Everyone asks why we don't utilize the public school system. There are many, many reasons why we don't, but here are a few.
(PLEASE NOTE: While we feel that homeschooling is what is best for our family we do not feel that everyone should be forced to homeschool. I do not think our family is superior to yours. Everyone must choose what is right for their family. This is simply what is right for us.)
1. I love my children. I know that while homeschooling isn't right for everyone, it is most certainly the best for our family.
2. I love watching my children as they "get" a new concept.
3. I love the sibling interaction my kids have. All siblings have disagreements, but they are truly each others' best friends and I love that.
4. My son has ADHD, while we do medicate him, he would not do well in a traditional classroom setting.
5. I can tailor our lesson plans to fit the interests of my children.
6. My goals for my children are as follows, a) love God with all their heart, soul and mind. b) Family should be their second priority. Education comes second to all of that. If I don't have their hearts then I haven't done my job. If my children are the smartest people in the world, but don't know Jesus then I have failed.
7. I can't imagine sending my children off to spend their most impressionable years in the hands of another adult.
8. My children do not belong to Ceasar!
9. I would miss the hugs and kisses.
10. This is what God desires for our family.
11. My husband does not have a traditional work schedule. If we didn't homeschool, my children would never see their father.
12. The things they are teaching in schools today is C-R-A-Z-Y!! I do not want the government indoctrinating my children.
13. I don't want my children being fed lies, such as our ancestors were monkeys.
14. I want my children to have a Biblical education, one that centers around the Word of God. Text books are great learning tools, but our education MUST be based on the Bible.
15. My family lives in a very protective bubble. I do my best to shelter the hearts of my children. I do not want them learning to curse or do other things that are way too age inappropriate for them. There were things that went on in my school (I went to elementary school) that wasn't fit for an adult!
16. I wouldn't trust a stranger to care for my children, yet I am expected to send my children off to complete strangers to care for them for hours on end each day.
17. Have you watched the news lately? Between school shootings, kidnappings and teachers coming up molesting these kids schools just simply aren't safe anymore.
(This post will be continually updated.)
Showing posts with label parenting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label parenting. Show all posts
Monday, August 26, 2013
Thursday, March 21, 2013
When the Warm Fuzzies Fly South for the Winter
A few moments ago I found a link to a blog that talked about some hard issues. The author was an adoptive mama of a child with Reactive Attachment Disorder - RAD. http://lisa-overcomingmyself.blogspot.com/2011/07/to-mothers-of-unattached-children.html. I felt like I could've written her post word for word. My reply to her inspired this blog post.
When we started our journey into foster care, I was such a broken person. I had already experienced five miscarriages. I thought I would never be a Mama to earth blessings. As much as I wanted to save the world, selfishly I wanted to fulfill my own desires to be a mama. I started out with all these warm fuzzy feelings, but they not my reality most days. Foster parenting is hard, but it has its own rewards. I wouldn't change my life for the world, because I love my children, but it is HARD. The moment they bring the child into your home, you have hopes of helping that child heal. You do your best to help them and finally adoption day comes. I think every adoptive parent experiences that sigh of relief when everything is final.
What happens when the warm fuzzies fly south for the winter? What happens when your beloved darling turns into the incredible hulk and you hear things coming out of their mouth that would make the toughest, emotionless man melt into a puddle of tears? What do you do then?
The first time I heard "I hate you! I don't want to live with you. I want to go live with my birth parents. You don't love me." come one child's mouth I locked myself in my room and cried like a teenage girl who had lost her first boyfriend to a cheerleader. I had done all I could do to help my children understand that they are loved. I have tried to make adoption this really beautiful thing for my children. Their stories don't include all the bad things that happened prior to us. When they ask why they can't live with their birth parents we give them age appropriate facts, but we always try to reassure to them that they are exactly where God wants them to be right now. I tell them often that I feel blessed to be their Mama and I do. Out of all the women in the world, God could've easily chosen someone else. Despite all of my hard work to show them how much we love them, my child was screaming words no child should ever say, but most do. Now it's something I hear on a weekly basis. Every time this child doesn't get his way, the attack starts. I am sad to say that I have finally gotten accustomed to this battle of tongue. Well, as much as any mother could get used to those heart breaking words spewing from her child's mouth.
I have found that my journey is a very lonely one. Most people do not understand what it feels like to hear your child act this way so often. Everyone means well when they try to reassure you that everything will be fine, but they don't realize that they are telling me that my feelings are completely wrong or that I shouldn't take things so personally. In the times that I don't allow something to get to me or react in a way that doesn't give in to the child's tantrums then I am judged then too. Because of this I have closed myself off to many people. I can be friendly with almost anyone, but I don't allow very many people inside. It is hard to handle other's criticism when I am struggling to help my child. It's one thing to parent when you don't have all the answers. It's quite another when you feel like you don't have ANY of the answers.
I have found that the solutions are as numerous as there are children. As frustrating and heartbreaking as it is, I have learned that this road is something that my family has to travel together. No one has the answers. We will discover them as we go - together. And that is ok. Until then, we pray for spring.
Blessings,
Weight Loss Mama
When we started our journey into foster care, I was such a broken person. I had already experienced five miscarriages. I thought I would never be a Mama to earth blessings. As much as I wanted to save the world, selfishly I wanted to fulfill my own desires to be a mama. I started out with all these warm fuzzy feelings, but they not my reality most days. Foster parenting is hard, but it has its own rewards. I wouldn't change my life for the world, because I love my children, but it is HARD. The moment they bring the child into your home, you have hopes of helping that child heal. You do your best to help them and finally adoption day comes. I think every adoptive parent experiences that sigh of relief when everything is final.
What happens when the warm fuzzies fly south for the winter? What happens when your beloved darling turns into the incredible hulk and you hear things coming out of their mouth that would make the toughest, emotionless man melt into a puddle of tears? What do you do then?
The first time I heard "I hate you! I don't want to live with you. I want to go live with my birth parents. You don't love me." come one child's mouth I locked myself in my room and cried like a teenage girl who had lost her first boyfriend to a cheerleader. I had done all I could do to help my children understand that they are loved. I have tried to make adoption this really beautiful thing for my children. Their stories don't include all the bad things that happened prior to us. When they ask why they can't live with their birth parents we give them age appropriate facts, but we always try to reassure to them that they are exactly where God wants them to be right now. I tell them often that I feel blessed to be their Mama and I do. Out of all the women in the world, God could've easily chosen someone else. Despite all of my hard work to show them how much we love them, my child was screaming words no child should ever say, but most do. Now it's something I hear on a weekly basis. Every time this child doesn't get his way, the attack starts. I am sad to say that I have finally gotten accustomed to this battle of tongue. Well, as much as any mother could get used to those heart breaking words spewing from her child's mouth.
I have found that my journey is a very lonely one. Most people do not understand what it feels like to hear your child act this way so often. Everyone means well when they try to reassure you that everything will be fine, but they don't realize that they are telling me that my feelings are completely wrong or that I shouldn't take things so personally. In the times that I don't allow something to get to me or react in a way that doesn't give in to the child's tantrums then I am judged then too. Because of this I have closed myself off to many people. I can be friendly with almost anyone, but I don't allow very many people inside. It is hard to handle other's criticism when I am struggling to help my child. It's one thing to parent when you don't have all the answers. It's quite another when you feel like you don't have ANY of the answers.
I have found that the solutions are as numerous as there are children. As frustrating and heartbreaking as it is, I have learned that this road is something that my family has to travel together. No one has the answers. We will discover them as we go - together. And that is ok. Until then, we pray for spring.
Blessings,
Weight Loss Mama
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