Today I took the kids to my “old” school (the one I just left teaching for several years to stay at home). I loved going there and seeing all my old colleges and former students. I had waves of hugs and excited looks on the kiddos faces. I loved it. I really do miss it. Most all of my friends there asked how being at home was. My answer – I love it, but I really miss the classroom. I’ve posted several times about the internal struggle of staying at home and teaching; they are both things that I love very much. I’ve still been on the search for the “perfect” job for me. Something VERY part time and in the area of either lower elementary job share or a reading intervention position. So far nothing – but I take that as the time is not right.
I saw this quote today on a blog that I follow:
Slow down and everything you are chasing will come around and catch you. ~John De Paola
I need to staple that to my forehead. I struggle with the need to always be doing something. Part of that is reflected in my internal debate to work or be a stay at home mom.
When I started this blog not too long ago, I started it as a log our our life. I very much love Memories on Clover Lane and the treasure she has for all the years she’s logged. She was my inspiration for blogging and my picture of what I wanted my bog to become. I’ve come away from that a bit. A lot of what I blog about is the activities we do together and since those became so popular I ran with it. But as I reflected in this post a few weeks ago, I struggle with slowing down.
So after my visit to the school and the reflection on the drive home, coupled with the quote I read, I literally sat down and started writing. And here I am. The things I started writing were promises to myself (and my family) about life and this blog. Writing these types of things down helps to solidify them for me. And now that they are public I have some sense of accountability for sticking to them.
My Promises
1. My blog is for a record of my family life. It’s why I created it. Though I will post fun activities we do (and we do a lot) I want the main focus to be what our life is like and scrapbook of sorts – what I originally intended it to be. I want it to be a place to share my thoughts on parenting, wifeing (is that even a word?), and living life. A place to write reflect on what it means to be a mom, wife, Christian, teacher, and human being.
2. Slowing down is something I need to daily work on. There are seasons in nature for a reason. Seasons in life are for a reason too. If we crammed summer, fall, winter and spring all into one season it would not only be very confusing but we would miss the joys each season in the chaos that the combination brings. *Note to self: Remember this.
There are very few things in life that do well by being rushed. Seasons included.
Slow down and everything you are chasing will come around and catch you. ~John De Paola