Ebb and Flow

Sometimes I feel like a homeschooling poster family, sometimes I wonder "WHAT WERE WE THINKING!?!" Turns out I am not the only one to feel this way. I think Melissa says it so eloquently in this post. Today Evie and I spent the afternoon in the company of good friends, people we see multiple times a week. We have deliberately created this small group to provide steady connections for all of us. Today it was a beautiful thing to see. Kids ages 12 to 5, boys and girls spent 3 1/2 hours playing ice age early humans and hunter/gatherer tribe. They were creative, excited, hilariously funny, gentle witheach other and came up with fabulous ideas and stories. The mamas sat and puzzled out our troubles, acting as sounding boards for each other, agreeing, disagreeing and still liking each other.

Yesterday I felt so guilty as a rummaged through the racks and shelves at our thrift store. Evie was at home watching a movie she really wanted to watch, I was out doing half the grocery shopping and I had a few minutes to pursue and interest of my own--oh my goodness! I pour so much of myself into our family life everyday and Evie is getting older and suddenly I have time for just me again. Whoa! It is part of the ebb and flow of our life without school. Some days we are into books and projects and research and documentation, classically "schooly" things. Some days we run errands all day. Some days we watch movies, read and play Barbies all day. It all adds up to be a wonderful, rich, full and productive life. I am so glad that our whole life is the sum of so many varied parts.