This is both a wonderful and a hard week of the year for me...for the past five years already.
It's the week that most kids go back to school.
It's wonderful because this is the fifth consecutive September that I don't have to send my child(ren) away from home for schooling and because I'm always very thankful, this week, that we h/school. I've said it before and I'll say it again now...I don't know how so many of you parents do it: Say good-bye to them (this would be the hardest part for me, despite getting tired, sometimes, of having them with me every moment of the day); get them out the door so early; make all of the lunches; pack all of the backpacks; do the homework; spend quality time with them; start all over again the next day. I really don't know how you do it, and I'm thankful this week that it's not me 'cause I don't know how I'd do it.
It's also a hard week for me because the weeks leading up to this week, and this week specifically, are filled with anxiety for me. Are we doing the right thing by choosing to h/school? Am I causing untold damage to my children by keeping them home? Have I made the right choices about how we're doing school? I see all of these blogs and f/book comments about parents' mixed feelings about their kids going off to school, and I feel the excitement in the air at Walmart with all of those parents and kids buying duotang folders and looseleaf paper, and I see the fresh-faced kids in their back-to-school clothes sporting new backpacks and lunch boxes - and I panic a little (well, more than a little, if I'm honest) that we're not doing the same as everyone around us.
I've got lots to say on this subject in the days to come as well as about the direction of our schooling this year. So you'll be hearing more from me on this subject...which might be wonderful and it might be hard.
Yes. Yes. Yes. To everything you've written about in this post. Looking forward to hearing more of your thoughts...
ReplyDeleteThx Leanne...and more is definitely coming...in just a day or two.
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Ruth
Back to school was all around me, so I *knew* it was happening, but have somehow disconnected us from that reality. It wasn't until my 5 year-old slept until 9:50am on Tuesday (way more than 2 hours longer than usual) that I realized he would have been in school for an hour already had he been enroled. I think my kids are young enough that it still just feels normal to have them home during the school year (although my eldest is officially legally required to be getting an education now...and he will for sure...just at home and in the community instead of in a school building). I wonder as they get older whether it will feel different not sending them to school, or if our local homeschool networks will feel like a completely separate reality. Looking forward to hearing about your educational directions as you have opportunity to write about them!
ReplyDeleteHi Ruth. Glad you are back.
ReplyDelete