Written by contributor Sarah Small of SmallWorld at Home
As I write, three teenagers in Santa hats are in the kitchen loudly singing, “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas.” It is 7:15 a.m., and I hush them because I don’t want them to wake “the baby.” The baby is almost 12, and like most tweens, he likes to sleep in.
We’re a long way from reading quietly during the baby’s naptime. We’re a long way from making handprint wreaths and salt dough ornaments. My daughter and her friends are making their lunches before they head out to co-op, where they’ll have a full day of classes: ecology, American literature, American history, geometry, ACT Prep, and drama.
They leave. My 12-year-old still snoozes; the cat snores softly on the couch. The house is almost perfectly quiet. There is not one single toy visible to me, not even a Lego guy head.
Bustle changes as the seasons of our life shift.
It is at times like this I hear the choir of older mothers who used to warn me.
You know them—the ones who sing, “Enjoy them now! They grow up too fast!” ad nauseam. For me, they always seemed to choose exactly the wrong time—after a particularly sleepless night, at the supermarket check-out line when the youngest was screaming for candy, or after an hour of trying to keep them quiet during church—to express this quaint but obviously erroneous sentiment.
“Grow up too fast?” I’d think to myself. “This goes on forever and ever and ever! If only they’d grow up just a little!”
It was true, what they said, for the most part.
The days do go by quickly, although we can’t see that in the midst of crumbled cookies, sticky hands, and scattered toys. When we spend half our day refereeing fights, commanding kids to “PICK UP!” and counting to 10, we fantasize about just one hour of quiet or even a shower without a kid banging on the door. An hour’s trip to Target without kids is the equivalent of a weekend at the ritziest spa.
We can’t imagine, as we read his favorite book aloud for the zillionth time in a row, that one day he’ll be raiding your bookshelves, “borrowing” all your favorite novels and taking them to college. It’s true.
I am not quite to the stage where I can say I miss stepping on Legos, but I do feel a twinge of grief when I toss the unread American Girl catalog into the recycling bin. I don’t even ask my 15-year-old daughter if she wants to look though it anymore.
But you know what the best thing is about homeschooling? And yes, I mean the best part of homeschooling?
When I remember all those ladies warning me to “Enjoy them while they’re young,” I think to myself: I did.
We seized the days together.
I got to enjoy the ins and outs and ups and downs of their every day lives. My husband and I nourished them, nurtured them, and watched them grow. We didn’t have to send them off so that someone else got to enjoy them—or worse, not enjoy them. Forget about academics and socialization and all that stuff.
The essence of homeschooling is so simple: we get to be with them.
We are privileged to really enjoy them while they are young so that it doesn’t all go by too fast.
And so as one of those older women now, I will say this to you: keep enjoying them. In the bustle of this season, treasure these moments up in your heart. Snuggle on the couch and read your favorite Christmas story a dozen times in a row. Let them get messy decorating sugar cookies.
One of these days, they will head out the door in a flurry of goodbyes, you will have enough quiet moments for reflection.
What moments are you treasuring in this season of your life?
Using YouTube for homeschooling
Thank you for this. I am one of those moms who is trying to help my kids understand being quiet in church and trying to sneak in a shower without too much interruption from my almost 3 and almost 5 y.o. And you’re right. There are such times when it seems like they will be like this for.ev.er. But I know they won’t.
So, today, I will slow down. I will breathe deep. I will cherish the moments of incessant chatter and requests and picking up toys strewn about the living room.
Thank you.
I so agree! Mine are still small, 4 & 6 and before having children, I would never have imagined homeschooling, but now, I cannot imagine any other way. I am so thankful that I am able to stay home with my babies and educate them at home. To people with older children, 4 & 6 seems so young, but to me, they are already SO grown up! It seems that they were just born. I try and remind myself of how fast they are growing even in the middle of breaking up fights or telling them to pick up their toys for what seems like the 100th time that day and then I remember that it doesn’t really matter, before long, these toys will be gone and they’ll be teenagers. I am thankful for every second that I get to share these amazing children’s lives.
Crying! Love this.
Charity’s latest post: Rhythm of a Year: Holidays
I’ve heard a variation on the “The time goes by so fast” comments that totally makes sense to me (as a mom of three boys age 4 and under). It says, “The days are long, but the years are short.” Essentially, the days can seem to go on forever, especially when you have diapers, sickness, constant chaos, messes, babies who stick everything in their mouth . . . . but the next thing you know they’re no longer in diapers, breast-feeding, or needing their nose wiped. They dress themselves, help keep things clean, and entertain themselves!!! I’m enjoying baby no less than the first simply because I’ve already seen that the years fly . . . my oldest is already wiping kisses off rather than giving wet slobbery ones!
I’ve always intended to homeschool . . . and have NO idea how I’d deal with sending my little guys away to school! I love teaching them already, and we haven’t even started formal schooling. 🙂
Tricia’s latest post: Grief
My first and currently only is 6 months old and we plan to homeschool – this post just wrapped up one of the biggest reasons I’m choosing to do so…………..I’m bookmarking it for inspiration during the rougher times later 🙂 Thanks!
Thank you so much for this. It comes on the heels of my 4 year old picking up and dropping the terrarium that her siblings and I worked so hard on. She dashed their plans of frog raising. The frog was saved, the glass was swept… the tears dried (mostly mine ha ha). I do enjoy these days, but I want to enjoy them more. Having 5 under 10 makes me tired, but the days are already slipping by much too fast. I wish I could slow them down!!! many blessings to you!
It is so funny that you shared this post this morning because I was having this very conversation with a friend last night. I truly feel that I can enjoy them in a way that those who do not homeschool cannot. Thank you.
Cait @ My Little Poppies’s latest post: Her Homeschool Manifesto