Most days you can find my daughters and I together. We spend time learning new things, playing with new toys, and simply hanging out with one another. Spending unprecedented amounts of time with my girls comes with the territory of being a homeschooling mom. It is easy to believe that because I spend so much time with my daughters there’s no doubt that I am giving them all they need and more. The truth of the matter I am do not always give them what they need.
Not long ago, each of my daughters shared a need that was being neglected.
The last few months have been off in our home school. I found myself becoming overwhelmed because I thought our days were becoming too long so I cut out some things. Well, this led to my oldest daughter sharing that the things that I cut out were the things that she missed. This was eye opening for me. In that moment, I realized that I allowed the perk of shorter days to take away from our unique home educating experience. I was reminded that my daughters didn’t complain about how long or what we were learning instead it was the opposite. They enjoyed and looked forward to the different projects and lessons because they were truly learning new concepts and digging deeper into topics they enjoyed.
Shortly after my oldest daughter’s revelation, my youngest daughter shared that she desired for me to talk to her more. She needs for me to talk to her just as much as I talk to other adults. There was a tinge of jealously seeing her mom talk so animatedly to others while only limited conversations with her and her sister. Her words were confirmation to my own thoughts. I realized that although I am with them, I am not always with them.
Have you experienced similar conversations in your family? Conversations which have caused you to examine exactly what you are pouring out and shined light on the fact that maybe you aren’t pouring out exactly what is needed for your child in this particular season. I know that all I have been pouring out isn’t wrong, but I recognized that maybe some of it wasn’t necessary in this season. For example, my oldest daughter’s need for a more structured and full day was set aside because I thought that she would prefer the shorter days that homeschooling afforded. For a season, this was true. She needed the shorter days because her weaker subjects were absolutely draining, but now she handles those subjects with more ease even though there are still some parts that can be overwhelming. I’ve learned that some changes are meant to be temporary.
I am moving forward with the words of my daughters at the forefront because, honestly, they can tell more about what they need if I take the time to listen and observe.
Are you meeting your children’s needs? Have you been doing something that you thought was wonderful, but your children can actually live without it? Share in the comments.
