Aug. 18, 2008 - Mondays On Mothering -- Seeing My Parents With My Children
Mondays On Mothering
Seeing My Parents With My Children
I can still remember the first time I watched my father rock a baby to sleep. I must have been fourteen or fifteen, as my nephew was born in January and I turned 15 in August. Sometime during that first year, we were babysitting the little fellow (hi Justin!) and we could not get him to settle down. I tried, my Mom tried, my Grandma tried (she lived with us then). Nothing worked. Finally my Dad took him to the old rocking chair and just rocked until he fell asleep. Do you remember that Dad? I remember thinking, WOW! My Dad can hold babies!!! Being the next to youngest child in our family of seven, I had never seen my parents really interact with little children before that time. Fast forward ten years or so, to the time my Dad held my baby for the first time. I also still remember watching my father-in-law pace around our tiny townhouse with my tiny, colicky daughter, crooning a song as the rest of us desperately tried to block the sound of her wailing and get some rest. I think he paced for hours! I know she cried for hours. How I wish I had pictures of those moments. What a difference ten years can make in a life!
Recently, my children were privileged to ride the tractor with Papaw, disc the corn, and even ride around the neighborhood.
My children also spent a lot of time in the garden, picking corn and tomatoes, and digging potatoes, and my son even even helped plant beans. For my suburban children, this was sheer delight. In fact, my seven year old son expressed disappointment that we did not come at the right time to help break beans! Oh how I hated breaking beans when I was growing up! At any rate, it is always fun to observe my parents and my husband's parents as grandparents in action. Definitely, these are precious moments in my mothering days.
What do you love about mothering? What can you share that might encourage other Mom's to take joy in the moment?
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Only a suburan child would want to be around to break beans! My Mom used to can 300 cans a year and I hated breaking them.
It is fun to see your parents with your children though. Hope you are feeling much better.
Pam
The bottom line is; We try not to insist on parent-led learning or gravitate toward child-led learning. We try instead to focus on God-led learning and ask for His input and perspective on every aspect of our home school. That way, when others fuss about what Dan and I are doing and make me second guess our decisions -- I can go back to our decision process and find God's fingerprints, reminding me that this is His way.
