Why We Homeschool: Complete With Giggles

We're still quite new to this home school thing and I must confess, I really have no idea what I'm doing. I suppose as long as Lainey doesn't know that and I figure out what I'm doing before she figures out that I don't know what I'm doing, we'll be okay. Today at one point, I'm certain that our home looked like the beginning of a commercial just before the mom says, "Calgon take me away!" and I thought, "Where do I sign her up for public schools because I CAN'T do this!!" It's not so much teaching Lainey that's the problem, though that does seem overwhelming at times; it's how to keep Sarah Grace occupied so that I CAN teach Lainey. But in the midst of all that, we did have a teachable moment that reminded me just why it is we want to homeschool and what we want it to look like. We have some friends who are expecting a baby; they recently miscarried a few months ago and received a phone call from their doctor yesterday saying that this might not be a "viable" pregnancy. We prayed for them this morning during our family worship time and prayed specifically that God would keep the baby safe and healthy. Well, just as we were about to get started with schoolwork, we received a phone call saying that they'd been to the doctor and that the baby had a strong heartbeat. I was able to tell Lainey and Sarah Grace about it and tell them that we were going to pray and thank God that He'd answered our prayers. We did and then we talked about Psalm 139:13 which talks about God knitting us together in our mother's womb. I explained to Lainey that God had put us all together just like He wanted us and that He had put her eyelashes on, one by one, and had put her elbows on just so, and that He had her tummy where He wanted it and had her heart just right. She was really taken by all of that and it totally reminded me why we're doing this in the first place. What a blessing to be able to share Scripture with them and explain just a little bit about how God works and see how He answers prayers and to pray and thank Him for doing so in the middle of our schoolwork! That's something we can't get if we send her to public schools (I don't think they're evil, by the way; I just don't want to miss out on such wonderful opportunities like this one!). It is something that requires lots of prayer because how does it all work out trying to teach them to read and write and what 2+3 is AND trying to train their little hearts in the right direction. As I told a friend this morning, I can't worry about their reading and writing if they're being disrespectful to me because they're hearts have to take priority. I don't care how smart they are if they're not going to be obedient to me and ultimately to God. So, all that to say, if I cross your mind during the day, I'd covet your prayers for wisdom for this little endeavor we have going on here!

I was trying to work on a little math with Lainey today and we were trying to figure out what number was 2 more than 3. She kept coming up with 4. I went over it in several different ways and she still kept coming out with 4. I finally said, "No Lainey, it's 5." She said, "No, it's 4." I said, "No, it isn't." (Do you see where this is going?) She then said, "Well certainly it is." I said, "No Lainey, I'm certain that it's 5." She said, "Well, how can that be?" Please remember that she's only 5. I think I finally explained it well enough that she believed me, but she may have only been humoring me. "Okay, Mom, it's 5. Whatever."

Tonight Sarah Grace and Lainey were "cleaning" their room a bit (that simply means they were moving the piles in the floor to the top of the toy box or in the closet, but hey, as long as a path for walking was cleared, I was fine with it). Sarah Grace found some goggles and said, "Look Mom, it's my giggles!" And giggle I did!