Art & Mental Health

I published my first coloring book!  

In two different versions too!  

The Not-Shaded (examples on the left below) can be found by clicking Here.

And the Shaded rose version (example on the right below) can be found by clicking Here.

Thinking Tree books in Categories! (& Ideas for using them!)

 We have loved using the Thinking Tree books for over a year now (and longer if you include the Dyslexia Games books that we have used on and off for about 3 years too!  Which started back when I was learning about Right Brain dominant learners.)

There are SO many books by them and they are a different style than we are used to seeing (great for the right brain dominant learners!) But that can make it confusing to know which to pick.  I thought it would be helpful to share some ideas about the types of books (in categories) and a few ideas on how someone could plan to use them.

Many people have wondered how these books work and how they can use them.  I've broken the books down into a rough 8 categories to make it easier for people to see what types of books are available.

Choosing Joy - and not planning too much

 I started our new school year a few weeks ago, feathering in the subjects and routines slowly so we could get back into the swing of learning in a more regular way.

Before starting up though, I was feeling overwhelmed and a bit worried that if I was tired BEFORE starting, how would this year of continual planning, spontaneous learning, daily questions, messes, crying, laughing, following rabbit trails, goofing off, loving, being "bored" and all the other things that make up this 24/7 job of mothering and educating look like by the new year?

Enter the gathering of encouraging words from other homeschoolers! Blogs, podcasts, periscopes, Facebook lives... The online community of homeschoolers like me who are less concerned with looking perfect and more concerned with just doing our best for our kids.  If I read something that makes me feel more stressed, then I throw it out.  If I read or hear something that gives me courage and strength, I hold onto it.
And this blogpost is going to be all about the parts that have brought me encouragement for the start of this year.

Mom-Tips from A to Z

Following my completion of all the alphabetical chalk boards, how about some tips from Amazing to Zany for Moms (and homeschoolers especially)! And there are links to all those A-to-Z chalkboard posts at the end of this post too!


Also, a free sample "Mom's book" of 100 pages from The Thinking Tree!  A great thing to print out in the summer and start working through to help you relax while prepping for next year.  (Check out this blog post for other thinking tree books and how to use them.)

Or really, it can be used any time to get a little time away for a Parent Teacher conference/refocus time without feeling guilty!
 Child-- "Mommy, why were you coloring and talking to yourself in the closet?"
Mom-- "I was having an important teacher/parent planning time, dear."


Advice from Amazing to Zany!  -Yes, I came up with 26 bits of advice and encouragement (and humor) for you!

Mom-School books, reviews, how-to, and 7 giveaways!

 These are the 7 giveaway books for 7 people that I have already given away!   But even though the giveaway portion is over you can still see inside these lovely books that everyone is talking about.

Y and Why - Modeling Learning

 "Value academic work because nurturing the intellect is part of what makes us fully human, but don't elevate it beyond its place.  There are relationships to cultivate, books to read, oceans to swim in, forts to build, toilets to scrub, bills to pay, paintings to create, dinners to make.  This is why we homeschool, because we want to engage in a full-to bursting life."
(Quote from "Teaching From Rest")

"Yesterday, a yodeling yak was in the yard of yarrow playing with your toy yacht under the yew tree.  It yelled when it sat on your yardstick and yo-yo.  Then the yak said, 'Yummy,' when it saw a yucky yellow egg yolk."

And what each girl did for her own chalk board for "Y week"

 Our chalk board alphabet theme is winding down and I've been listening and reading about how children learn and meditating on the most important things in our days.  I hope this blog post will be encouraging to my fellow homeschoolers and Moms of littles.  I will be sharing a lot of quotes and links and thoughts that have been encouraging for me!

      I'm a second generation Homeschooler which is always the highest compliment to the original teacher (my mom!) because she created an environment that I have always wanted to copy.  And I've only admired her more as I've progressed down this journey.

Alphabet Review

I got an idea for a chalk board design around Easter time and didn't do it right away, but eventually got to it... soooo rather than kicking myself for not being "on time".. or the time that I wanted anyway, I should realize that it's an awesome thing that I ever get to any of my "great ideas" at all, right?

 Alphabet review and also a chance to talk about who God is.  I also focused our school a bit more on math review and I read through all the animal antic books again with the girls along with other things.

I had help with the chalk board on the bottom right.  :)

 Chocolate chips can come in handy with doing math.  I totally have good memories from when I was a kid around their age and my Mom let me use chocolate chips to help me do my math.

 It was a little more complicated in person with how I ran this lesson with all the ways we added up all the numbers, but I can't very well take pictures of all that.

 Even the four year old got to do some school with chocolate this day!

Melissa and Doug numbers puzzle... says the number when you move the puzzle pieces.  I got this mainly to help with all those confusing "teen" numbers that the little ones get all jumbled up when counting

And speaking of counting and the teen numbers-- I also got this poster (which I highly recommend) that is great for visual learners.  You can see their other products for math here So, I talked to one of the advisers at this site and they said that the numbers 1 through 10 words were supposed to be sung to the tune of "Ba ba black sheep".... which I didn't know, but did a youtube search and learned the tune.  I got the poster and THEN, what???  The rhyme for 11 through 20 (which was the part I especially was interested in) was a totally different rhythm and didn't match the 1 through 10 words or tune.
As a musical person this drove me a little crazy.  We were sort of "rapping" the words instead of singing them to the tune they were SUPPOSED to go with and the night before I was supposed to wake up way too early to catch the flight to visit my family up in Washington state my brain was full of how in the world to fix the words so they'd actually work well together.  See video below to know how I changed it!  I've also played this video for my girls while we eat breakfast or lunch or something to give myself a little break.

 And THEN for most of May were were able to visit my family!  The kids got sick one after the other after the first week was over though so we stayed close to home and didn't get to visit as many people as I would have liked.

 I got to wear these wraps that Jamberry sent me just because I promoted to "Lead Consultant"-  How cool is that?

 Since we were resting a lot there was some of this going on, but the little one looked so cute all matching with Gramma.  ;)

 We went to some of our favorite little stores while we were there.  (Got to help the local economy!)

 My Mom bought a bunch of flowers so we could pot them all and her stairs would be all lovely with blooms!

 The kids spent a LOT of time outside running around and catching butterflies.  I hadn't had much school planned for up there, but what with the sicknesses and then the very good use of the outdoors I didn't have them even do as much as I'd planned.

 Hiking up in the woods!

 Hanging out with cousins happened as much as we could possibly make it happen!

 Don't forget the tea parties at Grandma's house!  That is always a must.

 ALSO, their cousin's cousins (yes that was on purpose) had a cat with kittens!  They were beyond excited to get to hold some kittens for a while.  This was the first time they remember getting to hold little kittens.  It's sad to think that some kids have never gotten to play with tiny kittens!

The middle one especially spent as much time as she could holding the kittens. so so sweet.  :)

 I also had fun playing with Jamberry's "Nail Art Studio" and created the designs above!  They got approved so quickly that I was able to order them and got them up there even before I left!  The two on the left I got doubles of because I wanted to give them to my Mom for her birthday.  Hard to see, but the far left is pictures of lilacs that I took while I was up there!  And the middle one is of pictures my little brother had designed with a computer program.  My oldest especially who is closest to her Uncle loved wearing those and thinking of him when we got back home.  :)

 This is what the lilac ones looked like on.  I so love lilacs!  I wish I could find something that smells like them in the right way.  Usually the fake scents just don't cut it.

 The 7 year old got to make a lot of (gluten free) pancakes at Gramma's house and now is calling herself an "expert" and so I stared letting her do some of the making of the pancakes here as well.  It's not easy since our kitchen is only about 3 ft wide.. little too snug for two people to try and move around in there, but we were making it work.

 We now (finally!) have ALL the "Animal Antic from A to Z" books!  LOVE these and more importantly the kids really like them.  It's nice to have books with stories that are fun for me to read and listen to as well!  You can find them on Amazon.com

The middle one (7) absolutely LOVES bunnies, and she saw this "I am a Bunny" book that she'd never really been interested in before on our shelf and decided it was the most beautiful book ever.  The pictures are quite lovely.  So, I jumped on her interest with this and have been having her work on her writing skills by copying a page a day.  She can do a great job if she really is trying.  It's been hard to get her enough interested to actually want to try to do well.

 Oh, and also after we got back I sort of randomly bought them a swimming pool so they could use their ball pit balls again that I'd had packed away for a few years.  They enjoyed doing some reading in it as well as all the rolling in it at other times.  After the business and stress of traveling and the initial sadness of missing family when we are back home and trying to get back into a "normal" groove it was fun to have a little holiday of our own for a week.  We went swimming every day and the ball pit was for indoor times to give me a little break.

 Also, I started a new visual journal besides the one I was already using.  It's not a bad thing to have two going!  AND in case anyone was wondering about the gorgeous color on my nails it's Jamberry's "Morning Mist" lacquer from their "fairy tale lacquer set"-- they have some that aren't in the lacquer sets of course, but this particular color is exclusive to this set.  I *love* the color and FYI their lacquer won't give you a head-ache from the fumes because it's free of 5 toxins normally found in polish.. also it holds up better then the toxic cheap kinds, and that up there is only one coat.  The color is super nice and thick compared to others I've used!

 THIS was from today!  I'm preparing for "T week" now that our little (long) review time/vacation/whatever is over.. but more on "T week" later.

Today was baking, school time, swim time, visual journaling, lunch, Wild Kratts, Jamberry biz stuff, chalk board re-designing, more cooking (made gluten free pizzas) more school time (We are now doing "Life of Fred"  BEST MATH EVER!!) some fussy kid time (can't seem to avoid that!) and so on and so on.  ;)

 My oldest did the cork board at the beginning of the review, but we'll keep it on for "T week"

 I was quite proud of my youngest (4) today because ALL by herself she put this train alphabet puzzle together.  I'm not as surprised that she could figure out how to put it together (though that certainly is impressive!) but mostly because she did it by herself!  She tends to want me to help her do even things that she CAN do herself, but just because she wants me right next to her.  This is hard when I need to help the older two and we've had to endure a lot of fussing and crying during school times, but it's getting so much easier than it was!

And here she is eating a tortilla.

Oh, and just a couple last things to keep it real.  You know how Facebook and Pinterest and Blogs can make life look so easy and amazing and really just shows off the best of the best?  Just to keep it honest and hopefully to encourage other moms out there, the video above is of a giggle fit that my girls were having while trying to do their writing.  I thought it was funny too, but it's also "bang your head on the wall worthy" after a while if you are trying to get them to actually accomplish the thing you were wanting them to do for that day!  My 7 year old sometimes gets a word stuck in her head that she thinks sounds funny and keeps saying it and giggling.  This time it was "Burble" .. which does sound really funny if you say it enough!  Little reminder for us all to keep plugging away (or put the books away until they get over the giggle fit!) and not to get mad and yell.  The giggles are going to be a good memory that they will look back to when they think of what it was like when they were homeschooling.

Oh, and another "keeping it real" moment brought to you by the 4 year old who swiped my camera one day without me knowing.  I found about 20 pictures on my camera of the messy house and mostly of the older two bugging each other.  Hello other parents.. does this ever drive you a little crazy too?  I can't tell you how often I have to be the peace keeper in fights through out the day.


I don't have a picture or video to post of the other bit of difficulty we have to deal with in our homeschooling days which is when the littlest one throws a fit of some kind.  It used to be that she'd cry very loudly without wanting any consoling for a good hour and telling me all the things she thinks she wants until she finally realized she forgot why she started crying to begin with.  Usually it will be that she asks for chocolate and I say "no" -- also it might be important to point out that I'm really not that strict and it's not like she's suffering for lack of sugar to begin with.  She's usually just tired and focuses on something like chocolate or a cartoon to feel better and totally freaks out if she can't have it right that second.
The only advice I've got for that situation is to hold the crying kid and just try to keep your sanity.  I watched "Happy" and sang over her crying for an hour one day.  In case you were wondering, I did try to put her in her room so she'd cry away from us.  That always made her freak out more and get louder and hysterical.... Talk about all our nerves on edge!  I mean.. how can the older two hear anything that I'm reading right?  BUT it's getting better slowly and there are less interruptions, so if you are struggling with something like that too, just know it will get better as you keep being consistent and firm but loving with them.
 Also, you'll get all manner of advice about what to do to force your children to obey you, and yes you can force obedience outwardly, but what about their hearts?   Children need to be treated like we want to be treated.  They are people and deserve respect and if we can show them this and love them even when they are freaking out we can teach them to show us respect in other ways.  This might take longer, but I think it's important to focus on treating our kids with respect and grace and try to think of how God parents us with his never ending love that isn't based on our performance. 

Kid interviews

I've been a little obsessed with watching "Mom's Night Out" recently
 It just makes me laugh (which who doesn't need more of that right?) and it's profound at the same time and is super encouraging.  Exactly what I need (what so many mom's need!)
So there's this "Kid interview" thing going around Facebook lately and I asked my girls the questions in turn.  It was a fun little exercise seeing what everyones answers were.  Also, helps me to remember that I'm not doing as terrible of a job as I usually think I'm doing.

Anyway, I thought the Grandmother's would enjoy this and it seemed a little long for Facebook statuses and I haven't done any sort of "year end review" in a long time anyway.

Gracie age 4

1. What is something mom always says to you? Are you going to have a carrot?
2. What makes mom happy? ME!
3. What makes mom sad? Crying
4. How does your mom make you laugh? Being funny.
5. What was your mom like as a child? Being with me?
6. How old is your mom? 20
7. How tall is your mom? Uh, as tall as you are? You are this tall (She stands on a stool and holds her hand out and tells me to stand up so she can put her hand on top of my head and saying “you are this tall”)
8. What is her favorite thing to do? Read stories
9. What does your mom do when you're not around? Watch shows
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? Be at the beach?
11. What is your mom really good at? Sewing
12. What is your mom not very good at? Climbing the roof.
13. What does your mom do for a job? Make us clean our room.
14.What is your mom's favorite food? Macaroni and cheese.
15.What makes you proud of your mom? Macaroni and cheese.
16. If your mom were a character, who would she be? A surf board.
17. What do you and your mom do together? Read stories.
18. How are you and your mom the same? Being reading stories.
19. How are you and your mom different? Umm because you're big and I'm small.
20. How do you know your mom loves you? Because I'm Gracie!!
21. What does your mom like most about your dad? Kissing him on the lips.
22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go? To the beach.
23. How old was your mom when you were born? 20
24. What's mom's favorite song? Jingle Bells Jingle bells jingle all the way how much fun it is to ride in a one horse open sleigh! (ect as she kept singing while taking a bathroom break.)
25. How many hours does mom sleep at night? 25^th like this many (holding out all her fingers)
26. What kind of car does mom drive? That car at front by Daddy's car.
27. Why did Mommy and Daddy get married? Because you two first mint... Ole'!
28. Is mom afraid of anything? Monsters, ghosts? Ole'!
29. Is mom smart? Yes or no.
30. Where is mom's favorite place to shop? Walmart?
31. How much money does mom spend on groceries? This many (holds out all fingers and counts them outloud.)
32. What's mom's favorite tv show? This show? (Points to “Big Hero 6” that we had playing at the time.)
33. Who is mom's favorite person? Umm Daddy.
34. What's mom's favorite thing about you? Hugging.
35. What's mom's favorite book? Adventure!

Renna age 7

1. What is something mom always says to you? I love you.
2. What makes mom happy? My smile
3. What makes mom sad? One of us dead.
4. How does your mom make you laugh? Tickling me.
5. What was your mom like as a child? Playing.
6. How old is your mom? 43
7. How tall is your mom? Taller then me.
8. What is her favorite thing to do? Go swimming with me.
9. What does your mom do when you're not around? Rest.
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? Making movies.
11. What is your mom really good at? Baking.
12. What is your mom not very good at? Not giggling.
13. What does your mom do for a job? Sell Jamberry
14.What is your mom's favorite food? Sushi
15.What makes you proud of your mom? Being together.
16. If your mom were a character, who would she be? A sweet kitty.
17. What do you and your mom do together? Make cookies.
18. How are you and your mom the same? We've both got earrings.
19. How are you and your mom different? You're tall and I'm short.
20. How do you know your mom loves you? Because you help me.
21. What does your mom like most about your dad? His bald head.
22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go? To the zoo.
23. How old was your mom when you were born? I have no idea.
24. What's mom's favorite song? Christmas Carols
25. How many hours does mom sleep at night? From night to day.
26. What kind of car does mom drive? A black and white landrover
27. Why did Mommy and Daddy get married? Because you two are love birds.
28. Is mom afraid of anything? Losing me.
29. Is mom smart? Yes.
30. Where is mom's favorite place to shop? Aldi.
31. How much money does mom spend on groceries? A lot. More then I can count.
32. What's mom's favorite tv show? Meet me in St. Lewis.
33. Who is mom's favorite person? Daddy.
34. What's mom's favorite thing about you? My smile.
35. What's mom's favorite book? I am a Bunny.

Lily age 9

1. What is something mom always says to you? I love you.
2. What makes mom happy? Me
3. What makes mom sad? That we can't live at Gramma's house.
4. How does your mom make you laugh? Tickles.
5. What was your mom like as a child? Playful.
6. How old is your mom? 26
7. How tall is your mom? 6 ft tall.
8. What is her favorite thing to do? Read your book.
9. What does your mom do when you're not around? Read your book.
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? Loving?
11. What is your mom really good at? Playing with me
12. What is your mom not very good at? Painting?
13. What does your mom do for a job? Helping me!
14.What is your mom's favorite food? Sushi!
15.What makes you proud of your mom? Snuggable and loveable.
16. If your mom were a character, who would she be? Super Hero!
17. What do you and your mom do together? Journal.
18. How are you and your mom the same? We both have diffuser necklaces
19. How are you and your mom different? That you have earrings and I don't.
20. How do you know your mom loves you? Because I love you!
21. What does your mom like most about your dad? That you like him.
22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go? Washington.
23. How old was your mom when you were born? 20?
24. What's mom's favorite song? “Let it go”
25. How many hours does mom sleep at night? 10?
26. What kind of car does mom drive? A van. A mini van.
27. Why did Mommy and Daddy get married? Cause you love each other.
28. Is mom afraid of anything? Bugs.
29. Is mom smart? Yes.
30. Where is mom's favorite place to shop? Walmart.
31. How much money does mom spend on groceries? $20
32. What's mom's favorite tv show? Old shows.
33. Who is mom's favorite person? Daddy
34. What's mom's favorite thing about you? I'm creative.
35. What's mom's favorite book? The one that you are reading.

I've refrained on commenting after any of their comments.  ;)  It's interesting to hear what they say!  Somethings are really insightful and some are just totally off the wall or funny.  The Daddy overheard that each girl said that my favorite person was "Daddy" -- aww.  ;)

NEW YEARS Is the BOMB!

This post could also be called "a brilliant plan for parenting while sick."

 So as the kids were watching their special movie from Redbox (we are having a very low key New Year's party since I have pneumonia) I was looking through Pinterest and other random blogs and found THIS idea!

A craft "bomb".. no literally.  ;)

The stack of them so everyone could have one.

 Actually, I could make them fast enough just sitting on the couch while my kids ran back and forth throwing the "bombs" and bringing the pieces back for me to hand them another!
Hence, why this is a brilliant idea for when you need to sit on the couch, yet the little ones need to run around.  Totally will wear them out without wearing YOU out.. well, maybe your fingers will get tired, but seriously, that is so much easier than what we normally do, right?

My almost 9 year old worked hard to finally make her own!  Not an easy thing when you start out.

  I remember making these as a kid!  And here's a little video of what they look like upon impact!

Someone is excited!!!

 And they kept asking what a "New Years" was... so we talked about how we'll count down and all throw the "bombs" and say "Happy New Year" and tomorrow the calendar will be new!

The 3 year old was running back and forth so quickly to throw her "bombs" that she could hardly stand still for this picture.  Incidentally, she fell asleep REALLY fast tonight!  I mean, once I got her to sit still for 10 minutes.  ;)

 We've done something different every year so far.  One year we did a balloon drop and other times we've just done noise makers depending on what I had on hand or what I could get.  This time I didn't have anything special, BUT we already had the craft sticks!  Guess what I'm going to do for 2 hours tomorrow?  Why yes.. resting and making more bombs while my children get all worn out and I sit on the couch.  ;)  Oh by the way.. the way this works is that they have to bring back four sticks to get the next bomb.  That's so you can always be making one while someone is throwing one.  This would NOT work if you just kept making them and they didn't bring back the four sticks each time!  Who wants to clean that up?

Some day my 6 year old might not like it that she crossed her eyes on purpose almost every time I took her picture, but there you are.  Goofball.  ;)

 And we did it!  We counted down and threw 14 "bombs" and said "Happy New Year!" ---- at 8:30..... (Do not say a word.)  ;)

Respect and Trust

I got into a conversation with someone I don't really know as my kids were playing.  I've only talked to him a couple other times and he knew my littlest was shy and asked if she talked  much at home.  She talks a LOT at home and actually talks better at a younger age than both her older sisters did.  This is a common phenomenon.  Then we talked about my oldest daughter who was very active physically at a really young age.  He then asked me something that is the point of this blog post.

"So, she was good at sports and everything at a young age?  And is she well rounded now?  I mean academically."

The question caught me off guard and I didn't say anything super brilliant at the time, just politely talked about the things she's good at, but here's what I keep thinking.  If someone was talking about a child who learned to read at a really young age and excelled in school but wasn't able to draw recognizable pictures or who couldn't climb a tree without seriously hurting themselves or who didn't know how to knit -- would someone say about that "left-brain dominant learner" --- "That's great that she loves to read all the time and got straight A's on math worksheets so young, but is she well rounded now?"

NO ONE WOULD ASK THAT!

People would also NOT ask that question of an adult who is an excellent writer or musician or professional athlete.  "Hey, Mr. Professional athlete.  You are great at what you do and all, but jee don't you ever read Plato?  You know, you really should learn algebra to be well rounded as a person."

Think about it.

No, really.. think this through.  What do we do to our children?  We look at what they aren't good at more than what they are gifted in and work on the parts that they can't do as well.  UNLESS what they happen to be good at falls into the culturally appropriate thing to learn at that particular age.  In that case then we expect perfection.  Get a good grade?  You missed a couple things so you could do better.  Write a story?  Let me point out the grammatical errors for ya.

I'm not saying we shouldn't try to teach them things that they do need to learn, but the amount shouldn't be such that we cause hatred of that subjects.  It shouldn't be 90% working on weaknesses and 10% working on what they are actually gifted in.

All mother's worry about their kids right?  We love them and want to do the best for them.  We have different ways of doing this because our children are different and we are different and we value different denominations or schooling styles because (whatever we choose) we think it is what is best for our kids.  Your choices will be different from mine and I'm not saying that you don't love your kids as much as I do because you are choosing something different than what I've chosen.  What I am advocating is respecting our children as people.  Do we talk to them as we would an adult?  As parents, do we take every opportunity to turn something into a "teaching moment" or do we simply enjoy them?  How demeaning is it to be told to "go out of the room and try again" when we are reminded that we forgot to knock on the door or that we said something the "wrong way"... how demeaning is it for our children to be quizzed by adults about things they may or may not have learned yet?  Even if they HAVE learned certain math facts (for instance) why is it okay to ask a kid to randomly do a calculation?

My 8 year old made this all on her own.  3 D paper fairy doll.  She said she didn't like paper dolls because they are flat and she wanted to make a paper doll that wasn't flat.  I love the fact that my girls can do things like this all on their own initiative completely out of their own head without any help from me!  That's something to be proud of.  :)

When you are an adult it's okay to say, "I'm not good at math" or to use a calculator, but in a child this is a BIG DEAL that they aren't amazing at math.  I can't tell you how many adults have said to me as they saw me knitting or sewing or doing something like that, "I have a relative that can do that, but I've heard it's really hard and I could never learn to do that."  That's so sad to me!  I grew up in a way that said, "If you want to learn a thing than you can learn it!" 

The 8 year old making beeswax models of characters from a cartoon.

My eight year old who was supposed to be "well rounded" at her young age can do some things that most adults can't do!  Even what some adults say they could "never learn how to do."  That is a big deal.  It is.

And yet I constantly feel the pressure to do more. To force certain areas of learning that my children aren't ready for just because that's what "everyone else" values.

I often sound brave, but I'm really not.  I talk this way because I'm trying to be brave even though I don't feel it often.  I usually feel like I'm not doing enough for my kids.  I can't seem to rest in the season that I'm in and trust that whatever seeds I'm planting in their life will grow in them if God wills it.  Respecting them as people and trusting them with what they are ready for and capable of and especially trusting God with the present moment and the future.

I read recently that it takes 5 positive things to counteract a negative thing, and my personality is such that I naturally need a lot of encouragement to know that what I do is valuable.  It's difficult to be in a culture that doesn't value the job of a mother who stays at home with her children.  It's even more difficult to hear strangers questioning my intelligence (yes, one actually asked me if I was smart enough to educate my children.)  While I can easily argue against these people I still feel the negativity and it still hurts.  I have enough fears and concerns and berate myself far too much than is healthy all by myself without help from perfect strangers.

I guess the fact that I continue to do what I believe is best for my  kids says a lot for my bravery.  I haven't changed what we do to please anyone else, but I often long for encouragement or (perhaps more so) to be left in privacy.  To not be in a place where a stranger walks up to my three year old who is playing happily in our "back yard area" where I can hear her and tell her to "go back to your Mom" as if I'm neglecting my child and didn't know she was out there.  I purposefully allow my children to climb a tree if they are able to (the rule is to not break branches or damage the tree) and it bothers me when strangers who don't know their abilities try to tell them what they should or shouldn't do.  They make me feel like I'm neglecting my kids when I am actually desiring to foster their creativity and natural curiosity.  I want them to take small risks at a young age so that they can have the confidence to take greater risks when they grow older.  If that means that they need to concur their fear of heights by climbing higher in a tree then I'm all for it!  In many ways it would be easier to have more structure in our days.  I write about the school we do mainly because I want to see it all in one place.  It's hard to remember what we did a week ago or see their growth from month to month if I look too closely at each day and don't try to assemble a bigger picture, but all of the in between things are valuable too.

Being bored is valuable because they can learn to think of what to do.  Being allowed to do nothing and just think is valuable as well (how many adults feel comfortable in silence with their own thoughts?) Making mistakes is valuable too, and how much better is it to make small mistakes at a young age rather than big mistakes when you are older?

Okay, so here's my pep talk to myself and to anyone else who needs encouragement right now.  It's time to rest in where we are.  This past week we've been raising caterpillars and perhaps the hardest times were those when the caterpillars would hold very still and not eat (they were molting)--- they needed to be left alone to do what they needed to do.  The pupa (chrysalis) stage was also hard because we couldn't see any change outwardly.  Are they okay?  Are they growing?  We could only wait and see.  One looks slightly injured and I don't know if it will make it, but I can't do anything and constantly checking on it does nothing helpful.

No matter what schooling choice we've made for our kids I want to encourage other mom's (as well as myself) to trust their kids and respect them as people.  Don't coerce them into good behavior at every moment (that's not truly being "good" is it, if it's forced?)  Trust them to know themselves well enough to have some idea about what they are interested in and what they might be good at.  Encourage their skills and good qualities.  Savor the snuggle moments and overly talkative moments even at inconvenient times.

The almost 3 year old holding one of the butterflies that we released this week.

We are living life together.  We model what it means to be an adult to our children.  Are we teaching them that every human is valuable and should be respected?  Are their emotions bothersome to us or do we take the time to listen to their problems?

The middle one (6) playing "butterfly" outside with her sisters.  She was a Luna moth she said and only came out at night, so they took turns saying when it was day or night so they could fly.

I keep needing to tell myself that how I listen to my kids and how I talk to them and how I take the time to snuggle and read with them before bed even when I'd rather be asleep is valuable.

Parenting and teaching shouldn't be about making our children "well rounded" but to nurture their God given gifts and talents.  Prepare them for life as best as we can, yes, but especially to enjoy this short time that we have with them as parent and child before they are grown up and gone from us.