I've been homeschooling for an eternity it seems. I have five children, after all, spaced 11 years apart. I know that someday I will have completed this task and will be handing my last dear child her high school diploma. That day is only three years away now. Four graduates down, one to go.

My last child is not like her siblings. She doesn't try to stretch summer even further by delaying our starting day to mid to late September. She started school last week--the first week of August!!! She's been going full speed ahead--even trying to do two years of math in one. This child is not normal--but I'm not complaining. It's nice that she is my last one, so I can enjoy these last years of homeschooling.

It's a little scary looking ahead to no homeschooling. What will I do with my day? I've already reached that point. No, not quite. My dd still asks me for help on math, and I've been reading the same books as she has so we can talk about them together. But there will come a day, when she doesn't need me to do that anymore. What will I do then?

Then there's the books. We have a "library". We have four oak bookshelves from Costco that are seven feet tall and 48" wide. They are FULL of books. And as I sat here looking at them the other day, I saw to my amazement that they are almost all filled with "MY" books. And most of them are from homeschooling! That was a shock!  What am I to do with all these books? Save them for the grandkids? Oh no! I'm not becoming Smith's Moving and Storage for the next generation of homeschoolers.

Well....actually, I have put aside a few of my very favorite homeschool choices for my kids who decide to homeschool. And some of the historical fiction books will be passed on. But what about all those history books that I've been collecting for all these years? You know, the ones about the middle ages and knights and castles. Then there are all the colored photo, great big picture books about insects, birds, seashells, etc.? Yes, I've decided they have to go. There are other homeschoolers out there who will enjoy them. My kids can choose their own books for their kids. They will get to have the joy of going to used book stores, garage sales, thrift shops and homeschool book sales to make their own collections. That, after all, is one of the biggest joys of homeschooling. (At least it has been for me!)

There will be a season when I will have space on my book shelves for little photos of grandkids, vases, and other paraphenalia. No. That's probably not right. I'll always be able to fill up the book shelves with books. I can never really see a time when our book shelves will NOT be full of books. The books may change, but they will still be books.

 Autumn always carries a bit of wistfulness for me. It is the end of happy carefree days of summer, barefoot kids, picnics, lazy days of reading inside where it is cool  escaping the heat outside. Autumn smells and the nippy air remind me that there's a winter ahead. The carefree days are over and it's back to routines, schoolwork, earlier bedtimes and morning risings. Autumn reminds me that this season of life, of homeschooling, will eventually end, but another season will begin. Another season will begin that has its own schedule, activities and precious moments to remember.

I thank my heavenly Father that I've been given these years at home to teach, train and educate my children in the ways of the Lord.