Simply Mother

Life is really enjoyable right now. I mean, I’m kinda really starting to want this baby to be on the OUTSIDE of me, and Matt is gone a lot in the evenings, working on the duplexes, but, other than that, I don’t have much to complain about, and I do have so much to be grateful for.

The girls are happy. They play all day, and thoroughly enjoy life.

Some days I spend more time actively involved with them, as when Sarah wants to do something that needs a little adult assistance, like when she randomly decided to make an American flag.

Other days, the girls get completely engrossed in imaginative games together, and I spend a lot of time working on projects or even reading.

I love that they play so well together. That they enjoy each other’s company so much.

I’m not saying perfectly. They’re children. They’re sisters. They squabble sometimes.

But they also really know how to work out solutions. They’ve learned that neither one can really be happy unless the other one is too. When one of them is out of sorts, the other will frequently soften her voice, become more patient, give a little extra.

When little tiffs do occur, they soon seek each other out and reconnect in a more natural way than I could ever dream of teaching.

I love that they are so free. That they do whatever they’re inspired to do at the moment. Without a second’s worry about “wasting time” or whether what they’re doing has any value.

They know inherently that it does. That whatever their spontaneous little minds come up with, that is what is important for them to do.

I love seeing what they come up with, watching their incredible creativity unfold in a million marvelous ways.

I know people think I am odd. Probably people think I’m shortchanging my kids, not pushing them into prestigious preschools or seeking out the elementary school with the highest test scores in the county.

Not even doing “school at home” by making up little academic tasks for them to accomplish each day.

I thought it was odd too. At one point, I even thought it was ludicrous, possibly akin to child neglect.

What? But how will they learn anything?

Now that I am actually living it, I can’t imagine life any other way. I mean, I guess I can imagine, but I don’t want to.

What we have is so peaceful, so natural, so enjoyable.

And my kids are teaching me that I was wrong. So wrong.

How will they learn anything? The same way they’ve been learning their whole lives. Through doing. Through watching. Through experiencing the world around them and longing to be a part of it. To understand it. To be fulfilled by it.

And they are. They so are. I wouldn’t believe it if I wasn’t a personal witness of it every single day. How much they do, how easily they learn, how quickly they develop new understanding and accomplish major milestones as if they were nothing!

This is only the beginning of our journey. I’m sure there will be challenges along the way. But I’m excited to face them. I have some pretty awesome travel companions.

(Note: Click on any of the photos to go through to Flickr for more details, more pictures, notes, comments, etc. Browse through the March set for accurate order.)

Filed in: family • home education • just life • parenting | March 20, 2009