School Daze

Macy finds something to read (haha)

Here's what our classroom looks like......

don't be jealous.

Mom and Liam while we wait for Macy's classroom door to open

The three school girls...

Right after Macy got into her classroom, and I hung around a little, she looked at me and said, "Why aren't you going??" Meanwhile, other 3 yr olds are clinging to parents and screaming bloody murder.

So, September arrives, preschool begins, school at the Herring home commences, and my blood pressure increases by 20 mmHg! When the school year comes, it's so exciting because it's new - the grade, the class, the experience. However, for me, after 2 weeks, the novelty seems to wear off (I'm American, after all!) Clancey is a 2nd grader, Annabelle is a Kindergartener, and Macy is a two-day-a-week visitor to the same preschool Annabelle finished in the Spring. She has Annabelle's 3 yr old teacher, which is a big deal to us. Being military, it is rare that my kids can share things in succession - such as teachers, docs who deliver them, club leaders, etc. I mean, seriously....only two of mine were born in the same state and none of the kids are more than 23 months from the next sibling. Even though we're slotted to leave in Summer 2011, we'll ride this wave of sharing Ms. Christi. :)
Even though the novelty wears off, the warm fuzzies don't. In the first two weeks, I saw Annabelle improve in leaps and bounds in her handwriting and reading - and was very encouraged. A huge bonus to our family, though, is the relationship between Macy and Annabelle. If any two of mine rub each other the wrong way, it's my #2 and #3; however, since starting school, Annabelle uses her breaks from her work to go and play with Macy. When school's over and the afternoon is ahead of us, it is not uncommon to find Macy and Annabelle playing for 2-3 hours, straight, with neither sight or sound of them. It's amazing - and something I am very very thankful for. So, while homeschooling can sometimes make me sound a deep sigh or dream of running errands and meeting friends for playdates w/just my younger two, it's what we've been led to do for this time and this place. When I don't respond to the desires of my flesh (me time, less work, the neverending task of challenging and teaching my kids), I can sit, take it all in, and feel the warm fuzzies of not missing time with my children. They will only be this big for a short while, and I don't want to miss out. After a study this summer, we realized that instead of our kids being experientially-rich, we want them to be relationally-rich. We've held back on too many activities because of how full and how on-the-go life tends to get when our family time of "just being" is enslaved to our activities. I can see relationships within our family greatly improving, and the investment is worth it.

"Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously." 2Corinthians 9:6