"Life is short...Dance!"

The past couple of days have been great in relation to homeschooling. Today was the first time, since beginning January 3, that Abby gave the thumbs up to "being at home". Now, that could all change tomorrow...but for now she is enjoying it. She enjoys the schedule and the interaction. Today for instance...we went to an estate sale with my mom at 10, then to the bank and Walmart. We came home, ate lunch together, put Zoe to bed for her nap and then started school. We made coffee...she likes Decaf Hazelnut...this is my mom's fault- not mine...I had Sumatra. We sat at the table and discussed the rules for sentences...Then she copied the rules....
1.Sentences always begin with a capital letter.
2.Sentences always end with the proper punctuation.
3.Sentences always have a subject and a predicate.
ETC...
Then she wrote some sentences, found some subject nouns, some predicates....things that I had to review in order to teach her. How sad is that?
She worked in her Math book...then we went outside and sat on the porch with our coffee and began History. As you know, if you've read my blog even once- History is completely changing my perspective on everything. I LOVE it.

Well, She LOVED today because it was our second day to talk about India. On the first day that we discussed India, she did her map work and her narration exercise and then we watched a video. When we lived in Waco I picked up this video for $1.99 at HEB called "Train Ride through India". It is super cool and she was captivated by it.

Today was about Hinduism. This was especially interesting to her because we are Christians. So as I began to read to her the creation account from the Rig Veda, which is their holy book, she was immediately interested. I love this part of homeschooling. We take very serious our responsibility to indoctrinate our children. I also believe that it is very important for them to know that there are millions of people who are just as deliberate in following their god as we are in following Ours. They have an entire system of belief, theology, and ritual. We may not adhere to it...but I want them to know about it. I want them to "interact with these ideas". I think that it equips them to listen, speak and discuss in a more thorough and educated way. We had a great discussion. It was one of those times that I will forever replay in my mind. She was so engaged and communicated some "truths" very clearly that I really did not think that she had fully grasped. And she laughed as she drank her coffee saying, "I bet no one else gets to drink coffee while they're doing their school work"...as if she had "one-upped" every 7 year old in town.

The day was a gift from God. It was the 7 year mark of my dad's death. I dread it every year. And the week leading up to it is not any better. I was 9 when my mom married Woody...and I consider him my dad. He is who my children refer to as PawPaw. He died when Abby was 8 months old and my other girls never met him, had their picture made with him or tasted his homemade biscuits...But they will know him. Ellie, my 5 year old, on almost a monthly basis says, "Will we see PawPaw Woody in the New Heavens and the New Earth? Will he be able to walk really good?"...and I always engage her on this subject...because it reminds me, too. I am thoughtful of the verse in Psalms that says "The memory of the righteous will endure for generations." I think that one of the major reasons that I NEVER had the question, "If I adopt, will I love the child as much as I love the children that I birthed?"...is because I never questioned his love for me. I mean, we did not have the same DNA or the same blood running through our veins...but I KNOW that he loved me.

As I reflected upon the day today- how my mom struggled to occupy herself, how I was constantly pushing back emotion, and about my own family I felt "real". That sounds so weak in this "therapeutic" culture in which we live...but it's true. I felt like the freakin' Velveteen Rabbit. Alive because I had been loved...and worn out.

We ended our day today, with what is becoming customary- "We are Family" blaring from the speakers and all of us dancing crazy in the living room. The girls were all jumping and spinning and holding hands...they were laughing and oblivious. They have no idea how brief life is. They will...but not today or tomorrow...probably not for years. I am glad. I am happy that for now, their world is "full". They exude joy,life and hope. This is the gift that our kiddos give to us...their prescence. They are here...and their "being here" changes everything.