How'd I get here?

I'm a homeschooling mama. I have been for the past 16 years. No matter how you look at it, homeschooling is part of my job description, part of what makes me me, engrained in our family. A couple of weeks ago, I attended my homeschool support group's annual "Informational" meeting. I'm not new to homeschooling, I don't need much information but I love this meeting. It is my favorite throughout the whole year. Until recently, I couldn't tell you why it's my favorite. This year, I was torn all day "should I go, should I stay home". At the last minute, I decided to go. During the meeting, which was full of people I had never seen before, came the tell-tale part where everyone had to stand up. With each statement a group of people sat down. At the end, it was the people who had homeschooled at least 15 years and had graduated at least one student that were left standing. There were just a handful of us. As I looked around the room, I thought "oh, there are my friends, there are the people I know, there are the people I have been living life with the past 16 years." A friend that was beside me leaned over and asked "how did we get here". My first, initial response was "I have no idea." As I mulled over it some, my answer changed. I got here one hour, one day, one week, one month, one year, one prayer at a time. Suddenly, I saw my twenty something self in the eager parents sitting around me. The ones that were ready to take the challenge of educating their children by the horns, eager to spend 24/7 with their children, eager to take on the role of both parent and teacher. I tell people all the time (anyone who will listen) homeschooling is not a race, it is a marathon. In a race, you have your sights set on the end, you go as fast as you can, keeping your eyes always on the prize. In a marathon, you have to pace yourself, you have to be diligent in perseverance, you have to keep running even though you don't remember why you even started, even though you get tired, even though you sometimes really wanted to quit. Then, suddenly, the end approaches and you think, "wow, that wasn't too bad". (I don't really know, I've never run a race or marathon but that's how my imagination plays it out.) Suddenly, you're not in a race anymore but standing in a room of 60+ people thinking "don't look I me, I have no idea what I'm doing!" But I do, I just tell myself I don't. I envy those that as soon as their little ones are born they look into their sweet baby faces and say "oh, I know I will homeschool you everyday of you life and never dream about how green the grass is on the other side of that school bus" That was SO not me, it still isn't me. In fact, when I first began homeschooling those 16 years ago, our friends were afraid we had joined an occult or I had been brain washed. One sweet, sweet friend, a mentor from my teaching days commented early on in our homeschooling adventure "what will you do when she reaches middle school, your degree is only K-6?" After a pause, my response was "I guess pray for the rapture." Four of my five children are either past middle school or currently in middle school and we've survived. Dare I say thrived. Every year, I have to re-evaluate. Every year I have to pray, heavily. Every.single.year. 16 years and counting. So, how did I get here? Only by the grace of God. I'm so very thankful. Now, looking back with one graduate, one senior, and three more to go, I realize that marathon is so, so fast. A lifetime is not nearly long enough. Now, if I can only remind myself of that tomorrow when everyone is awake and whining/complaining about how much school they have to do!

Where I stand on the Ice Bucket Challenge

I know it's been a while. Lately, however, I have found myself with things to say and no one to say them to. I mean, I have people who will "listen" but you know - I think I like the idea of blogging better than the idea of just talking to myself. Anyway, I've (as I'm sure you have been) watching 1,000 (ok - maybe 100s) of friends and family dump cups, pails, buckets, containers of ice/cold/lukewarm/bath water. (I don't really know the temperature - I'm just guessing from the reactions.) I knew it was coming, we don't live under a rock, after all. I knew that someone was going to announce they had been challenged. That day came today. I will admit that I was guilty of reading a couple of articles on people's opinions but didn't go to the source. I told the kids that I wanted more information, they had already looked it up - on the www.alsa.org website. First of all, I was impressed. Second of all, I realized that I am fundamentally an anti-bandwagon kind of person, a negative Nellie, a kill-joy (I think you get my meaning.) Here are some facts cut and pasted from the alsa website: Between July 29 and today, August 12, The ALS Association and its 38 chapters have received an astonishing $4 million in donations compared to $1.12 million during the same time period last year. The ALS Association is incredibly grateful for the outpouring of support from those people who have been doused, made a donation, or both. Contributions further The Association’s mission to find a cure for ALS while funding the highest quality of care for people living with the disease. "We have never seen anything like this in the history of the disease,” said Barbara Newhouse, President and CEO of The ALS Association. “We couldn’t be more thrilled with the level of compassion, generosity and sense of humor that people are exhibiting as they take part in this impactful viral initiative." Here's more: With only about half of the general public knowledgeable about amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, the Ice Bucket Challenge is making a profound difference. Since July 29, The Association has welcomed more than 70,000 new donors to the cause. "While the monetary donations are absolutely incredible,” said Newhouse, “the visibility that this disease is getting as a result of the challenge is truly invaluable. People who have never before heard of ALS are now engaged in the fight to find treatments and a cure for ALS." Pretty incredible, isn't it. It just made me realize how often I let other's viewpoints shape my point of view. I have told my kids all their lives "don't let others decide for you - go to the source and get TRUTH! Seems like I needed a reminder of that wise advice. I also realized that if my kids wanted to dump a bucket of cold water on their heads, just for the fun of it, so what? If my kids want to dump ice cold water on their heads and learn a valuable lesson about a disease people are suffering from, even better. If my kids want to show they can research, go to the source, make their own decision, priceless. For what it's worth, we had a great family night and it all began by one kid deciding to dump some ice cold water on her head.