For the past month and a half, I’ve been lamenting the loss of our wooden bird feeder at the hands—or rather, jaws—of those obnoxious rodents known as squirrels.
“I just have to get to store and buy another one,” I murmured wistfully. “I miss all my little birdies.”
But did I get around to it?
No.
(I can be such a birdbrain.)
This weekend, the boys went out onto the deck and just threw down a bunch of birdseed.
A handful here, a handful there.
Totally random.
Totally unplanned.
Totally at peace with their messy means to a delightful end.
Well, consequently I have seen no end of interesting birdies the past few days, including—Gasp! Can it be?—a cute little hummingbird that fluttered past in a flash and was gone, leaving me breathless.
I just love hummingbirds. I get all geeky and gushy when they’re around.
Anyway. Long story short: I am very thankful for my boys’ creativity and for their ability to think outside the box (or in this case, outside the birdfeeder).
“Focus on enjoying what you do, not on regret for all the things that you don’t / can’t do.”
There is a lot of talk about planning going on right now, as well as a wonderful Fair full of awesome ideas for the homeschooling mom & dad.
I have to be careful, though. I am the sort of person—very sanguine, very distractable—who can get overwhelmed by all the info. I start to feel a little boxed in and bogged down by my To-Do list and my planning, to the point where I don’t do anything.
Ultimately, I have to trust in what the Holy Spirit is doing within this happy little house of ours and through the teacher that is me. As a dear friend of mine said to me in an e-mail: However wonderful things look on other people’s blogs, the reality is probably less wonderful. You also can’t do all of these wonderful things, however appealing they look. Not even if you are superwoman and have a 48-hour day. Focus on enjoying what you do, not on regret for all the things that you don’t / can’t do.
I’ll be talking more about this over the next two week. I don’t really intend to share my lessons plan in detail, (at least not until you’ve had a chance to catch your breath), because my school set-up is pretty straightforward:
Seton’s Curriculum (because I need to be accountable) with supplementation.
A handful here. A handful there.
With my birds of a feather (aka my children) there to help me.
Good for you Margaret!! You have a very good friend and she is right!! Your humbleness makes me more excited to read what you do plan on doing for the year. It makes it seem more attainable (is that a word?) for me!!
Our hummingbird feeders were cut down (the string was chewed off by our squirrels) a few weeks ago and I just washed them this past weekend to pack them for our new house. I should have cleaned them and refilled them weeks ago and we could have enjoyed those beautiful little birds. When we had them up, the kids would be literally 2 feet away from the feeder and one would come anyway, SO beautiful!! With all that seed on the ground, I bet you will have squirrels, bunnies and birds…how fun for the kids-and you!
I have a post on my blog about our school day yesterday –
And, I too, LOVE watching the birds come….in fact, I want to ask for some feeders and the like for Christmas!
Have a GREAT day, Margaret! Hugs to you!
I too get overwhelmed by ideas too … preventing me from actually starting something. I had the hardest time picking curriculum for my girls.
I think you are doing a wonderful service for your children … teaching with love. No matter the method, the fact is you are teaching them. I bet you are a wonderful teacher too!
This is day 5 of homeschooling for our family. I am just teaching the 2nd and 5th grader. They are adjusting really well to the change (going from school to home), but this Mommy is having a bit of anxiety. Accountability is probably my biggest worry right now.
OOPS, that was a long comment
I have not even ordered my stuff yet. And so, what with all of the blogging about “How my school year is ready and organized” there was a bit of panic over here…
Bottom line? I’m ok with not having all of my curriculum yet. We can start now with what we’ve got.
(Think I’ll do a post on this.)
🙂
You know that I know how paralyzing our own thoughts can be! And your friend is right. I try to be very honest on my blog, but I also have trouble with focusing too much on the negative so I use my blog as an exercise in forcing myself to look for the positive.
Oh… and a super easy disposable or refillable bird feeder… spread peanut butter on a pine cone and roll it in bird seed. Easy peesy lemon squeezy!
You do exactly what I do, and it works, baby! Don’t think too much about the rest.
Thanks so much for this thought. I’ve been so overwhelmed with “all the info” and being a perfectionist doesn’t help one bit! (Try finding the “perfect” homeschooling program/method!) I finally ordered materials from CHC last night for my 5yo. I’m going to start there and see what “handfuls” I can throw in as I go. Pray for me!