The Autodidact

The 3 older kids attended a formal dance recently with some friends. The guys looked great, not to mention very cool. Thankfully, Lewis wasn't too cool to pose with his sisters. Debbie made both dresses; hers was pretty much her own creation! The girls were simply lovely. And off they went!

     Thunder rumbles ominously this morning as I try to sort out what I am feeling. The clouds provide a perfect backdrop to the heaviness in my heart. Recent news stories of horrifying activities at an abortion clinic in Philadelphia,  read about it here , bombs going off in Boston,  story here , killing, maiming, terrorizing, have me wallowing in the knowledge of the sin that permeates the world. The evil in the world is so oppressive to me lately. I feel it more keenly.  Is the world changing, or am I?      I sit here at the kitchen table, watching the storm brew; I have children to feed, laundry awaits, I need to get started on school, but none of it seems very important to me today. I want to protect my kids from the wickedness in the world, but how? How can I protect them if we all have the same sin in our own hearts? We all bear the stain of sin, we just act on it in different ways. How can I protect my kids from themselves? How ...

Dear Diary, Today was like most any other day. I woke up with a bad case of bed head. I hate when that happens. But after I fixed myself a cup of coffee, I felt much better, and my hair calmed down. Then it was time for my morning workout. Whew! I had to take care of some laundry and cleaning. Then the kids needed help with their school work and their piano lessons. I had to email some friends and pay some bills and check my Facebook page. And then a dear friend called and we chatted for a while. It was so good to catch up on old times. I needed some "me" time. Honestly, it's hard to get a break around here, but I have a special quiet spot where I can be alone and read a good book. I was really getting hungry, so I fixed myself a snack.  Before I knew it, it was time to fix dinner! Then I started to lose steam. A nice, hot bath with my ducky sounded like a good idea. So relaxing. Final...

     Who do children belong to? This question is buzzing around these days all over the internet and at dinner tables and coffee shops. Do kids belong to parents or the community? Does 'belonging' mean 'property'? Does 'community' mean the state, your neighborhood or your school district? Who is ultimately responsible for the job of parenting? Is it solely parents, or a combination of parents and the community? How much credit should the community take for the way your children develop, grow and learn?      We have children either through natural birth or adoption; either of which is a process we must commit ourselves to and endure, and results in a new addition to the family that we then commit to raising to adulthood. The question that I have not seen or alluded to in this debate is: Who gives us children? I think that we need to start there in order to work through these questions.      I suppose some people think that babies are just a ...

     One of the things that attracted me to home education, in the early days, was the amount of free, unscheduled time, time which the kids and I could spend with other homeschoolers. And I indulged in that quite a bit. I remember lazy afternoons, sipping tea with a friend, while our kids played, explored, fought, and learned. I had so many encouraging conversations with other moms, and we reveled in our freedom.      But somewhere along the way, I found it harder to find moms who had time for tea, and not because all our kids were older and busier. Even younger moms just starting out on the home education journey were just way too busy to slow down and just be.       All of a sudden, there were homeschool co-ops and clubs, and even schools for homeschoolers (can't quite wrap my brain around that one) popping up everywhere, and almost all of my friends joined something. None of these activities are inherently bad, in fact they can be ben...

     I dislike being pregnant; I just wanted to clear that up for any of you who might think a mother of 7 would, naturally, love it. I think there is a notion among some folks that women who have a lot of children (these days, more than 2!) must love pregnancy. I know a lot of women for whom pregnancy is nothing more than a hiccup or mild heartburn, hardly noticeable. I am not one of them. Each time I found out I was expecting, I was elated and sometimes surprised, but was quickly sobered by what lay ahead; except, of course, the first time, when I was blissfully unaware. The first time I was pregnant I could not foresee the unending, grinding nausea, the headaches and the there-is-a-dragon-in-my-belly heartburn, depression, aches and pains, and, with some, diabetes (injecting insulin and all), that was to come.      So why do it? Why put myself, and my husband and growing family through it? With all the advances in 'family planning' I certainly could hav...