Last Day of School

We made it!!!  I have been waiting for this day for so long!! It’s the last day of school!!!! I don’t think I can convey my excitement clearly enough through typing on a page!

Ok, so why am I so excited, you may ask? It’s a fairly selfish reason, really. But I am so excited to only have to make one trip into town each day now! During the school year, I drive the kids into town to school in the morning then pick them up again in the afternoon to go to Jiu-Jitsu. We live about thirty minutes from school. This ends up being two hours of drive time each day. And that doesn’t count the amount of time we sit in the car between school and Jiu-Jitsu. Now can you understand the excitement?!

On the other hand, I’m not so excited. This means that I will have a tiny house full of crazy kids! I’m just hoping they don’t kill each other before summer is over. Hopefully the weather is nice enough to keep the little humans outside a lot of the time.

I will still have Laiyla working to finish up her schoolwork for the year, but at least she is homeschooled so we don’t have to go anywhere for that. She’s been working super hard to get a little extra done each day to cut down on her time spent inside during the summer. I am very proud of her for how she has applied herself this spring. She is still about a month behind her siblings in terms of when school will be finished for the summer, but she has gained a lot of ground compared to when she started. She is a very hard worker.

The end of school is kind of a bittersweet time though too. The kids at school end up a little sad because they are going to miss their teachers. They know they won’t have that same teacher again, and that realization makes them tear up a little at the end of the year. It makes Mom a little sad too to know that my kids are another year older. I don’t know that I’m all that ready for them to grow up. It’s already happening so fast! My babies aren’t babies anymore! I’m sure all you Mommas can relate to that. Especially at the end of a school year.

The end of this year also marks a milestone for my second daughter. Starting this fall, she will also be homeschooled. I’m expecting some tears from her today. She has always been one to get super attached to her teachers. She cried almost the entire way through her Kindergarten graduation because she was going to miss her teacher. But, she decided she wanted to be homeschooled in the fall, so we will see how this goes. She saw how much more freedom Laiyla had with school, and she really likes that idea. She is dedicated enough to her studies that she will probably get up early and get started on them just so she can be done early. That’s just the type of person she is. I love her to bits and she makes us so proud.

This fall will also mark a milestone for our first son. He will be starting some K4 with Mom here at home. I was a little nervous about him starting any type of school. He is all boy and isn’t exactly the easiest to keep still and wanting to learn about something. At least, he isn’t for me. From what I’ve been told, he’s an angel in Sunday school and children’s church. But, when Mom wants him to sit still, that’s a whole different ball game. But, when he saw his papers and books, he got excited! That little bit of excitement washed a huge wave of relief over me. I am not planning to go crazy with school with him, but I would like to be able to teach him his numbers and letters and the sounds the letters make. So, hopefully it will be smooth sailing once we get started!

One thing I am going to have to think about over the summer is how to keep a two-year old and an infant entertained while I’m teaching the little guy. The girls will both have videos that they will need to watch for school, so I’m not concerned about them getting their schooling done, but little kids?? How in the world do people do this?! I’m sure something will work out, but good grief, it’s intimidating!

But, that is a dilemma for another day. Today, I’m going to enjoy the excitement from the kids. They have been ready for this for a few weeks now, and are very much ready to be able to play all day. The smiles on their faces this morning were full of excitement, expectation, and accomplishment. They will have classroom awards this morning followed by a school awards ceremony.

I’m so very proud of these little humans and all the work they have put in this school year. It hasn’t always been easy, but it has been beneficial. They have learned so much this year. And I’m not just talking about their academics. They have learned a little more about how life really works. They have worked through their struggles with trying to understand what Laiyla has been going through and trying to understand how to cope with their feelings about it. They have learned that life doesn’t always go as planned. Sometimes you just have to take the hand that is dealt and make the most out of it. They have learned that complaining gets you absolutely nowhere. They have learned that having a positive attitude about things makes the situation that much more bearable.

I am so thankful that my kids have the opportunity to go to a Christian school. They learn everything from a biblical perspective instead of the worldly view they could be getting. Most of what a child learns should be taught by the parents concerning how they should act and how they should treat people, but school and the kids at school have way more of an effect on children than we sometimes care to realize. Don’t get me wrong. Just because they go to a Christian school doesn’t mean they don’t get influenced by other kids and their friends, but it does help to have the teachers that back up what you are trying to teach your children. It makes the school process that much easier on parents as long as we are doing our job at home. Kids need consistency, and sending them to the school that we do, definitely helps with the consistency. I’m so thankful God has provided this option for us. God has been so good to us!

So, as the school year winds down, I can’t help but look back at this year and contemplate all the happenings of this year. It has been quite the rollercoaster, but I thank God each and every day for being our “seatbelt” and “safety net” throughout this year and keeping us on the rollercoaster. He has never once let us down. He has never once let us slip. He has kept us in His hand through it all and will continue to care for us there. It may not have been the route we would have taken this year, but God knows better. He isn’t going to let us down. And for that I will forever be thankful. There is no way we could go through this life without God. I don’t even want to imagine the mess we would have made of things by now!

I hope you all have a wonderful few days of school as the year comes to a close. Enjoy every little moment with your babies even if it doesn’t seem like an enjoyable moment at the time. I’ve had plenty of those in the recent days, but I keep having to remind myself that this time will be gone far too soon and I will miss it. Sometimes it takes a lot of convincing myself about that, but it is true. They don’t stay babies long enough. Let them be little for as long as possible. Let them explore new things even if it’s a messy expedition. Enjoy those little ones!

Have a great last few days of school and an even better summer break!