth are you going to do it?", to "you are afraid of your own son and that is why you won't send him to school because you're afraid of how he might be treated by others." Um, yes that is probably true. Not the part of me being afraid of him, that is ridiculous, but yes I openly admit that I am afraid of how others would treat him when he goes into the full Nathan mode. In the end, Aaron and I just want to give Nathan a fighting chance to be the best he can possibly be and we feel that another year home with me will benefit him greatly! After all, there is no one who loves him, understands him, or is more invested in him than we are. And that should be ample reason for our decision. Not that I should care. :o)

In the meantime, I'm hoping to be prepared as best I can to teach him. I'm thankful for the incredible resources available to parents who choose this route. It has put some of my fears to bed that I can indeed do this.