Finishing Fever

I think that this must happen every school year. We always set good intentions for "finishing strong," but what if finishing strong doesn't mean what I think it means? What if it means just "finishing after a long time of doing something and now we are not going to do it anymore because we have done enough"?

In August we all rose at a decent hour to get breakfast on the table. We started our school work in a religious, timely, SCHEDULED manner. We had every intention of working through entire workbooks and of learning everything there is to know about each subject we had chosen for the year.

{So neat.}

Looking back, I admire us. I also shake my head and click my tongue and think "bless their hearts. Such good intentions."

I have spent the months after wrangling everything back on schedule, fretting about the slowness of our "workbook-working" and agonizing over the responsibility of getting them through this year with more developed brains and habits.

Our early morning breakfasts are now creeping towards "brunch." The kid's reasonable bedtimes are inching into the VERY dark hours. A few subjects have been literally lost for weeks (I mean - where is that workbook? And HOW much did you say those library fines were?)

We are sliding into home base with mud on our pants and we also may have skipped third.

{Neat? At least it is in a basket.}

And NOW spring has sprung. The "finishing" urgency is still stalking my brain - but I can't hear it because FLOWERS! SUNSHINE! SPRING SHOWERS! CAMPING!

My fingers are in my teacher brain's ears and I'm singing "lalalalalalala!" As loud as I can.

Who cares if a chapter or ... four chapters go undone? I'm sure we will review next year. 

Actually, I am becoming increasingly confident that if I teach my kids about Google, then we can just quit school all together. (I'm kidding, Mom.)

 (but not really.)

So my point is: we ARE finishing strong. We are strong in vitamin D. We are strong in friendships. We are strong in loving each other. And we actually HAVE learned some stuff. Really great smart-people stuff.

And when school is over in May, we will be able to say that we didn't waste the glorious Spring that God provided.

So now I just have to convince my other loudmouth minds that this is the new "finishing strong."

I think I can do it.

......Lalalalalalalalalalalala......

"He has made everything beautiful in it's time..." 

Ecclesiastes 4:8