On St. Patty's day we were in a parade, our very first one in fact!  There was a whole flock of these old cars and I had to get a photo of one.  I am always drooling over old cars that have wings on them. 

I guess technically they are fins, not wings.  But that will change the gist of my story, so I am henceforth calling them "wings."

I love these old cars.  I hope to own one some day.  Maybe.  If the price is right. 

What is it about these cars that attracts me?  Is it the chrome?  The angles?  The turquoise?  All of those, yes.  But in the grand scheme of things, don't you think it's the idea that these babies can take you to heights unknown, like a bird?  It's not just a car.  It has a dream.  It has a flying dream........and I guess so do I.

But I also have other dreams.  I have homeschooling dreams.  Dreams that my kids will "fly."  Not just fly the coop, but fly on their own someday.  That they will be capable, strong, courageous and confident.  Those are some of the dreams I have.

I want my kids to have those dreams, and to reach their dreams.  I want them to fly higher than I ever could.  Higher than I ever even wanted to fly! 

 But for now I am thankful that they are here on the ground with me.  Hopefully this "ground school" that we are engaged in will give them the wings they need.

Today, on my regular blog I posted a  link to a previous post called "the playground of life."  In it I reminisced about my childhood,  and most of those childhood memories being played out on on a dirt and gravel public school playground.  I do hope you might enjoy reading it.  It's part serious, part funny.  Hopefully. Playground memories can be painful at times......

This afternoon my children were outside playing with some of our neighbor's children.  I think there must have been some none too "good natured" teasing going on, and some basketball playing and then right smack dab in the middle of it, one of my sons got punched, right smack dab in the mouth.  It was a bloody scene and there was a lot of weeping and gnashing of teeth....mainly mine.

Trying to get the facts out of several different kiddos is enough to stress even the toughest of prosecutorial lawyers!  At least I can surmise.  Some kids weren't paying attention, some had a different perspective and others just downright told lies.  So while we tried to get the bleeding stopped, I proceeded to have a meltdown.  I know that there is an old saying about not crying over spilt milk, but this situation has a bit of a history, and it isn't as simple as that.

Without going into detail, lets just say that I had a really hard time with the "still small voice" that was telling me to love the child that caused my child pain.  I had a very hard time hearing the voice over my decidedly un-Christianlike ranting and raving. 

 What was I teaching my kids?  Vengence isn't mine, but I sure was owning it for a little while.

Finally peace prevailed and I was able to see straight again.  And while I still don't feel that anything has been remedied with the child who did the hitting, I know that the Lord has remedied something in my heart.  I might have to take the medicine again tomorrow, and the next day.....but eventually I will do this on "auto pilot" and will be flying......and my kids won't be too far behind me.

Fly, sink or swim, whatever your mode of transport, remember that it's not just through the "schooling" that they are learning from you.  Life does throw a curve ball into the curriculum sometimes.  How are you going to handle it?  Or will you let the Lord handle it instead? 

Nancy

Nancy Baetz is a free-lance author and photographer and a pretty regular contributor to The Old Schoolhouse Magazine and The Girlhood Home Companion. Today, she is working on taming the mama-bear traits that surface when you have a child to protect! Can you relate? Be sure to leave a comment!

And don't forget, tonight, Thursday Mar. 29 is a free chat with author/artist Jill Novak!  You can get all the details on my regular blog.  www.homeschoolblogger.com/byhisgraceincolorado

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