Well obviously I am awesome at the blogging because I am averaging about one entry a month. Ho- hum. Here I thought I’d be blogging everyday; recounting the awesome adventures of our One Room School. How we seamlessly float from one activity to another in perfect harmony. “Age of Aquarius” is playing in the background…. geez, why do we do this to ourselves? Or why do I do it to myself? I’m sure no one else daydreams about what life would be like if their kids were blissfully compliant and totally in tune with your wishes. Right? Most days it is like slogging through the wet, hot jungle with your machetti (Joe would appreciate my choice of weapon). It’s like there is this ultimate and wonderful destination you want to reach and you are chopping down all this underbrush to make the path to get there and then you come to the point when you start to ponder, does it really exist? Is this place I envision in my mind really accessible? Can we make it through measuring angles, correcting subject verb agreement, and the kings of England without scarring eachother for life?
And then, something reallly cool happens when you are not even watching. You hack away with your machetti and find this beautiful clearing. It’s not the waterfall you were expecting, but there’s a lot of room to run around in and sunshine and you know you can’t stay there forever, but it feels so good to be on this journey in that moment. Like when your son stands up to sing his solo in the Christmas musical and he sounds like an angel. And you realize that because he’s homeschooled he has the energy and time to practice doing something he loves and it is heartbreakingly beautiful. That is when it is worth it. Not everyday. Everyday is what you pray to get through without doing too much damage. These moments are the ones you hang on too and breath in and savor. They are your reason. Then you pick up your sword and start hacking away at the undergrowth again.
What an awesome metaphor! I love the way you write and your sense of humor.
By the way, thanks for the tip on The Myth of Laziness. I have it on hold at the library.
Cool, I hope you find it as useful as I did. Enjoy! Stephanie