where have we been?? hmmm...

that is a good question, and a relevant one indeed since i haven't posted for nearly a month! :)

the truth is that i took july to do some much needed soul searching...

soul searching & meditating are a few of those things that we all NEED, but tend to find other (easier) things to do in lieu of, am i right??

homeschooling was rough last year, and i think that a large part of it was me...plain and simple. i needed to reconcile with my own short comings, my own (perhaps unrealistic) expectations, and make peace with the fact that i am only one person & that i can't do everything that i may want/need to do & THAT IS OK. (this, of course, all on top of having a somewhat difficult pregnancy with our 4th child :)

i have never considered myself a perfectionist, until recently...and oddly enough, i don't hold anyone else to those standards aside from myself.

we live a good distance from all of our extended family, and that can be hard. i have some very loving & supportive friends locally, but they all tend to have 2, 3, 4 or more children of their own...the "i-am-free & can-actually-have-a-real/meaningful-conversation" times are few and far between, and rarely align with one another.

so, i turned my online friends...the mamas who are in the same homeschooling/waldorf yahoo groups that i am on & really poured my heart out. the response was amazing! although i don't actually know these women, the love & support was truly inspiring! and they are all homeshooling mamas, like me! with 3, 4, or more children, like me! others who have been where i am/was & have made it through...

although several mamas reached out ot me, there is one in particuluar who seemed to say just what i needed...

here are a few inspiring lines from her response...

"Life demands. And one of life's greatest priorities is the new baby. Children learn every day even if they just play in the shadows and sunshine outside..they cannot help learning....unless of course we plug them into the electronic world too much...then their minds do become like shallow spaces.

Life revolves. New seasons arrive subtly and yet persistently, the year rolls around from start to finish and each day is indeed a blessing....

The Sun With Loving Light,

Makes Bright For Me Each Day!

Take heart from this verse: each day we can rise with the sun and find a brand new day, a brand new possibility, we can re-invent ourselves and re-create ourselves anew, breathe in fresh morning air and begin to take hold of ourselves, our families, our lives, and our learning, too. Every single day is a a new opportunity to find healthy healing ways."

-mrs marsha johnson, waldorf home eduacators yahoo group owner/moderator