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Sharper Tools, Sharper Focus
by Lynn Wilson
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A busy homeschooling mother does not "get out" too much,
but occasionally I do meet together with a gardening club locally. Even more
infrequently, some of us will get together to do something special, like have
dinner out or go to a garden center to buy plants. The last time we did that
was just about a week ago. Four of us gardeners got together for dinner. The
subject strayed to where it always does. Gardening! We were talking literally
about the tools of the trade. Hoes, spades, trowels. They all work better when
they are sharpened. It just so happens that a traveling tool-sharpener was in
town and would sharpen gardening tools upon request. One of the ladies present
had had her gardening tools sharpened and was telling us that it had made all
the difference in her being able to get seven new flats of plants in the
ground in a very timely manner. I thought about that. I had been weeding in my
garden of late and, being in the rush that I am always in, I had been grabbing
the first thing I could put my hands on--a rather old trowel that was really
intended for digging in worked soil. I vowed that the next pretty day
available, I would look around and find the proper tool, a sharp instrument
especially for uprooting weeds. Well, I did just that, and a task I had been
putting off ended up being just a fraction of what I thought it would be
because I had used a sharp tool that was made for the job. I can liken the
entire scenario to what happens in our homeschool when I sharpen my focus. The
work gets done!
I remember occasions when I have
taken the time to get to our local homeschool support group meetings.
Inspiration filled me as I saw samples of what other families were working on,
as I listened to moms recount the accomplishments of their children, and as I
thought of some of the goals that had been so clear when I first started the
homeschool journey. Just being there helped to renew my commitment to what I
had begun. It sharpened my focus.
I recall times when I have felt like a dry well,
standing in the homeschool supply store trying to figure out just what it was
we needed to round out our curriculum. Unable to figure it out, I would
spontaneously buy a book of encouragement for myself and go home to read!
Reading it would light the fire again! The sweet, soothing words of veteran
homeschooling moms would flood my heart with the reminder that "it is going to
be okay!" My focus was honed again to the fine point of being able to spell
out before my eyes that goal of raising noble sons with work ethic and honor.
Though sometimes we do need curriculum there are times when what is really
needed is for mom or dad to get in tune again with the original goal. An
encouraging book had sharpened my focus.
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It is very applicable here to say that sometimes we moms
get to where we cannot see the forest for the trees. Housework calls out our
names as we notice the dusty baseboards, the crumbs under the kitchen table,
the basket of dirty clothes that now equals at least 3 or 4 loads, and the
cobwebs that decorate the chandeliers. Toddlers cry out for sippy cups while
infants demand to be fed whether the lessons are done or not. Middle schoolers
balk at what seems like the same lessons over and over again, and high
schoolers need to be driven from point A to point B to earn credits and
experience. Overwhelming? Only if we let it become so!
I have made a pact with myself to keep my focus
sharpened. The goal is to produce quality sons and daughters who love to
learn. Their education should be such that they can either go to college or
enter the work force, but their education should also be such that they are
encouraged to carry their own torches! They need to know how to run a home and
how to express themselves. My job is to keep us all on track! My pact with
myself means doing whatever it takes to keep the goal in sight. It means
finding a quiet corner to read a homeschooling book for ME, the mom, so that I
can get my battery recharged. It means a cup of hot tea alone once in awhile.
It means staying connected with the homeschooling world to keep a realistic
perspective. When I started homeschooling I had a definite image in my mind of
what I wanted to achieve. I bet you did too. Don't despair if the lines have
become blurred. The solution is this--what focusing is really all
about--making adjustments so that the image we are looking at becomes clear. |
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Lynn Wilson, mom to four delightful (and perhaps challenging) children, is the
eclectic and nature-loving owner of
The Healthy Homeschool . She welcomes you to visit her any time at
her website!
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