What I Wish I Knew in 1991

In September of 1991, my Kindergartner and I watched through the front window as the school bus pulled up in front of our house to pick up the neighborhood kids.  In the crowd were two of his buddies that he had spent long summer days with, playing in the sand and riding bikes along the sidewalk in between our houses.  Both of those little guys were in tears as they kissed their moms and bravely got on the bus.  My David looked at me wide eyed and asked, “Where are they going?” I answered, “They’re going to school.”  “What do they do in school?” David asked.  “They learn to read and do math. Do you want to learn to read and do math? I want to teach you to read and do math here at home.  Are  you ready for that?” “Yes, mommy, I want to learn to read and do math and not get on that school bus,” David stated.  I got on the phone (this is before the World Wide Web) and ordered the Kindergarten curriculum from the post card I picked up at one of the first CHEA conventions.  I only had 3 options, and this was the one Don thought I should use. And through the years, we learned a lot more than just reading and math.

In 1991 I wish I knew that responsibility needs to be taught, not just talked about. I remember sitting in my kitchen, with my little lefty asking me, “How do I tie my shoes?” It was one of those major moments where I realized that since I wasn’t going to send him to school, I was going to have to teach him EVERYTHING! And it wasn’t limited to tying shoes.  I had to teach him how to tell time!  Is that in the curriculum? What about sorting laundry? Is there a curriculum for that?

In 1991 I wish I knew that comparing ourselves to others was a fruitless endeavor. David was a kinesthetic learner who needed to rub his antlers against my chairs in order to learn the “e” sound in “elk”, whereas the little girl in his Sunday School class could easily learn the phonics sounds by reading them.

In 1991 I wish I knew right away what it meant to be “set apart”. We were homeschooling.  We were set apart alright.  Set apart from the neighbors, set apart from the people at church, set apart from our family. I wish I had had a more gracious answer as to why we were homeschooling  in those days.

In 1991 I wish I had known that God was going to give me 4 of 5 Science minded students – no, wait! Scratch that!  I’m glad I didn’t know! I might not have persevered.

In 1991 I wish I had known to relish the journey and that it would be a lot of fun. Some days the laundry was piled high, the dishes were still out from the night before and there were toys all over the place.  But, there were little ones who wanted stories and songs and projects and hugs and kisses.  You know what?  The laundry is still piled high, and the dishes are still out from the night before, but there are no little children to distract us from the mundane duties.  Nope, instead of reading bedtime stories, we do the dishes.

In 1991 I wish I had known that we were establishing lifetime patterns in our children.  We learned that discipleship is forever, and I can only hope and pray that those lifetime patterns we established in our children will be furthering the kingdom of God and that even our grandchildren will be beneficiaries.