#Adoption Journey -- #StartingOver with Kids Younger than my Grandchildren #parenting #lifestyle #homeschool
Starting over is teaching me so many things and I have no words that could properly express just how grateful I am for this second opportunity.
I raised 4 children - all 14 months apart in age, 2 boys, 2 girls. We lived mostly off grid, in small towns with rural settings. I homeschooled all 4 in 4 different grade levels.
Now, I have grandchildren that do not live in the same state as me. They range in age from 2 to 7 years old.
The children we have adopted range from a few weeks old to the oldest coming 5 this coming August.
Yes. Children younger than my grandchildren.
Things I have noticed:
I have more patience
I enjoy very opportunity to tie a shoe or wake up to a crying baby
I enjoy preparing good meals and snacks
I enjoy idle time and park dates
I enjoy the mess
You see....once my older 4 children grew up and moved away from home, I felt empty. I no longer had a reason to spend my summers canning a ton of fresh fruits and veggies for only 2 adults. I no longer had lesson plans to prepare. I no longer had appointments.
After years of constantly running and having schedules, I had nothing.
Yes, it really felt like nothing.
I appreciate everything so much more now and truly wish I had seen raising my older children with the eyes I see life through right now
Week days, because I also work, have a patten. A schedule.
Weekends are relaxed. No appointments. No rushing.
I spend 7 days a week for 22 years rushing and not wanting to waste a moment. In the end, I wasted too many moment.
I realized, after my youngest left home, that I would give anything to explain that English lesson for the 6th time....to tie that shoe for the 12th time, to have a laundry room full of hanged bedding to be washed, ranch clothes, play clothes, ad pajamas to wash.
The dishes? The laundry? That plant you want to pick up from Lowes?
They will all still be there later. And if the plant isn't? Who cares!? Spend that extra moment on the couch with the small child that doesn't want to stop cuddling. Go over the alphabet song two more times.
I'm saying -- cherish every moment.
Read that extra bedtime story.
I am so luck to be given a second chance to relive raising my children.
Cherish yours
Slow down
Enjoy the moments.
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