Homeschooling and family time

Family time is a benefit of homeschooling which is very important to us.

When our children were little, homeschooling was like a little oasis from the hustle and bustle around us.  While our friends rushed back and forth to school, crammed homework in during the evenings and got up early to do it all over again, our lives where one of freedom and a relaxed pace.

We NEVER did homework in the evenings.  Evenings were always family time.

We traveled and enjoyed the off season discounts and short lines at museums.  We spent a month in another city, far from home, just because it seemed like an interesting thing to do.  We ate almost every meal together and did most outside activities as a family.

However, as time went on, our homeschool pace got faster and faster.  While we still get more family time than our friends with children in traditional school, we are rushing back and forth and getting up early each day to do it all over again.

It seems like we have more outside activities than we have at home activities.  With two teenage drivers and a extra vehicle, we are also going in opposite directions.  I'm coming to the realization that from now on, we will only have limited family time together as our young adults prepare to step into the adult world.

Some of this is just a natural progression of things.  We no longer have little girls (9 years old, 7 years old and three years old) who I drive around to activities we do together.  Now we have a 19 year old young adult who is working and preparing to leave home in the next month or so. We have a 17 year old who is attending community college, working as a nanny, sing in a choir group and preparing to leave for 4 year college. We have a 13 year old and 7 year old with their own separate activities in addition to our foster children who come and go.

I'm very grateful that we had all that time when our family was young to build our relationship and spend time together.  I'm grateful that my children spend as much time home as they do.  Thanks to homeschooling we had the gift of family time.

My 13 year old pointed out to me that because she is homeschooled, she only talked to members of her own family today.  I think to myself, "Enjoy it while it lasts, it will end all too soon."