Gabriel Takes Driver's Ed

Today Gabriel finished the classroom portion of his Driver's Education class. It was 3 hours long each day for 2 weeks. He had a lot of homework, studying and tests. The course was given by a private driving school and there were 6 or 7 others in the class, all homeschoolers. This was his first experience in a classroom setting since 3rd grade. I am not sure who was more nervous, Gabriel or me. He had to pay for half of the cost of the course. We live in a day and age where kids are just given everything. John and I are firm believers that if someone has the privilege to drive such a dangerous machine, they should earn it. So he paid half. Anyway, one of the reasons that he was nervous was because he knew that if he failed, he would have to pay the entire cost of the course to take it again.

I have to wonder if other moms, homeschool or not worry like I do. Is my child ready? Have I done enough to prepare him to take classes from others (AKA "the real world")? I am glad to announce that he did really well and passed with flying colors! Congratulations to Gabe! Now on to the Behind the Wheel portion and a new set of concerns for a mom. My blogging friend, Karen from Surviving Motherhood, asked not long ago which stage of mothering was the hardest. I told her that I was loving the teen years. It was far easier than the sleepless nights with infants or dealing with the reading struggles that we had during the elementary years. But I might just have to change my mind. Watching them grow up, and all my fears that come with it, is a very difficult thing indeed.

More Homework for Mom

Holly came home again with another assignment for me - two more forms to sign and three text books to cover. She said that we could buy some covers at the store or use paper bags and decorate them. Being the frugal person that I am we went with the paper bags. I have done this before with both Gabe and Hannah and figured this would be a quick and easy project. We cut, measured, cut some more, re-measured, re-cut and tried taping. It wasn't working. I decided Holly should go do something else and just let Hannah and I work on the covering part. She could decorate them when we finished. I do not know if it was the cheap Romanian tape that we still have or the quality paper bags but after more than 30 minutes, I gave up.

We are blessed to live near a huge variety of stores and I figured it was worth the money to purchase book covers. Buying school supplies at this time of the year usually has two results: totally sold out or a great sale. Thankfully we happened upon the latter scenario and found a good selection of stretchy book covers for .75 cents!

This morning, Hannah and I went to a homeschool picnic. We were hoping to meet some families with teenagers but almost everyone there had elementary age children. There was one girl there that was Hannah's age and we also were given some good advice on where to find groups with teens. We had a good time and met some nice people. Settling in takes time and finding friends is part of the adjustment.

The Answer

Having a teenage son, I sometimes watch movies that are not my preferred genre of romance and chick flicks. I have seen the complete series of The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars and Spiderman and other action flicks. While I might not like the movie or the action, I do like the fact that my 16 year old son asks me to watch them with him. The movie with the refrigerator magnets with the phrase "u can save her" is from this movie - rated PG-13 for things blowing up, people dying and typical action movie type stuff. I actually liked the movie and it's one I will watch again - even if I am more of a chick flick type person.

Hooray for Laurie! You guessed it right!! (Do you have a new blog?)

Still Packing

In April, I found myself worrying about my son stepping out into the world when he started his first job at Chick-fil-A. Now, three months later, I feel relieved and somewhat proud that he is doing great and enjoying his job. He even got a raise! He gave his notice to the owner of the store that we are moving. He assured Gabe that he would give him a good recommendation and then we found out that the owner here in Alabama is good friends with the owner of the Chick-fil-A near us in Virginia! Moving is hard enough on kids and especially teens so I am thankful for this opportunity for him.

I am also excited about getting involved in a homeschool support group. Of course I have to find one first. There is a homeschool conference towards the end of July that I would like to go to. I haven’t had the opportunity to attend one since 1995. Of course that will all depend on our financial situation. Moving is not cheap and a trans-Atlantic move costs several thousand dollars.

John was able to get the moving van a day early at no extra cost. So we will start loading some things tomorrow. I am hoping to go through some of the boxes and leave things in storage that we won’t need in an apartment. I don’t like to wish time away but I just can’t wait until Wednesday. We will probably still be swimming in a sea of boxes but at least we will be moved in and on our way to getting settled.

Growing Up

The years when my children were babies were tiring and demanding. Babies did not always sleep when I wanted them to and they depended on me for their every need. The preschool years were frustrating with potty training and picky eating. During the school years I discovered the dyslexia dilemma. All of these times have memories of blessings and adversity. There are stories to tell but I will save them for another time. Now I find myself raising teenagers. Yes, I still have a 9 year old but I am exploring new territory with my oldest two. To be honest, I dreaded the teen years more than any other age. Surprisingly, however, I love these years and wish I could stretch them out somehow. Not that our days are trouble free. And the questions and perplexities are exponentially larger than worrying, “Will they ever get potty trained?” or “What if they never like meat?” Now, do not get me wrong. For those of you who are still in that stage of life, I know those mountains. They are huge and it is not my intention to belittle them. I am not facing another mountain here. I am watching my child get into a spaceship and wondering if they will make it on another planet. My son just got his first job yesterday. A real live job with a uniform, a paycheck and a boss. I am thrilled for him but at the same time I have all kinds of new worries. Is he ready? Have we trained him to function in the real world? Can he handle the responsibility? Can I handle the fact that this is one more step in preparing him to become a man and leave home? Moms who have traveled this road, I could really use your encouragement!

Thanks for stopping by! While you are here, I'd like to humbly ask for your vote - I have been nominated for the Homeschool Blog Awards in the "Live What You Believe" category. Today is the last day!!! Vote Here!