The Homeschooling Honeymoon

Our first week of homeschooling….check!

I know many people have a lot of questions as to what our days and weeks look like and I feel much the same sense of 'it's impossible to describe' feeling I get when people ask what it's like to be a stay-at-home mom.  It's just too much to try and describe without spending five hours over coffee.  Thus, the  blog.  I hope to just give you guys a week by week description of what our days consist of and hopefully that will answer many of the questions at some point.

First things first, I am LOVING this whole classical education/Classical Conversations thing-a-ma-jig.  When I first read The Core, written by the founder of Classical Conversations, I liked a lot of what she said and agreed with most of it but I still found myself overwhelmed by how "different" it was from your typical modern education, and the education I had and was used to.  It really takes a whole mind shift to get this.  That's why when I tell people about the memory work, it can sound so boring and seem so mundane for little kids and it's anything but.  (Side note: This is not meant to be a whole explanation of the classical model.  If you are really interested in that, I would suggest reading Leigh Bortin's book (The Core) or Susan Wise Bauer's stuff like The Well-Trained Mind.  Fascinating, I tell you.)  Anyhow, I'm just giving you the lowdown on how we are doing our own version of a classical education.

For this current blog post I'll just tell you what class is like each week for Katherine.  So our week basically starts on Thursday, when Katherine has class.  Her entire campus consists of about thirty-five  4-12 (I think that's around the ages) year olds, divided into classes of not more than 8.  Now that's a class size I can get excited about ;).  There are other campuses in the greater New Orleans area, some smaller some bigger.  There is a trained "tutor" for each class that leads the parents and children in the classical method.  The parents sit at the back while the students sit at tables of two students per table.  Basically, the tutor runs the class and the parents help out when needed and get ideas of how to reinforce what is learned at home.

First, the tutor introduces the new memory work for the week.  This is what our Week 2, Cycle 3 memory work looks like:

The basic idea of the first three years of a classical education, called "the Grammar Stage", is to essentially take advantage of a child's natural strong memory at this point to fill their heads with the facts of our world.  The next stages, the Logic stage and then the Rhetoric stage, are meant to go deeper with these facts.  But most important at this young age is to give them "pegs" of a basic framework of knowledge from which they launch a more comprehensive education.  Again, I'm a newbie at this so if you are really interested, go to a more experienced source :)

Class for the Grammar Stage is from 9-12.  First, the students learn the new memory work for the week.  Katherine's favorite is the "Timeline" song.  By the end of the year, she will hopefully be able to sing 161 of the major points of world history- and her mother will, too, God willing. Lol.  Daddy loves this part as well.  When I first listened to the entire song (it's about 12 minutes long), my first thought was there was NO WAY she was going to be able to do this.  But now, even only two weeks in, I can see how it's possible.  Mostly because, get this, JAMES can sing it so far.  Haha!  We listen to the song maybe two or three times a day and it has hand motions with it (complete with accurate American Sign Language) to help cement it in their little brains.  All I have to do is complete the sign and James starts singing it!  Fascinating!  And there is nothing cuter than a three year old with speech issues saying "Indus River Valley Civilization".  I'll even hear him playing with his trucks and he'll say, "Mycenaeans!"  Omgosh, I could die.  And the kids think it's just a big game.  They like the song and Katherine already loves sign language so this is definitely scratching an itch.  She is so proud of herself.  James can also tell you the four types of tissue in the human body.  Lol.  That kid.  But it has shown me how incredible their memories are at this age.  

An important part, too, that needs to be understood is that it's not most important that they even understand the full context of what they're saying.  That comes later.  Right now, it's just get it into their brains where they can access it at any point in the future.  A very brief understanding of the material is given to the students, but there are no tests, no assessments.  It's just supposed to be fun.  So, for example, Katherine knows that one type of "epithelial tissue" is the skin.  But she doesn't know everything about epithelial tissue.  The first three years is a basic introduction.  

Another important note is that the memory work is broken up into 3 different cycles, with 24 weeks per cycle.  It looks like this:

Taken from the Classical Conversations website :)

We are currently on Cycle 3.  Next year, we'll be on Cycle 1, etc.  The ideal is to introduce the student as early as possible so that they get more rotations of the same material and are thus able to dive deeper and deeper with the material.  When they get older, it's more complicated and I'm totally not up to speed on that level.  Clueless.  I know they stress excellence in writing at the later grades and I think it's in 7th grade or so where they are challenged to draw the entire globe by freehand by the end of the year.  Awesomeness.  Again, I'm like 'How could someone do that?" but then in the curriculum guide they give you examples of students who have done it and the same old, 'Okay, I guess it's able to be done!' runs through my brain.

Okay, so back to class :)  After the memory work for that week is introduced, the kids do an art project.  Last week they studies the basic shapes and drawing.  This week they completed a "mirror images" project.  Such cool stuff.  Later, they'll study a famous artist each week and then replicate their art style. And then they'll have I think about 12 weeks where they learn the tin whistle.  

Next, comes the class presentations.  Every week each student is expected to give a brief (no more than five minutes) presentation on a topic.  The first week was introducing yourself, this week they were supposed to give a book summary of a book they liked.  Each week the tutor presents them with public speaking tips that hopefully will begin to sink in with more practice.  This weeks "tip" was to focus on volume, projecting one's voice so your entire audience can hear.

Then comes my favorite part! The science project! Each week a very simple science project is completed by the students.  This week's science project was studying the difference between convex and concave lenses in the form of water.  First the students, wrapped a piece of wire around a pencil to form a place where water could gather.  Then, they dipped their wire into a cup of water, getting a drop to stay in the middle.  Finally, they used the drop of water as a magnifying lens of sorts (convex lens) to read a card with tiny print that had a different inspirational quote on it.

Katherine wrapping the wire around a pencil.

 "It makes the letters bigger!"

 "My hypothesis was correct."

"Can I bring this home to show Daddy? He would love this."

After the science project, they have a review of the memory work. This week the tutor led them in a game of "Zap!" where she divided the class into two teams and then reviewed the memory work from the past two weeks.  Katherine loved it.  So fun.

After class, the whole school is invited to the playground where they eat lunch together and play until they're tired and want to go home.  Katherine has made such good little friends and I've met some amazing people who are so wonderfully normal and they just want the same thing I want- an education that is rigorous but not time consuming, an enforcing of Christian values, a lot of playtime for their kids, just an "adventure" in education.  It's going so well.  Obviously, though, we're only two weeks in.  Lol.  We'll see, but I'm just glad we're at least starting out on a positive note!  Next week, hopefully I'll have time to tell you what we do the rest of the week.  If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments section below.  I feel like I jumped around a lot, but like I said, it's so much information.  Sorry!  Blessings upon your week.

School Daze and Other Radical Life Choices

      'Tis the days of school- freshly pressed uniforms, neatly bound notebooks, smudge-free book bags and the like.  According to her age and according to the system of education, Katherine should be knee-deep in all of the aforementioned.  And yet, here she is, still at home.  Why oh why have I not taken advantage of the fact that I could at least set one of my birds free to attend a local institution for close to 40 hours a week and have more time with the other fowl I find myself surrounded by one a daily basis?  The answer, my dear friends, is we have chosen to homeschool our oldest chick for this year.  Now, before you go all "that's crazy" on me, hear me out.  I'm no crazier than anybody else out there, I just choose my crazy differently.

 
     Actually, I have trouble remembering how all of this started.  I will admit I never quite had peace with starting Katherine in one of the local schools.  It isn't because they're bad (just stop it), or dangerous, or anything else of the sort.  I think I've gotten better at listening…..especially to other moms.  And I've been listening the past couple of years, to what life is like in elementary and beyond.  And to be quite honest, I just felt we weren't ready for that yet.  Wouldn't that be enough of a reason?  I find myself questioning this taken-for-granted mentality that every child is ready for formal schooling at age 3, 4, 5, or 6 or whatever.  Or that every family is ready for it.  The funny thing is, I'm typically quite traditional in my beliefs.  Most would probably consider me socially conservative, strongly Catholic and the like.  And yet, there is a very real part of my personality that is fiercely independent in thought. I usually have no trouble going against the flow if I'm convinced it's not the best for me or my family.  And so, this whole elementary school decision kept creeping closer and closer and I just never felt like it was the right move.  Enter the camper.

The "what", you say?  The camper.  You know, this baby:

Except it would be a little (ahem) shorter, without a tiny garage, and it would actually be small enough to be pulled by our minivan.  Haha.  Yes, perhaps I mean this:

    Can't you just see it?  The fam in the back, Cory pedaling us to freedom in the woods…..in Asia.  You guys, jump on the bandwagon of non-traditional living.  I swear, this is the golden ticket to modern bliss.  But, in all reality, it's kind of where we're headed.  I mentioned my misgivings about starting Katherine in kindergarten and how I just wasn't ready to be saddled with so much schooling for the next fifty years of our life.  Isn't there another option?  So Cory said, "why don't we homeschool her for a year and buy a camper and travel."  And I said, "I love you and you must be getting more sleep than me to come up with something so brilliant."  Because, you see, it's conversations such as this that led to Cory and I even starting a dating relationship.  We're both have an amazing ability to be slightly….off.  We dream about living in other countries; we dream about the unconventional; we dream about doing something different!  And it's where we click.  There is a part of both us that thrives on the "to hell with it! let's break the mold and try something new!" and apparently we're passing it on to our children because when we mentioned homeschooling and a camper to Katherine, she seemed to believe it was the most astounding idea ever.  Not that she has much of a clue about any of the options.

I'll also admit that the first couple of months of leaning towards that choice were fraught with doubt and questions of sanity.  Not only did we find out soon after that we were expecting another baby bird to be due right smack in the middle of the school year but I realized I have no earthly idea what homeschooling was all about.  So I messaged all of my homeschooling friends and asked questions.  And listened.  And gradually, a vision of sorts started appearing.  We've decided to join a local community called Classical Conversations that is part of a much larger national program.  The children meet for class once a week and this program helps parents teach their children in the classical method of learning.   I hope to continue blogging regularly to give people more of an idea of what it's like so that people can see for themselves because, honestly, it's overwhelming to me to try and explain what our lives will be like this year (as if I even had a clue).  I do know that we've ordered math books, history books, spelling, language arts, drawing, started Katherine in piano, and narrowed down our camper search to one beauty that we're salivating over until we take the plunge hopefully next month or October.  It's all so…..EXCITING!!!  And that's where I feel the presence of God in all of this.  Sometimes you have to follow your gut and trust that God will lead.  And He has.  In so many wonderful ways.  To the point where Katherine and I can't wait until class starts and we journey together to learn about this incredible world He has created.  

Here's the thing, though.  Many people are HIGHLY uncomfortable with the idea of homeschooling.  And I say, I'm HIGHLY uncomfortable with the choices some people make about traditional schooling and their kids.  I'm tired of hearing about the perpetual diagnosis it seems every kid in America is receiving in first grade.  And the medications, and the tutoring on top of seven hours of school and an hour or two of homework.  And the rush, rush, rush.  And the no time for play, and dream, and create because everything is so over-scheduled for a seven year old that he or she has no time to just "be bored" which I think is one the healthiest things in the world.  And I say…it can wait.  I say no right now.  I'm not saying that would be Katherine.  I don't know, and I don't even want to find out.  I just want more time with her.  I want more time as a family.  James will be in preschool and I will have a one year old and a new baby.  And it will be alright.  Or it won't and we'll start school next year.  Either way, it will be on our terms and not because everybody else is doing it or the school system says it's time.  And, think about it, say we homeschool Katherine for one year.  She will still have TWELVE more years of Catholic schooling.  I think that would be sufficient.  Even if we had a blast this year and decided to do it through 3rd grade (gasp!). She would start in fourth and have NINE more years of formal schooling.  Plenty.  Doesn't that put it into perspective how long kids go to school?

Here's the last little thought I wanted to leave you with:  just because we are choosing this route for this year, doesn't mean I think YOU should.  Get it?  I don't think people that send their kids to school are making a mistake, I don't think you don't like your family or that you're pushing your child too fast too early.  Actually, I don't think about your choices much at all to be quite honest.  I have enough choices to make for my own flock.  I think sometimes when you choose something non-traditional for your family, people can sometimes get their feathers all tangled up.  As if we're saying something about other people's choices.  And we're not.  I actually think most people should send their kids to school- it's a system and it probably works best for most people.  So let's just be okay with your decision and ours.  Nobody's trying to hurt their kids or hold them back.  We're just living and that takes on many forms for all the different kids and families out there.  And, you know, it's all okay.  

                                          

So You Want to Be a Stay-at-Home Mom

I haven't blogged in about 100 years but I think this next post deserves more than a paragraph.

So my precious cousin texted me the other day and asked what it's like being a stay at home mom because she doesn't know many!  I never really thought about it because I know lots of them (because I'm one of them) but I realized that many people may be curious as to what it's like to stay at home and raise your children full time.  So here goes nothing.

Let's start off with a whopper of a disclaimer: It's different for everyone.  I cannot emphasize that enough.  There are as many variables to your experience as a stay at home parent as there are stains on my carpet.  Plenty.  It involves your temperament, your spouse's level of support, your number of children, the ages of your children, the size of your house, how much money your spouse makes, how many friends you have that stay at home close by, your neighborhood, etc., etc., etc.  There are just so many things to consider that it's an almost impossible question to answer.  But what I can do is tell you MY experience.

I started to stay at home when I found out we were experiencing my second child, so almost four years ago.  Without a shadow of a doubt, that first year was the hardest.  But isn't your first year of any new job usually the hardest?  This is no different.  It takes time to get used to staying at home and finding a rhythm.  And then that rhythm will be thrown off kilter a million times after you've found it, but I digress.  I look back on that first year and I could rattle off a ton of mistakes I made, but it really doesn't matter what they were because if I told you, you would just make different mistakes ;-)  There were many a day I found myself googling a local university's schedule of classes or part time work because I was worn out and frustrated and wanted an escape.  It was extremely hard transitioning from consistent adult conversation at work to the constant jabbering of an albeit adorable toddler.  Then there was the whole "difficult" ("spirited", "challenging", "drive you to drink") newborn phase to get used to full time.  My second child is the funniest kid on the planet.  But he wasn't a very funny baby.  O my dear….no.  This was definitely the phase (having a toddler and a difficult baby) that I struggled through the most…at least, so far (please Jesus, don't send me another difficult baby).  There's just no way around it, it was hard.

But I will tell you what kept me from accepting a lucrative position at the local Dairy Queen- I am 100% committed to the idea of a stay at home parent.  And that, my friend, is what I think is the singular most important quality in a stay at home parent.  I have always and probably will always believe that staying at home is the best thing for my kids and so, come hell or high water (or another difficult baby….please Jesus, no), I'm going to do it.  But see, this is my thing.  Some people are die hards about breastfeeding (pass me the bottle), some people are diehards about organic food (pass me the fries), but I am a diehard stay-at-home mom.  You see what I mean?  I know this is not everyone's thing and that's okay, but it's my thing.  I will do anything I need to do to make this a reality for my family.  And I honestly believe that conviction has brought me through the difficult phases and days of stay at home parenting.  Now, hear me out, I'm not saying every stay at home parent has to be a diehard about it but I do know several parents who weren't really convicted about it being the best thing for their kids and they didn't last very long.  Because it IS hard.   No, it's not brain surgery, but your job probably isn't brain surgery either.  But it has it's share of difficult moments and difficult personalities (heh heh) and it's all-day, everyday baby.

Here's another disclaimer: A lot of what I talk about in regards to what I love and what is hard about being a stay at home parent will be experienced by working parents as well.  I just experience it more often- the good and the bad- and possibly more intensely given the amount of time I'm around my children and they are blessed to be around me (haaaaaaaaaa).

I absolutely love what I do.  That's the crux of it.  I have my bad days, my difficult phases, my cranky child here and there, and loads upon loads of housework….but I absolutely love it.  There is not a day that goes by that I daydream about being at a job.  And that's just being honest.  See, here's the thing, though, I was never much into a career.  I was not your ambitious student who had dreams of shattering the glass ceiling.  Um….no.  And I won't sell myself short, either.  I'm smart and I dare say I probably could have become anything I really wanted to, but I always wanted to be a full-time wife and mom. True story.  Which I think is part of being called to a vocation…..it's always deep within your heart.  I became a teacher, which I loved in the early years, until I got married and had kids.  We were not in a realistic financial situation for me to quit early on and so with my first child I worked full time for a year and then part time the second year.  And I had no peace.  It was a sweet gig, too.  The daycare was located at the school, excellent adult/child ratio, awesome setup… but I knew it wasn't what I wanted.  I started to resent all things work-related- staff meetings kept me from seeing my daughter, I didn't care as much about teaching because I was constantly thinking about how my daughter was doing- was she happy?  was she crying? is she okay?  was she sick this morning and I was too much in a rush to really pay attention?  Stuff like that, it just drove me nuts.  Finally, I was able to quit working when my husband got another job.  Sweet relief.  I was finally able to devote myself 100% to my husband and family.  I am also the type that if I do something, I want to do it the best I can.  Being split apart by housework, husband, children, work, schedules, etc. was making me quite anxious and, again, never at peace.  So here, my friends, is a run down of what I love and what is most challenging about being a stay at home parent:

WHAT I LOVE

I love that when my child is sick I don't have to worry about work- they are my work.  That was such a stressor for me when I worked- not to mention my daughter was constantly sick in daycare which was a whole other stressor.  Ugh.  My kids don't get sick as much now that they are not in daycare which makes our quality of life sooooooo much better.  They feel better, I'm not as stressed, my husband's not as stressed because I'm not as stressed (haha), we don't pay a gazillion dollars to the doctor every other week, etc.

I love that I get to play a big part in their early education- so much so that I've even flirted (read it, flirted, definitely haven't married the idea) with the idea of homeschooling because I honestly love teaching them (I was a teacher for ten years before I quit work so it's in my blood).  I get giddy over teaching them and there is no satisfaction greater for me than seeing my own kids learn.  Love, love, love it.  And we do it all day every day- not formal schooling- but fun learning.  I teach my kids to cook, I teach them how to clean, when we press the elevator buttons in Target I work on number recognition with my three year old, I read books every day with my five year old while the little ones nap, I fixed a wagon with my three year old this morning, etc. They love learning from me and I love teaching them.  And here's the best part- I can teach them whatever I want.  If I wanted to teach them sign language, I would get a book and teach them.  If I wanted to teach them a new language, I would get an age appropriate book and teach them.  If I want to teach them about animals, you get the idea.  The world is an open book for all of us and it has re-awakened a love of learning in me, too.  And just to reiterate, working parents do this as well, I just have more time to do it and possibly more opportunities.

I love that my kids see my face the most out of anyone in the world when they're young.  This might sound narcissistic but it's not.  Why? Because I honestly believe, along with their dad, that's the face they want to see more than anyone else in the world.  They see my good and bad, I get frustrated and then I apologize, they experience life first and most intensely through me.  And I wouldn't have it any other way.  I love watching them grow.  They're so predictable and so unpredictable all at the same time.  I love to read child psychology books and see it play out in their lives each day.  And I have time to actually read child psychology books because I don't have to do reading/research for work.  Yay!  When I was working full time, I really felt like I was missing a whole chunk of their lives- and actually, I was missing most of their awake time every day.  That made me really, really sad.  It just did.  Just being honest here.  I just didn't have peace with the fact that I birthed this beautiful gift from God and, in all honesty, they saw someone else's face the most almost every day.  That just didn't sit right with me and made me sad.  Doesn't make some people sad, but it made me sad and that's what counts.

I love that I am able to make choices that are best for my child and not what fits into my work schedule.  Okay, I could see how working parents may take offense to this but I really do think this is pro in regards to staying at home.  I've just seen a lot of parents that make certain choices because it's easier to fit into their work schedule instead of really being able to ask what's best for the child.  For example, I started my second child in preschool a little before he turned three (I usually start at three) because he cried every day that he wanted to go to school like his sister.  Here's the thing: If he didn't like it, I could pull him without a major change in schedule.  I'm home anyway, not a big deal.  I love the flexibility staying at home offers- I can make most of the decisions be child-led instead of possibly pushing them into something too early because I need them taken care of while I work.  Again, in my life this turns out to be less stress on me and my kids and that is one of my priorities in raising little ones- as little stress as possible because I think stress brings out a lot of negative behaviors, sickness, etc.  Don't get me wrong, my kids are learning how to deal with frustration and anger and the rest of it but we purposely do not live a rushed life.  It's why we're not involved in a lot of extra-curriculars, high maintenance schools, tons of play dates, etc.  My children thrive on down-time, playing in the backyard, taking walks, you name it.  I love that.

WHAT CHALLENGES ME

Another disclaimer: I'm almost four years in, so most of these were struggles in the past.  Right now I don't have any major, consistent struggles.  I have bad days, of course, but not really any constant struggles related to staying at home.  So most of these are from the past.

One of my main struggles early on was not knowing how the heck to be a stay at home mom.  Haaaaa. That's just the plain ole' truth.  I didn't really know WHAT TO DO all day.  Remember, I was pregnant and had a two year old.  There was a lot of boredom and not knowing how much I should play with her and how much I should clean and feeling guilty when doing either that I should have been doing the other.  I know, such big decisions.  Haaa.  But really, it was hard transitioning from an extremely hectic pace to what felt like almost too much free time.  Of course, looking back, I keep asking myself what the heck the problem was.  Really? Too much time?  Cry me a river.  But in full disclosure it was a bit of an issue.  And it's just one of those things you go through as a SAHP.  It takes a while to really learn your role as wife, mother, homemaker, cook, etc. and develop an idea of time management.  It'll come, you just have to be patient with yourself and ask your spouse to be patient when he comes home to a dirty house but a two year old that played for hours with her mom! Haha.

One of the other issues that took time was the whole play date saga.  Geez Louise…drama for your mama.  Here's the thing: When you first start out, and you don't know a lot of stay at home parents yet, sometimes you can get bored to tears and want to schedule a billion playdates with people you don't even know and you don't even care.  You're just dying for adult interaction.  Just go through it, people, it's part of the process.  You may get a reputation as a play-date "playa"- just do it.  Haaaaaa.  No seriously, this is a personality thing, too.  If you're an extrovert you may overdo scheduling playdates and wear you and your poor children out.  Plus, it can sometimes be stressful going to other people's houses to play if you don't know them very well (especially if you're potty training a child and they poo on your new friend's floor- NOT that this happened to me or anything- no way, Jose.  Never. I swear it wasn't me.)  Helpful hint: schedule all playdates at the park/Chick-fil-A/neutral site until you feel comfortable enough with the person to poo on their floor.  For real.  And if you're an extrovert, you might start seriously regressing from lack of necessary adult interaction and start talking to yourself, thus opening wide the doors to mental illness in your children.  You heard it here first, people.

Um, let's see, what else?  Ahhh yes….finances.  Okay, here's the down low- everyone has a certain financial level they're comfortable at and that's important to note for you and your spouse before you go down to one income.  Now, if you're spouse brings in some serious dough this might not be an issue for you (good for you!) but for most this is probably an issue.  I recommend trying to live off of one income before you quit just to make sure you're not going to get yourself into a pretty deep hole.  A financially stressed marriage will lead to a very stressful stay at home experience.  And that's not good for anyone.  Now, here's the kicker: A lot of people (read it, A LOT) say they don't have the money to stay at home when, in all brutal honesty, they just don't want to stop living a certain lifestyle.  They don't want to downsize their house, trade out their car for one a little less fancy, stop buying name brand clothes, etc. And that's okay, my friends, but just be honest.  It helps me out that I have absolutely no desire to be fancy or rich.  A lot of money makes me nervous- I'm dead serious.  I read that whole passage about Lazarus and the Rich Man in the bible and I swear to you- I get a complex.  I even feel like we don't give enough away right now and we ain't livin' the high life, y'all.  That's a whole other post.  We live a very comfortable life but I shop at second hand stores, try to eat meatless once or twice a week, have never gotten professional photographs of my children done, get my hair cut once or-if I'm lucky- twice a year, etc.  You get the idea.  I'm not stressed about money but I have to be smart about it.  Sometimes I do this better than others :-)  Figure out how much you want to stay at home and if you're willing to make the sacrifices for it.  Some people honestly can't swing it and others could if they made it more of a priority.  It's all about what is most important to you.

The only other main issue would probably be your spouse.  I lucked out (actually we talked about this a lot before we got married- marriage prep- highly recommend it!!) and married someone who 100% supported me staying at home.  That was our plan from the get-go.  We always saw eye-to-eye on this and that IS HUGE.  If your spouse isn't fully behind it…uggggghhhhh….you may have a serious problem.  Because, my friend, you need a lot of support.  In the early years, Cory would come home and- during some particularly difficult phases- I would need a "breather"(read it- take the kids or I'm driving to Mexico and you won't be able to find me.  Stuff like that.)  It's not technically hard stuff a stay at home parent does- but it's unbelievably draining.  Making sure tiny lunatics don't swallow a penny, fixing food and helping the little ones not choke, cleaning up the consistent spills, being dedicated to discipline, loving each of them intensely, giving special time to each of them, being patient when your little one wants to help you cook and it takes them forty five minutes to stir the rice in, etc.  You know?  No, again, it's not brain surgery- but it does take heroic patience and a heck of a lot of love.  And here's a gigantic kicker:  it doesn't take much to be a bad stay at home parent, that is quite easy.  But to be a great one- it takes what feels like your entire heart and soul.  And that's what I try to do.  I want to be great  for them.  I want them to look back at this time as one of the greatest times of both their lives and my life.  Yeah, I could do this totally half-ass (pardon the language) but I would live with a whole lot of regret.  If I'm going to do it, I'm going to do it right.  And doing it right takes more energy, more attention, more devotion than anything I've ever done.  And they are worth every last drop of effort.

IN CLOSING

There's no way I could address everything I love and every challenge about being a stay at home parent, but I do hope I've given you a small glimpse.  If you have ANY QUESTIONS, just fire them my way.  I will do my best to be as honest as possible.  Again, a working mom is better than a bad stay at home mom any day of the week.  But if you give your all to staying at home and love it, I can think of very little more beautiful than that.  These years fly and I intend to not miss beat.