As Is Life

Ever since I was a little girl, I've loved teaching. When my little brother would not concur to be my pupil, my mother tells me I would line up my stuffed animals and teach them just like Laura in Little House on the Prairie. So, upon entering college, the natural thing for me to do was graduate with an education degree and go out to teach my classroom of living, breathing students. I was in heaven teaching my fourth and then fifth graders and was often found late at the school preparing fun lessons for the next day.

During this time, I met, fell in love, and married the man of my dreams, and we settled down here in Meridian. A year later, after feeling "flu-ish" for a week, it was determined we would have an addition to the family....I was elated! I had always wanted children and figured with a teaching degree, I would teach at the school they attended. I had not figured how many changes would erupt in my heart with the birth of my son!

In going back to my classroom when Caleb was six weeks old, I found my heart was no longer there....it was at home with my son. After discussing this with my husband, I found out that he, too, wanted me to be able to stay at home with our children. We prayed and then proceeded to go about the mountainous task of trying to make this possible since my income was half of what we made at the time and through a lot of hard work and much doing without, I was at home with our son and now expecting again. I learned how to cut corners in every possible way with our budget, but the joy of being such a big part of my children's young lives was well worth the effort.

Then the unexpected day came when I realized my son would be school age in a year. He was, to say the least, a very "spirited and determined" young man and being a former teacher, I knew the labels that would soon rear their heads just because he was 500% boy. After talking and praying again, my husband and I decided we would keep him home during his Kindergarten year and teach him so he could have an extra year to get the "ants out of his pants."! Even with a degree in education, I approached this year with fear and trembling....would I mess up his education?...would he be up to par with everyone else?....would he be able to socialize well with other children?

After talking with mentor homeschoolers and researching hours, we began our school year........and I found out something. I was learning as much as he was! God revealed so much to me that I needed to learn as well..ahem, patience most of all!

As the years have gone by and my patience has grown more than a mite, I look back at the last five years of homeschooling, and I can honestly tell you that I have not regretted even the hardest days of being able to be such an instrumental part of my children's lives. I have realized that God made me the perfect teacher for my children, and I now have the honor of teaching my two older children as well as train my younger two and dearly love my Lil' House in the City!