How to Fill 24 Hours

I have had several people tell me that home schooling is going to be really hard, especially with eight children.  I do realize this.  On the flip side, any kind of schooling is hard especially with eight children.  Getting out of bed is hard, especially with eight children.  I know, I didn't pick the easy road, if you don't remind me my dad will.  I have been told this ever since I announced I was pregnant with my third child.  Granted life hasn't been "easy" but it has been a lot of fun.  It has also been much better than being dead, so I will just have to do the work and see how it all turns out.  I know that there is more to do with eight children, but really anyone who has any children feels like they have their hands full, and they do.  There is some economy of scale with a large number of children.  Grocery shopping for example is not necessarily exponentially more time consuming, you just use a bigger cart.  Older children can entertain, and educate younger children.  I don't have to spend a lot of time figuring out play dates, since we are a continual party.  So, I refuse to play the, "I have nine children"card and should therefore have an excuse to get out of any other responsibilities.

I have been trying to figure out what I have been saying on my blog that leads people to surmise that I think homeschooling will be easier than having them all at school.  If there is anyone out there that thinks they all go off to school and then I head off to the spa to get my nails done, let me just tell you that that has happened all of two times in my entire life.  Most of the time I spend the next hour cleaning up the kitchen from the aftermath of breakfast and lunch prep, throw a couple of loads of laundry in the washer and head to the grocery store.  I did quit my job at the church (I'll miss getting to know everyone better, but not as much as I miss taking a walk everyday).  What did I do with my extra twenty hours last week?  I spent it at home with two sick children.  We did some home work (school at home).  We read some books, played some cards, and I cleaned up while they slept.  I did take a walk everyday which made me very happy.  There is a simple law of life here, if you remove one thing from your schedule something else will come in to fill it up, and not necessarily what you had hoped would come in to fill it up.  At the end of the day we all get twenty four hours.  We will fill it with something, most likely something we love, or something for someone we love.  I thought it would be helpful for me, and maybe for you, if I jot down some of the things I love, and some of the things I don't love.  I know everyone has a different list, so maybe this will make my priorities make a little more sense, even if they differ from yours.

I love to be outside.  I love to exercise, not running marathons, but getting outside and getting a little bit out of breath.  I love reading.  I don't really care if it is fiction, or children's literature, as long as it isn't a text book written to be read out loud in a dry monotonous voice, or a contract full of details.  I love to cook.  I really love to eat, which drives me to cook, because in small towns you don't get a lot of variety in the eateries.  I love to get to know people.  I really like to listen to people and try to figure out what makes them tick.  I love to have people over and feed them, it's the best of both worlds.  I love to spend time with my kids.  I love it when they ask me questions while we are out walking.  I love to watch them compete in athletic events.  I actually love helping them work through the anxiety of getting ready for competition and helping them calm their spirits and focus on doing their best before the Lord.  Praying with them and feeling their breathing start to slow down and calmness wash over them is the best part of the meet.  I really don't care how they finish, I care how they start.  I love to have time to sit an listen, to let a conversation go where it needs to.  This is a rare jewel, and with this many people around me all the time I try to savor it when it appears.  I also love order.  This can be a big frustration of mine and I have to fight against it often.  Really I love sorting out the toys into neat little bins, it makes me feel like all is right with the world, maybe that is where I let my control issues run wild.

Things I don't love are interruptions.  I don't love long meetings that seem to go nowhere. My short attention span is not helpful in these situations.  This seems to be a contradiction to my previous statement that I love to listen to people and figure out what makes them tick, hmmm.  I think I love to listen to people talk about who they are, but when it comes to things needing to get done, I go straight to the let's do and skip the maybe we shoulds.  I don't love waiting for decisions to be made.  I don't love waiting in doctor's offices.  I don't love shopping.  Wandering around stores for hours trying on clothes sounds exhausting and torturous.  I don't love loud places (like my family room on most evenings).  I don't love small talk.  I don't love sitting in traffic, although I don't mind driving.  I don't love being away from home all day.  I don't love sitting around with nothing to do, although I don't love having work hanging over my head either.  I don't love loose ends.

I'm sure this says all kinds of interesting things about my personality.  It will be interesting to see if anyone says, "that's not true!"  I'm not above blind spots, but really this is what I think I love and don't love.  Most of all I love God and the family he has given me.  Some of them share my loves, and some of them don't.  I have learned to love some of the things they love, because I love to see them in their element.  This weekend there were two time where one of my daughters and I were thinking the exact same thing at the exact same time.  I think it freaked her out just a bit, but she really is like me, only much better.  Maybe she will find this helpful.

Things I am thankful for...

Forks in the road, take it!

Getting in the car after church and having every single child say, "that was a great sermon!"

Finding pictures of quotes written on hands from the sermon, it was that good

The spirit of God stirring up my children to hunger to see new places and new people

Tears when we leave Grandpa's house

Boys wrestling outside

Grass stained jeans in April

Singing Happy Birthday to Grandpa for his "44th" birthday

The smell of roast when you open the door

Grandma's homemade desserts

Living rooms full of bodies just hanging out together

Phone calls from friends who say, "I just read your blog..."

Big brothers dancing the night away with their sisters