I was washing dishes– and deeper in thought than any mother with three children under five should ever be. Suddenly the noise level caused me to snap out of my daydreams and I instantly wanted to snap at my children who were playing nearby. Thankfully, some advice from my wise friend, Lori Gammon, came to mind just in time.
I asked myself if my children were being obnoxious– or I was just being selfish.
They were making noise.
But it wasn’t just noise to annoy their mother. It was, in fact, the kind of noise a parent might spend quite a bit of money encouraging them to make. Eliana was using a toy to tap out a melody on some cardboard boxes as David listened intently.
Then David would sing whatever she had just tapped out.
It seems a music class spontaneously broke out in our dining room. No instructor needed.
Once I took the time to stop and listen I actually enjoyed the moment. It also reminded me why homeschooling can be so easy in some ways– and difficult in others. Most people would never guess how often time plus imagination results in amazing learning opportunities for kids. At the same time it takes a huge amount of patience, focus, and attention to create the structure and freedom our kids need to really thrive.
And it takes a really long time to do the dishes.
But that’s ok. There’s plenty of entertainment.
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