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You know how sometimes things look differently to you when you distance yourself from it? The past few months have given me the gift of perspective. Our family backed up a little (no, a lot!) from our previous routine-- and something pretty amazing hit me (us). I probably always knew it in the back of my mind, but the past few months brought it to the forefront.
I’ve been considering time. And how we spend it. I am very grateful these few months of homeschooling. I’ve spent lots of time with both children. Because we have spent so much time together, I’ve gotten to know them better than I ever thought possible — the good, the bad, and the ugly. Since we spend our days together, we have long conversations across many topics: their goals, their fears, what they look forward to, how they want to live their lives.
I then think back to the time before Adventures in Homeschooling began. Breakfast was a rush every morning, and then both children left for almost the entire day. After school were the extra activities: piano, gymnastics, dance, chorus, etc. When they came home, we would eat dinner together (if possible) and then it was off to homework. Weekends were just as busy. Our conversations consisted of talk about the “next thing.” “Do you have your homework done?” “What time does gymnastics end?” “Did you talk to your teacher about....” “What’s going on this weekend?”
What time was left for us? To just be? And I, who am often just as busy as my children (if not busier) saw very clearly what we were missing. We were missing each other.
Marie Cinti lives with her husband and two children in Penfield. A former college academic advisor and school counselor, she is passionate about community service and blogs about life in Penfield, books, events, and more. She enjoys reading, writing, cooking, and geocaching. If you have an idea for her blog, please email Marie at sfinkels@rochester.rr.com.
