When we started homeschooling we had three children: 7, 5, 2 years in age, with a baby on the way. Our first few years of schooling was with a baby in tow. Actually up until 5 years ago there was always a "baby in tow". What I am trying to get at is that we did things as a family/school that sometimes I forget to do with this second group of children. "What do you mean you have never been to.....fill in the blank?" "Of course we did......X,Y,Z!"
Sometimes I feel disappointed in myself, or lacking because I can't guarantee they all have the same experiences. I intellectually know that is not possible or necessary. Oh, but a Mother's heart can wreck havoc with guilt.
Last week I had a moment when these family factions seemed to converge (through no effort on my part) and merge into one cohesive experience that all the children have shared throughout the years. I spent some time musing about this as I went about my day. I think people whose children all go through the same schools may have these occurrences naturally but my children don't always share the same milestone school experiences. What we do have and what connected it all for me was "Blueberry Island" and "Miss Heather".
Miss Heather runs nature classes in our area. She started her classes about the same time we started homeschooling. We heard she did some wonderful things with the children AND once a month my non babies would be in class with her for 5 hours! They learned about our local environment but mostly they were outside exploring with her all day. All 6 children, in different groupings, have taken classes with Miss Heather. Right now it is just the 2 youngest, the 6 and 9 year old.
When I picked the boys up the other day Miss Heather talked about the fun hike they had to Blueberry Island. Blueberry Island is the highlight of the class! She explained that she tells all her students how, Alec, (my almost 19 year old) was the first to "discover" Blueberry Island and he was the one who started building the bridge to the island. This was 10 or more years ago! She talked about how my younger boys love to hear the story of what Alec did! What I shared with Miss Heather was this. At Christmas time I overheard all 6 children talking about Blueberry Island and their experiences there. They were chatting and laughing. The "bigs" were telling about what they did at Blueberry Island, and how they were the ones who got to name it! The "Littles" were sharing their recent stories.
What was I doing through all this? Listening and smiling! Feeling grateful for Miss Heather and Blueberry Island for this experience that all the children could share together. For a moment I was not worried that the older children and the middle children had nothing in common. So what if some children may not have been to the Children's Museum or the zoo, or whatever ever else I have missed along the way? In reality, the children who did do those things may not even remember what they did! But what they all remember is Blueberry Island! Even if they were not physically there at the same time they have experienced it together!
