In the summer of ‘98, a little girl got married in a small country town in Texas.
That little girl was me, and I wasn’t really a little girl. I was a month shy of 20, and I felt much older than nineteen-going-on-twenty seems now. Now,…well good heavens y’all, I was a baby!
There in that little Southern Baptist church on that sweltering August day, we exchanged our vows- for better or for worse. And boy, it has been better, and it has been worse, but we are still here! Little did we know how much life would throw at us so soon. It’s probably better that way, don’t you think?
We found out for our first anniversary that we were unexpectedly expecting and nine months later, our family grew to three. That wasn’t in the plan! But we couldn’t help but be excited and she completely stole our hearts. With the birth of our baby girl, I went from working-wife to stay-home-mom.
Three years later my husband said: “I want us to homeschool.”
Homeschooling wasn’t something we had every discussed before! Me? Chronically late, terrible at keeping house, no time management skills, basically lacking in self-discipline all around… Could I? I thought, “Well, . . . we can just do preschool and kindergarten, I suppose, and give it a try. I can’t screw her up TOO bad.”
And just like that, like Alice down her hole, I suddenly found myself on a journey of self-discovery and a new identity. That’s not just a clever metaphor. Homeschooling has taught me as much or more than I’ve taught them.
I hadn’t planned it, but I embraced it immediately.
And I haven’t screwed them up.
Kindergarten turned into first grade, first into second, and so on. We added another girl and a little boy to our family. Three kids, almost three years apart each. And now our “baby” girl is married, so her is her sister, and our baby boy has a mustache and will graduate soon. That young twenty-something mama doing ABC’s with her three-year-old daughter seems so far away, so long ago.
We have all grown since then.
I’ve done the workbook approach, I’ve tinkered with Notebooking, Lapbooking, unit studies, and more. I’ve had a touch of a classical approach, and I’ve gone full blown eclectic–using all the best bits and pieces we liked.
And now that our two girls are married and on their own, and our teenage son is nearing the finish line, AND we are starting over with our 2-year-old (miracle surprise rainbow baby,) . . . now I find myself deeply drawn to the Montessori approach (with a pinch of Charlotte Mason.) I’ve always done my own thing. 😉
And my husband? A little while back, he became a pastor. God has done a LOT in his life in the past seven years or so. This is a new chapter for us and not without its challenges, but overall, it’s a blessing.
And me? I still struggle with time management, having a clean house, and self-discipline, but I’ve improved a lot. I’ve LEARNED a lot. I’ve mellowed with age. I’ve learned that I like moving at a slower pace, being still, appreciating the moment, and spending as much time as possible with my family.
Marriage, my kids, homeschooling, faith, and home making. . . these are the things that are important to me. The challenges that we have faced over the years only make them more important and more special to me. These are the things I write about.
Whether you’re like me a little, a lot, or not at all, you’re welcome here. Welcome to my blog.
My mission statement:
Classic Housewife is about being the best wife, mother, homemaker and homeschooling parent that I can be –and encouraging other moms to be the same. It’s about seeking to glorify God in all that we do, whether working, playing, learning, loving or just simply living life.
