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It's All Over


 I know what year all of my kids were born,
but I'm not sure how old they ARE today,
or what year they graduated.
I know now that Daniel graduated in 2008.
In Texas, a home-school is considered a private school,
and you can legally give out your own diplomas.
 


That's what we did.
I taught them.
They learned.
They graduated.
 
 


 
Funny, time DOES erase things.
I'm sure there were days that I wanted to go
down the road kicking cans and never come back....
but I never did that.
I mainly loved teaching the kids.
I say mainly, because I know we had bad days,
I just don't remember them.
 


At first, we had very simple books.....
Rod and Staff....
then Olivia was in 1st grade, Caleb in 3rd, Sara in 5th.
And at that time, Daniel was a little twerp.
 
And Kimberly was a baby.
 


We got most of our books at a home-school book fair in Houston
for quite a few years, then the internet came along and
killed the in real life business.
More than just *anti-social* Christians were teaching
their children at home....which meant more became available.
On the internet.
I don't typically order things from
the internet, so it didn't do me a whole lot of good.
 
I bought all KINDS of books for the kids.
Whatever they were interested in,
I found a book for it.
Sara liked to color.
Caleb was interested in small engines.
Olivia liked to cook.
Daniel liked the Titanic.
Kimberly liked piano.
Lydia liked zoo animals.
They did the regular stuff, too.
What *I* thought they needed to make it in the world.
 
If I had to do it over again, I would change almost nothing.
Except how I kept records.
I'd keep them all in ONE notebook, for all six kids.
aAd I'd have that notebook right now.
To look at when I wanted to remember what I did with
all of my little kids.
For all those years.
 
Because I have forgotten.
I just know I did it.
 


We had fun, too.
We had lots of fun.
It didn't bother me that my kids were with me all the live-long
day when other moms chunked their kids on a bus....
to be gone hours and hours all day long and have somebody
else watch them grow up.
I knew what they did all day long and I knew what they were learning.
I loved my kids being with me.
I remember getting them up in the mornings with Sousa Marches.
 
And putting them to bed at night, either patting them
on the head, or reading to them.
 


 

 



I wish I had good pictures of each of them at their graduation.
In the scuffle and buffle of home-schooling,
I didn't take time to organize and keep  pictures like I should have.
They're out there somewhere.


I would isolate some kids.
I would let some be with each other at the big brown eating table.
Some kids were in their bedrooms doing school.
It just depended on the year and the age of the kid.
 
The large house with many rooms,
afforded me to do different things each year.
There were plenty of rooms to farm the kids out in.
 





But now, it's over.
I cleaned the School Book Room on Friday.....
and put every thing up that had to do with schooling the kids.
There's just a few things hanging around that might reveal what we did
from 1988 until 2014.
I threw away the huge A-beka Biology book most of the kids did.
I'm sure none of them ever wanted to see it again.
And they won't.
Neither will anybody else.
 
 


 
I will always, always keep these books.
These books taught our kids how to read.
I love these books.
Each lesson they learned was from the Bible.
The first word in the first reading book was:
LIGHT
God is Light.
 
The kids all colored the Apple.....a-a-a Apple.
Abhor that which is evil. Romans 12:9
 


 
I kept a few folders.
I use them for Sunday School.
Some of them having writing in them.
From subjects the kids did.
I let them pick them out each year when I was buying
school stuff.
And while we're on the subject,
I despise the smell of a box of colors.
Bad for me, right?
 


 
Here's the old pencil sharpener.
 


 
The ceiling of the School Book Room.
I guess it will always be the School Book Room.
Kind of like Blue's Room is still Blue's Room,
even though we don't have Blue anymore.
 

 
Some might think I should be happy it's all over with.
Look at all the time and freedom I have.
No more early mornings and late nights.
No more.
I can sew, I can garden, I can walk out of the house any time I feel like
it and don't need to make plans.
I don't look at books at thrift stores anymore.
I got rid of the stickers I had left over.
Gold stars.
Well, I'm glad we did it this way.
Yeah, kids can make it in public school,
but why make it harder than it has to be?
 
 
 
 
Now, I have all of my grown up books on the shelves where
school books used to be.
I used to hide my fancy colored pencils from the kids,
or at least keep them out of their reach.
Now they're out in plain sight.
And I will dust them.
 


Comments

Rebekah said…
I love this post. Sometimes I find myself thinking that school will never end, but I guess it will. I wonder if it will make me sad when it does.
Mo said…
The finality of something enjoyed can be sad. That's all I know. It probably has something to do with the fact that all of my *students* are gone, too.
Rebecca said…
It's over. But in some ways, it's NOT! The learning goes on. For them. For you. And this WAS the goal, right? Independence. Life lived for the glory of God......

I enjoyed seeing the photos you chose to illustrate the experience that has occupied you for so many years.

Wha'cha doin' with those colored pencils now, Michele?
Mo said…
Right.....not totally over! The colored pencils.....hmmmm....still have Dover coloring books to color!

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