Kid Stuff

All ready for bed

 Last Thursday, the three older kiddos started school again.  I received a shocker on Wednesday evening at 6:30, when a text message arrived from Josiah's teacher saying that, instead of the original plan to head back on Monday, kids needed to be at school the next morning.  She also kindly listed a number of supplies that should accompany them.  Text message arrived while kids and I were eating dinner, Jared was out of town, I introduced the new plan, and they decided to all head back to school.  So, that evening, I raided through cupboards and drawers to put together what school supplies I could find, and bright and early Thursday morning we all headed to school.
That morning I heard a comment, at least five times from five different people.  It was basically this:  "You must be so tired, since you had your kids all at home these past weeks.  It must be so hard for you since they were not at school and you had to care for them at home." 
The first time I heard the comment, I was a bit tongue tied.  By the fifth time, it was hard not to laugh. 
Tired, because I did not have to get them out of bed before dawn, quickly feed them breakfast, dress them in four layers of clothing, walk over a mile to take them all to school and home again, and then squish in homeschooling and language study in on top of all that????  Is it tiring to instead, let them wake up on their own and play until breakfast, then have an entire day to do homeschool and whatever our hearts desire????  (I also should mention that my kids are awesome with chores, and during the break I didn't once sort laundry, clean a bathroom, or clean up toys in the living room!)

Later, after thinking over these comments, I realized how much I still have to learn and really understand regarding the people and culture where we live.  I was genuinely surprised by the comment, and then by the number of times I received it.  I don't think I fully appreciate the amount of time, effort, energy, money, and other resources that are spent on each of the children we see each day.  The parents and other caregivers are exhausted and really, truly are putting all they can into providing what is best for their children. 
Jared and I are also putting time, effort, etc. into each of our children, yet in a way that does not look the same as our neighbors and local friends.  I have so much to learn when it comes to emphasizing with our neighbors in order to be able to share truth and not just cultural differences.  I wish I could communicate clearly, our motivation, guidelines, and end goal, with each person I get to have a 'parenting' conversation with.  Alas, it seems in each conversation, some sort of cultural barrier is faced.  Thankful that with the Word there are no boundaries.  Asking for Father's guidance as we seek to share His Word.

Now I am off to sort laundry and clean bathrooms.  Oh, I wish those kids were home! ;)