I jumped in with both pregnant feet with Devin though, excited to expose him to everything and anything. I signed him up for every possible activity sponsored by our school board, and I seeked out other home school events offered throughout the city. At the time, I dragged Christian and Sophie along to all of Devin's events.
Fast forward a few years, and I still signed the boys and Sophie up for events, and poor Emilie just got "dragged along" because she was the baby, or she was too young to participate, or...fill in the blank for every excuse of not letting her be apart of an activity. She has willingly come and watched and waited for her siblings.
This year though, things are...or will be different. That's what I am telling myself. The winds are shifting. Devin is in high school, and is spending more time at home, and his extra curricular activities and interests are different. Christian and Sophie also have different interests, and I find I'm not putting the older three in as much activities. It's like I have found a comfortable niche for the older kids, and I'm OK with that. We still have book club and writing club. We still have all their sports and music, and that's enough for us. In addition, the older ones are quite responsible. Devin is very organized and dedicated to his studies. Christian needs a reminder once in while, but I've seen a huge growth with him too, and he is more focused so far. Even Sophie, has matured into a responsible student. I haven't completely abandoned them, and I still am needed for teaching, organizing and cheering, but I can focus more on Emilie this year for a change.
As for Emilie, its her time to be exposed to all the classes and extra curricular activities, and thank goodness, I belong to such a great school board that offers different classes and options for her age. She is so excited to now be apart of what her older siblings were once part of. I myself am so excited to see her so happy. She has ownage, and I can see that she is empowered. She is not just following anymore in the shadow of her big brothers and big sister.
Today was the first day of extra classes that she will participate in this year ( as long as I can get my scheduling organized ) I signed her up today for a Science Class which the CFL offered. She did the Menthos and Coke experiment, had some P.E. time, then learnt about circuits and light bulbs.
She was beaming when I picked her up from her classroom. Her smile was as bright as the light bulb she showed me that they tried to light.
What a great day for both of us. She had a blast, and is adamant that she will be attending more "classes". After ten years of homeschooling, and seeing my baby excited about "school" reminded me of why I do what I do. It just can't get any better than that!
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| Science "class" |
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| P.E. break |
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