Just Part of School

I get asked by some people, "what do the kids do for school?" It is a reasonable question, especially for people who have not been exposed to homeschooling. We do a variety of things. From the "traditional subjects" too lessons that aren't so traditional.

Just the other day was one of those lessons that you just don't find everyday in school. Tyler was working on his large and small motor skills. He was learning about cause and effect.... while he was working on learning a very important life skill.

Bathroom Cleaning.

My boys have been cleaning the bathrooms for awhile now. It is one of their "jobs". Tyler calls it his "work" because Daddy has to go to work, so Tyler gets to "do work" too. This is something the boys LOOK FORWARD TOO. I know you all don't believe me...but they love to hold the can and push the spray button and move it all around (large and small motor skills). Wiping the spray off the counters, sink and yes, they do the toilet too. There is a "science" (hey, another school subject) to cleaning the bathroom. The boys know that they have to kill the germs on the counter and sink before they kill the germs on the toilet and there is to be no cross contamination!

Do my bathrooms get as clean as when I do it?? Yes and no. There is definitely more germ killing when they are on the job! It does take them longer to clean the bathrooms too...but my job isn't to just teach them how to read and write (and clean bathrooms).

I am training little husbands (and a little wife). Someday my boys will be men. I will have to let them fly on their own and allow God to be the wind beneath their wings...not their Momma. I want to teach them now, how to care for the blessings God gives them. I want them to know and understand what it is to work together as a family. We all have jobs to do, we all play a part in this family and someday, when they have their own families, I want them to be able to pass down to their children this lesson I am teaching them... responsibility.

A fleeting thing I am afraid. I am thankful that I have a husband who knows and understands what responsibility is. My boys are learning from him too....Daddy goes to work everyday to make money for the house we live in, the food we eat, the clothes we wear. They are watching how Daddy takes responsibility to care for his family.

This lesson has been pressed upon my heart as of late. I feel an urgency to find ways to make this lesson real to them. I want to raise responsible men of God.

In Proverbs 31 there is a verse that says "her children arise and call her blessed". I ponder that verse a lot. When the Bible says "her children". I imagine the writer is talking about her children-in-laws too. That even her son's wives love her. Not because she is this perfect women (although you would be hard pressed to find one as close to perfection as she), but because she raised her boys to be God fearing, responsible men who love their wives with every breath they take. They had incredible roll models in the Proverbs 31 women and her husband. What a legacy they had, one that I want to give to my children!

Wow, when I logged on tonight, I was just going to post a few pics of Tyler cleaning, write a cute, quick story and head off to bed. I guess God had other idea's for this post. It truly is amazing at how God talks to me while I write. It's almost like he is sitting right next to me whispering. Kevin said tonight that I do my best writing when he is up in bed and I am alone down here blogging. I kind of laughed at that comment when he said it, but there is some truth to that. I think that I am more able to hear God's whispers when the house is quiet and it's just me pondering what my heart feels.

Well, if my boys don't learn anything else...they will at least know how to keep a clean bathroom....something that I think any future daughter-in-law would appreciate:-)

Blessings