Soooo the good news is that God is definitely doing his part to make this the adventure that we set out to have… The not so good news is that we have been so busy that I haven’t taken the time to write as much as I planned. The goal was everyday (lol), and its been just over two weeks and here I am finally sitting down to write for only the second time. Wow!
The first day of homeschooling the plan was to go to make cinnamon rolls and leave for OKC for the science museum by 9:00. I way undercooked the cinnamon rolls, and by the time we got out the door it was 9:30. No biggie, but we still hadn’t had lunch, so we stopped at cracker barrel to make up for the letdown of promised cinnamon rolls being raw. By the time we got there it was 12:30…definitely later than I had hoped, but we aren’t on a schedule, so we are all good!!! Until, less than two hours in when I change DS’s diaper and find the biggest blowout since he was 6 months old, and I have no change of clothes… and yes, I do know better than leaving home without a change of clothes.
So we make a detour to the outlet mall to pick up a pair of pants, and end up getting frozen yogurt as well! My older son (A) is so worried that we won’t go back to the museum before we head home that I have to constantly reassure him that we will go back, and reiterate the importance of making sure his brother is comfortable too…. Hello citizenship and golden rule! I try to explain to him (and perhaps to myself as well) that this new lifestyle will also teach us the importance of flexibility, and that being able to adjust to ever changing circumstances is probably one of the most important lessons we can allow ourselves to learn. After all, the only thing that remains the same is that everything changes!
Next, we headed back to the museum to enjoy one more hour before they close for the day. R has fallen asleep in the car. I’m afraid to wake him by transferring him from his car seat to the stroller, but he sleeps through (thank God) and it gives us the opportunity for A to create a harmonograph, since his sweet brother would have never had the patience for us to spend that much time doing one thing! And, as we walked out talking about hanging his new picture on the wall in our home classroom, I realize that we have yet to do any real work today. I try to remind myself that they get field trip days at regular school too, and that tomorrow is a new day. We just got off to a great start, even if it wasn’t done on pencil and paper… right?
My mom was coming up to stay for a few days before we left town, so we met her at home, and it was time for dinner, bath, and bed. It was a great first day, but I need to make sure that I keep the school in homeschool… lesson learned (or at least introduced). I definitely feel closer to my boys after just this one day. I think it’s at least partly because I know that this is the beginning of a whole new way of life for us and every little hiccup didn’t feel like a thread waiting to completely unravel all the expectations I had for this little bit of time I had with them to do something that wasn’t just what we had to do, but what I wanted to do with them. I knew that this was the beginning of what would be, God willing, a new lifestyle that gave us every day together to grow and learn and explore, and that there was no rushing through the fun things that life should be about to get as much in as possible before we had to get back to what we HAD to do. It definitely made it much more enjoyable, even if it wasn’t exactly as I pictured it in my head.
The World As Our Playground 