For my first blog post, I would like to share how my adventures in motherhood, homeschool, and dragon wrangling began. Seeing those two little lines was a beautiful, magical moment. It was immediately followed by what I can only describe as a huge feeling of “Now what?” This feeling was the main feeling during my pregnancy. Not anxious, but a huge sense of I have no idea what I am about to get myself into. Also a finality, I knew I was no longer going to be the person I was before; everything was about to change.
And Then I was Mom
I read all the pregnancy books; I had a plan! I was going to belly dance my way through labor with no pain meds, and it was going to be beautiful! None of that happened. But in the end I was holding a beautiful baby boy, and once again that huge feeling of “Now what?” This baby was going to grow into a child, and then a teenager, and then an adult. He was going to have his own life one day and his future depended on what I do and how I prepare him. Yikes!
The first year passed in a sleep deprived haze. But I remember the amazement of seeing this tiny little human grow bigger. His excitement at discovering something new was matched only by my excitement that he discovered something new.
Two more tiny humans later and our house and life is what I can only describe as wonderful chaos. That feeling of “now what?” is still there though. When the pandemic hit, homeschool became the only option. Even then the pandemic posed a whole new set of challenges that felt like it was a story from the twilight zone.
A Whole New Adventure
When everything finally opened up again, our pediatrician recommended pediatric therapy for everyone. He also recommended an evaluation with a doctor from the access for autism clinic. A whole new feeling of “Now what?” followed that statement. At the time I was telling myself that my kids are a little odd perhaps, but surely they didn’t need therapy. I was wrong, all three of my kids need all 3 therapies and my oldest was diagnosed as autistic. When the evaluations came back it felt like getting punched in the gut! They were all moderately to severely delayed (according to the paperwork). I just thought they were my little odd balls. They weren’t getting the help they needed and I completely missed that they needed help in the first place. I felt like a complete and utter failure as a mom. But with these diagnoses and brand new vocabulary I was learning (sensory issues—I had no idea!) came a new understanding, my version of homeschool wasn’t going to work. I needed a new way to teach and for my kids to learn.
So that’s what this adventure is all about. Our homeschool isn’t perfect, it may not work for anyone but us, but that’s part of the beauty of homeschool!