This week, God sent me a litt
le superhero to save me from my insecurity and fear.
I had to take all three kids to meet Gabe’s new Kindergarten teacher at school on Wednesday morning, and I dreaded having to take Faith with me…mostly out of guilt and fear.
We love our parish’s Catholic school, and we are good friends with the principal and vice principal. We know what the school is about and how they handle things. They have a great early elementary program. Gabriel had a good year in PreK there last year.
But tuition for one was what the Lord provided. And we have two school-age children.
After much discussion and prayer, Michael and I decided that we needed to keep Gabriel in school for Kindergarten and keep Faith at home for PreK.
We explained over the summer to Faith that she would be “doing homeschool with Mommy” for school this year, and she seemed to take the news remarkably well at home. But I worried that once she saw Gabe’s classroom and walked around the school, she would have some kind of wait-I-don’t-get-to-go-too?! moment. Both of her closest little friends (she prays nightly for them) are going to school this year, but I’m not sure that has sunk in quite yet.
Pretty soon after we arrived, several kind passing teachers and adults in a row assumed that Faith and Gabe were both headed for teacher meetings, and they asked both kids if they were excited about school. Faith piped up to answer all of them, “No, my mommy is teaching me PreK at home on her lap!”
So matter-of-fact. So simple and sweet and full of grace for her mother.
Homeschooling feels a little bit like being a new mother again. You can read all the homeschooling books you want, and talk to all of your friends, and read tons of great homeschooling blogs, but in the end, you just have to figure out what works for your family. You know going in that you’re going to make mistakes. Spend too much money and time here and not enough there. Shed some how-does-anyone-DO-this?! tears of frustration and guilt at some point.
It’s another yes. One that I’ve procrastinated on saying a whole-hearted yes to. But I’m there now. I actually finally ordered some books and school supplies, oh, the night of Gabe’s teacher meeting.
At least PreK is low stakes. And fun. And hard to mess up. I know that. And my little superhero daughter is a quick learner who is hungry for books and knowledge. Out of she and her brother, I am relieved that she is my homeschooling guinea pig, trust me.
Onward toward another yes, another year, another adventure into something new as a mother. Maybe I’ll love homeschooling. Who knows? Maybe providing tuition for just one of the kids was God’s way of making sure I tried something I would otherwise not have tried.
Jesus, I do trust in you. Please remind me of that when I’m having a Freak Out sometime in the not-so-distant future. Or just save me from myself with some sweetness (and maybe some alphabet and early math mastery?) from my favorite hot pink clad Supergirl.
Oh, and thanks for this guy. 🙂
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