Last week was the big back to school week around here. \u00a0Every time I checked facebook I saw adorable photos of children in Catholic school uniforms (and some without) smiling and marking the milestone. \u00a0As a homeschooling mom, I felt just a tad bit jealous. \u00a0Not that taking a cute back to school shot is a reason to send your child to school (it isn\u2019t)\u2026but I thought about all these moms with less kids on their hands, moments of quiet as babies and toddlers took afternoon naps, time to do food shopping with just the baby or toddler, and I felt just a little bit jealous. \u00a0I was drinking my morning coffee is chaos, as three children asked me questions at once and two more children cried and threw things and disrupted big kids trying their best to learn. \u00a0As I reheated my cup of coffee for the second time (which is gross), I felt the pressure of another school year, and the pressure of responsibility for my childrens\u2019 education. \u00a0I felt the pressure of a job unfinished, a job newly begun.<\/p>\n
It isn\u2019t as though teaching elementary school children is complicated \u2014 it isn\u2019t. \u00a0But it certainly wears on your patience. \u00a0It requires discipline, consistency, and passion. \u00a0I felt in short supply of all three last week and it was only the beginning of September.<\/p>\n
And then on Friday as I was doing the dishes after lunch, I looked out the kitchen window and saw this.<\/p>\n And I was reminded of why I homeschool. \u00a0My heart suddenly felt very grateful that on a beautiful, crisp fall day, my children were learning like this. \u00a0And all the doubts and jealousy suddenly departed. \u00a0God, my Father, handed me a special grace, a confirmation of my vocation as a homeschooling mother of 5 young children. \u00a0The grass in my own backyard is actually pretty great, and I had a front row seat to its beauty.<\/p>\n In today\u2019s digital world, it is so easy to think that the grass of our friends and family members and acquaintances is greener. \u00a0But it isn\u2019t. \u00a0That cute kid in the Catholic school uniform \u2014 his mom was filling out a lot of forms last week. \u00a0And she was signing up for lots of things at school that she thinks are a huge waste of time. \u00a0Life is full of tradeoffs. \u00a0And we all have to discern and then make hard choices. \u00a0And after we have made those choices, we can\u2019t spend time wishing we had the best of someone else\u2019s world.<\/p>\n I know you all know this, but it is easy to forgot. \u00a0And I\u2019ll forget it again too. \u00a0Come February, I will start thinking and praying about sending my children to school. \u00a0I may even call around and crunch tuition numbers and spend hours talking to my husband about it. So yeah, it\u2019s complicated. \u00a0And with a decade of parenting under my belt, I know that the moment I start to think I\u2019ve got it all figured out, God will throw me a curveball. \u00a0But on Friday he threw me a sweet fastball. \u00a0And I nailed it. \u00a0And I even have a photo to remember how it felt.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Last week was the big back to school week around here. \u00a0Every time I checked facebook I saw adorable photos of children in Catholic school uniforms (and some without) smiling and marking the milestone. \u00a0As a homeschooling mom, I felt just a tad bit jealous. \u00a0Not that taking a cute back to school shot is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":734,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,9,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-education-homeschooling","category-keeping-it-real","category-motherhood"],"yoast_head":"\n