We Are Not Your Average Homeschool Family

Yes! I have 8 kids. Yes! I homeschool. But that doesn't mean that all homeschool families are alike. They differ just like every other family. We LOVE technology! We love kindles, computers, video games, TV, cell phones etc. It's good to be unique! I would encourage your family to be only what God has designed for your family.

I find it interesting that almost every time we are out with all eight we get these questions."Do you want to be like the Duggars?" "Do you wear skirts?" "Are they all by the same man?" "Do you use only one letter for all the kids?"

I want to answer these questions. Yes they are all by the same man!!! The next question I usually get is, "Do you want to be like the Duggars?" I respond with; No I do not! I want to be what God created our family to be. On Tv their life looks wonderful and it may be; and I think they are a great family. But no one should strive to be like someone else. The only thing that makes us alike is that we are brothers and sisters in Christ.

"Do you wear skirts?" The answer to that is; not all the time. I love skirts! They come in an array of colors and shapes but I also love my yoga pants too. I mean, they are so comfortable! Anyway, I think skirts are great but why does that define a homeschool family? Is it Modesty? Because I believe you can be modest in jeans or what ever you want to wear. I know there is a lot of controversy over leggings. I do wear these but always have something covering my rear end.

1 Peter 3:2-5 says Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight. For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful. 

One time we were at Costco and we had the whole family. It was warm out so the girls and I wore skirts. A lady came up to us and said "Oh you all look lovely. You don't see families dressing like this. I bet you homeschool too!" While it was a nice comment it seems like, Hey! You're wearing a skirt you must be this, this and this....I want to wear what my husband likes me to wear. It is his headship that I am under. And he likes to go shopping with me. :)

Finally, no I don't use just one letter of the alphabet. I am not bias. I like all the letters of the alphabet. At one point my husband said, "We are not going to use the same letter twice!" I thought it was funny but we kind of stuck with doing that! 

If you are a homeschool family I'd love to hear in the comments some off the wall questions you've been asked.

Transitions

As we were transitioning into 2015 that was not the only thing in our house that was making transitions. Jackson, my two year old, informed me he was a big boy by falling out of his crib. Luckily, Titus put blankets down to break his fall. As I went in during nap time to check on them they were laughing and it was so sweet. I asked Jackson how he got out of his crib and he said, "Tity me out!"  So I decided the crib needed to be adjusted to the toddler bed setting. "Nooo!" Jackson said. He wanted to sleep in Tity's bed. He really loves his older brother.

As I was making the adjustments to the room to child proof it and take the crib down it made me sad. Jackson and Madison are my last babies. Parents always look forward to the kids growing up and getting older but I have now done this 7 times and it is hard knowing the kids are getting older and going to leave the nest. Gabe is 16 and going to start college this year. I can't believe it! The time fly's by so fast. So I have decided in 2015 to enjoy every little moment with my little ones. As the poem says, Babies don't keep.

"BABIES DON’T KEEP"

Mother, O Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing, make up the bed,
Sew on a button and butter the bread.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I’ve grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,
Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye loo.
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo

The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew
And out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo
But I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo
Look! Aren’t his eyes the most wonderful hue?
Lullabye, rockaby lullabye loo.

The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow
But children grow up as I’ve learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!
I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.

Author: Ruth Hulburt Hamilton