Posted in Lessons I Have Learned

I have been thinking a lot the last few days about all the things my kids have taught ME. 

When my oldest son was 3 we were driving down the street one day and out of the blue he asked me "Mommy, did God love Goliath?"  Wow, what a question.  I had certainly never thought about how God felt towards Goliath.  In my grownup mind the David and Goliath story was very clear David = good, Goliath = bad.  End of story.  However, this simple question from my 3-year-old turned my thinking on end.  What if Goliath had chosen to love God?  God certainly loved him, he was created by God just the way I was, right?  I'm no theologian, but according to the song we all learn in Sunday school "Jesus loves the little children, all the little children of the world!"  That would include Goliath.  It's been 8 years since my innocent 3-year-old posed that question.  But,  here I am still thinking about it!

My kids have a way  making me think that no one else does.  Maybe it is my unique position of being Mom/protector of them.  Maybe it is all the time I spend with them.  Maybe it is because I care so deeply for them.  But somehow they teach me things everyday.

Earlier this week my 4-year-old brought me a build-your-own kangaroo kit and wanted me to put it together for her.  I dutifully got out the directions and began reading.  Insert tab A into slot A, fold piece 2 and insert left tab B into slot LB....Arghhhh.  I tell her she will have to wait until Daddy gets home.  (I'm not that good with directions I confess!)  Later in the afternoon I come downstairs from putting the baby down for a nap. There is my four year old sitting at the table with her completed kangaroo.  I was surprised!  I said "Did your big brother put that together for you?"  She responds "No, I did it.  All you had to do was punch out all the pieces and figure out where they went."  Wow, again!  My grownup mind knew the right way to do it, read those directions, follow each step carefully.  Her 4-year-old mind knew she wanted it done. How hard could it possibly be?

My 11-year-old has now passed me up on a lot of things.  His computer knowledge outdoes mine on a daily basis.  I use to be Webmaster on  couple of WebPages.  Yesterday I had to ask him to remind me how to do clickable text!  LOL  (I think having 2 babies in 2 1/2 years has killed a few too many brain cells!)  But, the point is, he knows so much I have never taught him!  A few days ago he says to me  "You know the interesting thing about static electricity?"  I say "What?"  Only half listening.  "It's static." He says. "What?"  I say, paying a little more attention now.  "It's static."  he replies.  "I know it's static."  I reply, "What are you talking about?"  "Okay Mom, let me explain."  He says patiently  "Static mean something without motion.  It's inactive, it's just sitting there waiting.  Then BAM along you come (I had just shocked him on the head when he had passed by and I patted his head.) that little piece of inactive electricity is activated and you get shocked!"  Wow, yet again!  This is not how my mind works.  I get shocked, I think "Ouch!"  then I'm over it.  But not this kid.  He goes into deep thought about exactly what happened, what is static?  I love that about him, he teaches me so much!

I could keep writing examples all day.  Things they say, the way the treat each other, the way they interpret things they have overheard.  But the point of all this is that one of our goals as homeschooling parents was to have our Children become lovers of learning.  Every time they come up with something incredible I did not teach them I know that we are accomplishing that goal.  I just love it when the teacher becomes the student...