Once upon a time, there was a homeschool mom with five cute, sweet, bright little children. It was a mild but windy January morning, and she awoke with the same feelings of anxiety and general hesitancy about diving into a new school week that she always does. It had been about four weeks since she had done any school with the children, so the new semester would likely be met with an unusual degree of resistance. Nevertheless, today was a day that had been greatly anticipated. Today was the first time her oldest child would experience standardized testing.
Now, to most parents, this wouldn't likely be something to look forward to. For public school families it can be stressful ensuring that the child knows what to expect, is well rested, and of course the question of "how does my child measure up?" For homeschool families there is some of the same, but with the added stress of "am I teaching my child the right things?" and "if she fails, does that mean I've failed as a homeschooler?" In the case of this unusual family, both mother and child were eager for the challenge and to see how their schooling could be adapted to better suit the child.
Before long there was a knock at the door, and mother and child eagerly ushered the test administrator to the dining room table. Mom took her seat in the living room to knit while listening in on the test as it was administered. The test of choice, the Peabody Individual Achievement Test, was to be given orally by a trained administrator over the course of the next hour.
The hour flew by and the bright young lady cheerfully and brilliantly stepped up to the challenge. As the administrator finalized the results, mom sat in awe of what she had witnessed. Her daughter had not only passed with flying colors, but surpassed her grade level in every academic category.
Thrilled by these results and feeling quite prideful, there were many celebratory high fives and hugs. Mom immediately felt a weight lifted from her shoulders as she realized that, despite her efforts to sabotage her child's education with an exasperating amount of life change in the past year, homeschooling was proving to be a success by all worldly standards.
My friends...pride comes before the fall.
An hour later we...I mean they...were packing up the van for a special trip to the library. (After sending pictures of the test results to both sets of grandparents, of course, in case there was any doubt in their minds that homeschooling was going to be beneficial to their grandchildren.) Mom confidently and proudly unloaded the crew in the library parking ramp and marched them in to pick out books that would most certainly propel their love of learning to even deeper levels. Forty-nine books later, at the check-out computer, is where it all fell apart.
Temper tantrum.
Epic. Temper. Tantrum.
Child rolling on floor, screaming, crying, using hateful and blasphemous speech toward the enemy mother. Why? Because she had to wear shoes.
(It's winter. In Minnesota. Shoes are not optional. This is not a new thing.)
There is no reasoning. There is no rationalizing. There is no bribery that can turn around the inexplicable wrath of the preschooler. No arms strong enough, no shoes sparkly enough, and no snack tasty enough to lure her into the stroller. Mother is left to corral flailing preschooler, hangry toddler, sleepy infant, two highly annoyed older children and forty-nine library books (divided between five backpacks) plus a diaper bag and a stroller to the parking ramp as quickly as possible.
Yep. Pride before the fall. Pride shattered. Humility received.
Lesson? Best to humble myself, lest God have to do it for me.
This is life as mom. Live, learn, and remain humble. Celebrate the wins but don't become arrogant. Those temper tantrums are always at the ready to remind us that we don't have it all figured out. Forgive ourselves when it works out this way because, sisters, we will all be that mom one day or another...or many.
Mamas, I salute you. And next time you see a mama at the library with her screaming children, give her a hug. She probably needs it.
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