But then I got married and had children of my own. My fears for them and motherly instincts to protect them took over. I don't want our boys to be ignorant of all the "bad stuff" that happens every day. As they get older we tell them age appropriate things to warn them. They are all aware of the harmful things this world has to offer and how it's not pleasing to the Lord. We do not hide things from them. They understand that we strive to be different. We want the world to know we are christians and we want to follow the directions in the Bible that God gave us to live by.
My hearts desire was always to homeschool and I actually did that for a few months with Jacob. But I was always nursing Jonah and Jaron was having therapists come into our home twice a week too. It just wasn't good timing and Jacob was begging to get on the bus that went by our house every day. So I decided to let him go to the local elementary school for kindergarten and he loved it!
That way I could focus on Jaron and his speech and feeding needs and continue nursing Jonah. There were a few things that we were not pleased with during Jacob's first year. He was bullied on the bus before they started having assigned seats. His kindergarten teacher yelled all the time. And the school celebrates halloween and santa is everywhere at christmas time. Two things we DO NOT celebrate in our home.
So we let those things go and hoped for the best. Jaron turned 5 and was ready for kindergarten. My fears for him were 100 times greater because he was born with a cleft lip and I didn't want anyone to pick on him. But I overcame my fears and let him go. I worried everyday if he would eat his lunch and hoped he would behave. Jaron is most likely ADD and he has trouble focusing on anything. He did have to move his (behavoir) clip everyday in kindergarten.
He also was bullied on the bus. And I think it was during 1st grade a kid on the bus told Jacob to stick his middle finger at his teacher. Then in 2nd grade he asked me how to spell the "F" word. I wanted to crawl under my bed. I cannot imagine little kids 7 years old talking about that. Then this year Jacob said that the kids at school told him if he puts (bunny ears) 2 fingers behind a girls head that means he wants to meet her in the bed at 2am. OMGOSH! I asked him why would he want to get in the bed with a girl and he said "that means you have to kiss". WAY TOO MUCH INFO for a my 9 year old.
With Jaron's required one on one attention and all the garbage Jacob is coming home telling us. We have decided I should homeschool our boys next year. I am done nursing Justus and as he gets older I'll be getting more sleep too. I think about it every day and wish I could keep them home. We believe we can shelter our children from the world but we can still warn them about the sin that's out there.
God gave us our children to raise in His will and all we can do is our best while we have them at home. I want to do my best and sending them to a school not knowing all the info their being told doesn't feel right. I don't want them to feel peer pressure at this young age or be misinformed about relationships before we are ready for them to know. As their parents its our job to teach them about a man and a woman not the school.
So say what you will about us "don't shelter them". We are doing what we feel is pleasing the God. Keeping them safe as long as possible. They will not be ignorant when it comes time to move out into the world. They will be prepared and armed with God's word to overcome anything they are tempted with.
I know homeschooling will not be easy and some days I might want to quit but it will be so worth it.
