I'm unashamed to confess that I need help. I can't do it all on my own. I can't even do it all with my amazing husband's help. Thankfully, for the past few months we've been investing in help. A dear friend of mine, with a radar for detail that lets nothing slip by her, has agreed to help me maintain order in my home. Admittedly, I was ashamed at first. I felt like a failure. I mean I AM a homemaker, isn't cleaning my home part of the deal? For years, I forced myself to accept this task out of shame, even though I was doing a poor job at it. But a few months ago, my husband forced me to die to that shame and demanded that I accept the help. I did, and it has been one of the best gifts he has ever given me. I'm now free to create a loving and peaceful atmosphere in our home, while raising intelligent human beings. Cleaning a house and making a home are two very different jobs. I need the former to achieve the latter, but I can't do both well. Other women can and good for them, but I had to face my limitations and now I feel so much more empowered. I've had to make sacrifices to afford it, but it is absolutely worth it.
Today was our cleaning day, so the kids and I ate breakfast as fast as we could and headed out to the library. On our library find list were:
The first order of business were the frog books since we have live tadpoles growing at home, we need to know what's going on. I taught Joa how to use the library's digital catalog to find titles and then how to find those titles in the aisle. While searching the juvenile non-fiction aisle for the books we found on the computer, Miles stuffed one of his shoes in a shelf, never to be found again. Ah, those moments that make you laugh later. I've decided I'm going to start laughing at them now. I secretly love the crazy in our lives.
A couple of hours and one lost shoe later we had:
Today was our cleaning day, so the kids and I ate breakfast as fast as we could and headed out to the library. On our library find list were:
- Frog books
- 'ar' and 'ay' books
- Biographies
- American history books
- Animal Board books for Miles
The first order of business were the frog books since we have live tadpoles growing at home, we need to know what's going on. I taught Joa how to use the library's digital catalog to find titles and then how to find those titles in the aisle. While searching the juvenile non-fiction aisle for the books we found on the computer, Miles stuffed one of his shoes in a shelf, never to be found again. Ah, those moments that make you laugh later. I've decided I'm going to start laughing at them now. I secretly love the crazy in our lives.
A couple of hours and one lost shoe later we had:
- Frog books
- 'cl' and 'ch' books
- BOB books
- Sight Word books
- Biographies
- American history books
- Animal Board books for Miles
- Math Concept books
- Character books
- Science/Body books
- and much more!
When we were checking out at the library, something amazing happened. A beautiful young lady, who appeared to have Downs Syndrome, made a comment about how many books I was carrying in my stroller. Naturally, I made a funny comment, as I would to anyone, about how I'd traded in my baby for books. She chuckled and began walking toward me. "I'll help you with your books," she offered as she was approaching. I smiled and thanked her. As she was putting books on the counter, the librarian seemed to get uncomfortable and tried to tell her to stop. At that point, I heard my son, who was behind me, say to his sister, "C'mon" and they both walked around to the front of the stroller and began to help her. Baby Miles followed close behind them. He handed her the books and she placed them on the counter. The two older kids worked alongside of her. At one point the librarian had enough and in frustration exclaimed, "I think we have too many helpers!" Instantly, both older kids stepped back and stopped helping. It was as if they knew, asking the young lady to leave us wasn't an option. They were willing to step back so that she could help. You know, as homeschoolers, the main concern people have is that our kids don't get socialized. But I assure you that our kids get the best kind of socialization in the world. They're not part of cliques and drama. They don't spend their days around the same 20 people, in the same facility, These kids get to meet all kinds of people in a variety of scenarios. They're learning how to respond when a person with disabilities enters their personal space. They're experiencing how to respectfully deal with adults who are in the wrong. They're practicing how to interact with people of different ages and backgrounds. Are they missing out on the school experience? Definitely! Missing out on situations that are toxic. Are they missing out on life? Absolutely not! They're being well prepared for real-life in the real-world.
When we got home for the library, the kids couldn't wait to read through their books. Instead of putting them away, they sat looking through them while I cooked lunch. After lunch, we went outside and worked on our garden. Our pepper plant that my Grandmother gave Zia for her birthday has it's first pepper.
Since the kids continued to show an interest in crafts, we ended the day by practicing color mixing and painting garden stakes to send to my husband's grandma, who has a beautiful garden of her own.
Formal academic school, took a back seat today. Today, we had discussions about love, kindness, and people. We talked about the power of embracing differences. We also discussed honor in length. We spoke of honoring our elders/grandparents with gifts on Grandparent's Day as well as honoring God, Daddy, Me, and our cleaning lady by putting things back where they belong. Personally, I firmly believe Character education trumps academics. My kids will never achieve our definition of success on academics alone. The character, integrity, self-discipline, and faith components are even more integral to their success. Therefore, days like these are not wasted in my eyes; they're the best!
These last photos happened after lunch, and have nothing to do with school, just a memory I want to keep of these two who love each other to pieces!
These last photos happened after lunch, and have nothing to do with school, just a memory I want to keep of these two who love each other to pieces!