Part II

Well, I just wanted to elaborate a little bit about the things I mentioned in my last post ~ I basically have been wrestling in my mind with what are the right things for our family such as homeschool or go to school ~ three kids or four kids ~ Things like that & when I had mentioned that I feel that God has given me a peace about things I meant this: Danny & I have chosen to homeschool our kids which is just an awesome opportunity to spend a lot of time with them, to shape their education towards things they are interested in, and to bring them up with our family morals and values. Some days are great - I get to exercise before the kids wake up, take a few minutes of quiet time also, we get through every lesson smoothly, Jake takes a good nap, Matthew keeps his self-control - then all seems right with the world - It makes me feel great! Then there are the other kinds of days where everything seems out of control - Jake is fussy, the phone keeps ringing, Becky complains "I don't want to do school" and Matthew is bouncing off the walls! These are the days where I hear myself in my head "If they were in school I be having a good day" and then start to cry because I am thinking about them actually not being here and being in school all day! Well anyway, here's where the part about the peace comes in...

We all have good days and bad days regardless of what each day consists of in terms of daily tasks - Going to work in an office, staying home with your children, homeschooling, etc. The bottom line is that even though we may have some "bad days", (which aren't really even that bad if I step back for a moment), I am not doubting that the paths we choose for our family are the right ones. The good days far outweigh the "bad" ones and my new peace comes with accepting that every day doesn't have to be "perfect" and I don't have to complete 10 different household projects in one day, plus exercise, get school done, take care of the baby...The latter three are enough...Sometimes because of the type of person I am in terms of always wanting to do a project around the house I put pressure on myself to get these things done when the real reason I am home here in the first place and not in an office somewhere (where I definitely wouldn't be able to work on house projects) is to be a mother! Everything else will get done in time...

I went to a MOPS group yesterday and the Mentor mom was talking about families and how when a husband and wife get married they become their own family and they have to rely on one another to plan out what is best for their own little family. She remarked how there are times in her life now with four grown, married children where she may not always agree with the choices that her children make for "their families" in terms of money matters, how they are raising their children, etc...but she has to respect those choices. She also spoke about handling one issue at a time, like if you are telling your child for the 100th time to get their shoes out of the living room to focus only on that & not add in "and your room is a mess, and you left the tv on, and you need to take better care of your things!" I am going to try that advice starting today to focus only on one thing at a time with the kids and see how that goes...