I’ll Never… (Part 2)

If you read my column back in September, you might remember that I discussed various things I said I’d never do as a parent… and have ended up doing, of course. And you might remember that one of the items on that list was homeschooling… and of course I started homeschooling my son Carlos this school year. You might also remember that I made this statement regarding homeschooling in that article:

But just one of my five children. (I haven’t totally lost my mind.)

…Annnnd, of course, I have just begun homeschooling another one of my children this semester. I know, I know — that didn’t take long. Go ahead and laugh.

But if you’ll recall, I also made this statement in that article:

I think it’s good for all of us to be flexible and open-minded when it comes to our parenting practices, especially when something our child needs outweighs something we would just personally rather not do.

So let’s just say I’m trying to practice what I preach, which means, in this case, that my youngest son Brandon has now joined his brother Carlos in our little home/schoolhouse. Over the course of last semester, it became obvious to me that I needed to bring Brandon in closer for a while, for a variety of reasons. I want to make it clear that this decision was not made lightly, and we do not want it to reflect poorly on Highland Elementary School in Ridgeland, where Brandon was attending. In fact, we very much love and support Highland, and we were happy with all of Brandon’s teachers and administrators. (I am especially thankful for the wonderful level of communication we had with one another!) But since Brandon was not part of our family for the first ten years of his life, there are many, many pieces that we are having to figure out and put together; many behaviors and emotions to learn to regulate; some basic academics to master; and, to be candid, quite a lot of mother/son bonding moments to catch up on. Homeschooling, as it turns out, seems to be the best way to accomplish each of these.

This particular “I’ll never” declaration has, therefore, morphed into something really positive and really good. Do I get excited about and love every minute of it? Absolutely not. Is it easy? Not at all. At all. But as my friend Ashley Krason reminds me, we can all do hard things. And these kinds of hard things are absolutely worth it.

Are there any hard things in your life that you are scared of or are resisting, in regards to your family? You might be pleasantly surprised at what you are capable of or surprised by the way your family responds. Listen, if I can homeschool, I guarantee there are things you can do that you never thought you could (or would). Take a step of faith and see where it leads!