Melissa:
In the aftermath of a joint panic ... while discussing [next year], I went searching for answers. This is what I found:Her friend Amy responded:(I'm already breathing again and feeling a little bit better.)SandraDodd.com/howto/precisely
You can never go wrong by reading Sandra Dodd. She is the best for clarity, reason and understanding.
I read Sandra’s link Precisely How to Unschool
Sandra says it is a bit of a joke but mostly serious. I saw it in exactly this light. Like how can I really spend that many hours with my child? Impossible ... Do you know how busy my life is? Etc Etc Etc..... BUT, how many hours am I actually spending with my children (really spending, not just sharing the same breathing space)? Where can I improve things? What am I doing that seems important but that in reality takes away from this most important time spent with my children? What can I change so that we do necessary things together more? And a whole lot of other provoking questions. First result is that I am off now to have a bubble bath with my 6 year old instead of my usual quick shower!!!
The page concludes:
If you want to measure, measure generously. If you want to give, give generously. If you want to unschool, or be a mindful parent, give, give, give. You'll find after a few years that you still have everything you thought you had given away, and more.That pretty much sums it up, doesn’t it? Unschooling becomes the ultimate challenge against modern selfishness. And a call to battle, certainly for me, because I am selfish. Which means that instead of blaming others, I look at myself first when things haven’t gone so well—like me being grumpy with my kids yesterday because they didn’t listen to something I told them to do while I finished off an email.
In retrospect, I should have chucked the email and helped them do what they needed to do (get in the car as we were going out and about to run late...) Instead I pursued my own ends and the price was an uncomfortable half hour while we regained our group harmony...
Regards
Cathy
Elsewhere:9 Sandra Dodd quotes on parenting that rocked my world