A Visit from Me!

Hello, lovely readers. Over the months since I stopped writing here, I have occasionally checked in and discovered that this blog is still being read daily, even without any new posts. I do miss it here. Perhaps the reasons that I felt I had to abandon this beloved project have been sufficiently resolved. Maybe I can rediscover organic mothering and continue to share what inspires me. Most likely I will not be able to re-open the comments function, but there it is. As much as I would like to converse with you all, for personal reasons I still do not feel safe in opening that line of communication.

I continue to be a homeschooling mother. My only girl will be 10 on Sunday--double digits! We are officially finished with this school year, but of course learning never ends, and we have all sorts of plans for summer. Our beloved dog Daisy passed away last month as a result of congenital heart failure. She survived for almost two years on medications after being diagnosed, and she died in her sleep, still a happy dog. For those things we are grateful. We have adopted a new dog, a one-year-old beagle named Milo, from the Humane Society. He is a rascal! Beezy will begin dog training at a local facility with him soon.

Today we're going out to see Farmer Jo Ann for some container flowers to plant, and hanging baskets. It's an annual tradition we enjoy. Beezy especially loves meeting the new kittens that always arrive in spring. Spring. It has come slowly but surely this year, following a long, hard, cold Ohio winter. I am only beginning to unwind and release...

So we'll see how it goes. I'll reach out my branches here and sing to the sun, the moon, and the stars. St. Francis and St. Clare, pray for us, for our beautiful Earth and all of God's creatures living in it. Help us to live and grow in peace and harmony. Teach us to live fully and with awe and wonder. Show us how to be.

School's Out! Now what?

Last Thursday I said to Beezy, "How would you like this to be the last day of school?" Of course she was all for it, so when we completed lessons I said, "Congratulations on finishing this school year. Thank you for being in my class." I shook her hand, and then she raised both fists in the air and shouted, "Outside forever!"  She had told me recently during a school day that she just wanted to be outside running around. I listened. I realized that even doing lessons on the upstairs balcony, with tree branches at arms' length and in the company of the sights and sounds of the outside world, was not enough to curb the feeling that she was missing out. In fact, I think that looking the little birdies in the eye made it worse. There are kittens across the street to visit, squirrels to chase, and toddlers in the neighborhood that want to play. Monday was running-in-the-sprinkler weather. So glad we were done with school!

So here is what we are up to. Yesterday we went to Farmer Jo Ann's for flowers, finally. Less than two weeks ago it got down to freezing over night! While practicing piano, Beezy told me she wished she had lessons every day. She has "written" her own song, and she loves experimenting with sounds on the electronic keyboard. Tuesday she has dog obedience class with Daisy for her 4-H project. Thursday we are going to the circus as part of her birthday, and we are taking a friend of hers who also has a May birthday. We will visit a science museum in Ft. Wayne with another friend this weekend, and then celebrate my grandma's 85th birthday at my cousin's house. The first week of June is Vacation Bible School, which is always a highlight of Beezy's year. The week after that, the pool will open.

As for summer reading, I had the brilliant idea of having Beezy choose her own picture books from the library, and it is working. She chooses to read them. We will do that every couple of weeks. I say this idea was brilliant because it was so obvious. She always picks out videos for herself, but never books. I had to suggest it, and there was a little resistance, but sometimes children do need a gentle push in the right direction. I'm going to find a little basket for her to keep them in.

Life just continues on, and we savor the unique pleasures and opportunities that each season brings. Hopefully the freedom from school lessons will help me to observe closely the ways in which learning happens in every moment of every day and is not separate from the rest of life. Then when fall comes, the shift into "school time" will be merely an organic segue into the next season, rather than an abrupt change. We will be truly unschooling.