Never say Never

 So.......we homeschool now.  I won't lie, it felt like I crossed over to a new and never thought of place when I unenrolled my children, turned in their district devices, and committed fully to homeschooling for the near future.  I swore I would never homeschool.

2020 was like, yer so cute when yer stupid.

I am so thankful that Bob and I made this decision a while ago because we have saved ourselves and our children so many tears and frustration plus, we have done so much learning and growing and if you ever see Lily....ask her what she thinks of Mesopotamia! Instead of being lost in the neverending frustration of Webex meetings and technological problems.....we are learning, and playing, and travelling.  I am grateful.

I know its super random to have a colorful gym mat in this blog, but this right here is the reason Evie is actually doing work.  She does school and then cartwheels and backwalkovers. Some days its a crash pad.

Homeschooling is not something that I ever wanted to do.  Not because I couldn't but because our kids are social creatures and very dearly love the commraderie of daily friends and peer community.  We feel the schoolyard loss, but the educational world is so full of uncertainty and strife and struggle and I am simply determined to not allow 2020 to steal the love of learning from my kids.  

It has been a challenging switch and a lifestyle change for us.  I am still navigating planning and routine, coupled with school work and the inevitability of being teacher, wife, homemaker, mother, photographer, consultant writer, and friend.  It's a lot.

But we Longmires can do hard things and are so excited for our Time 4 Learning program and the incredible gift of time and flexibility.  

We are travelling for the entire month of October and have done several camping trips without pressure to make it home for school.  We are finding that learning happens everywhere.....even in the most unlikely of places.  Its new and creative and slowly becoming a joyful experience.  

I hope that when my girls do return to the classroom full time that the transition will be full of all the old feelings, and not shaded under all of the COVID measures and angst. I pray that 2020 will actually be a time the girls fondly remember as the time we did what we didn't want to AND had a whole lot of fun.

I suppose the moral of this little blog is Never say Never....and when faced with a chance to do something you never thought you would do.....maybe embrace it.  Sometimes treasures are found in the most unlikely of places.