First Day of School::2011-2012

I was really dragging my feet this year about starting. I don't feel organized enough. I can't keep the house clean enough. Easton is a lot of work, how can I do school and him at the same time? I had lots of excuses. I was talking to Rand about it last week and he said, "Why wouldn't you start next week?" Hmmm, good question. I answered, "Well, I guess the only real reason I wouldn't start is because I am scared."
Last year I struggled with motivation and desire. Last year we added Easton to the mix and we moved (don't we always?). It just seemed so hard! So I thought that being scared wasn't a very good reason not to start so I made a plan to get everything we needed and get on it! I started with Ann Voskamp. :) My daily dose of perspective. What did she write?? Organizing Head and Heart to Homeschool. Perfect. Her fifth sentence: "I am scared to homeschool this year." Oh thank you! I'm not the only one!

I think I can do it.

We started today. Yes, schooling on a Sunday is unconventional, but we go to church on Saturday nights, and Rand heads to work on Sunday morning, and well....what else are we going to do? It was a perfect first day. Easton was pleasant until his morning nap. We had pancakes for breakfast. The boys were thrilled to start again after only a few moans about it in the weeks prior. We breezed through reading and writing and math. We ended with Science and were amazed at how fast we went!

"I love school. It is so fun." That was how we ended our morning.

Sometimes I think about what I loved about the first day of school. Fog, cold weather, a new backpack, pictures by the front door, new outfits and new shoes...a new year. I wonder what excites my kids? I know they love their new workbooks and reading books. They get excited about their new pencil boxes and fresh crayons.
But they don't wear cute outfits (half the time we don't get out of pj's, although today they both chose their "my mom rocks" t-shirts), their hair isn't done up. They don't walk out the door with a packed lunch and they don't have a new teacher or a classroom full of new kids. There is something I really like about that.

Is it possible this is our fifth year??? They are growing, and we are learning, and I get to see it all. I don't regret the work and the fear and the sacrifice.

This is 3rd and 1st grade....at home.