Attitude is Everything...

Homeschooling can be a lonely experience. It's a thankless job (just like being a stay-at-home Mom). There have been many conversations I've felt left out of because my child doesn't go to public school. And the looks you get when you say, "We homeschool" can isolate you quickly. Sometimes I want to shout, "I don't wear a bonnet and I don't plan on having 29 kids!" However, I have interesting things to report about our day of homeschooling today. We began with a self-test in History/Geography. That went well, of course. Levi never struggles with "making the grade"...just with getting it done and focusing on the task at hand. Next was Bible. We began studying Daniel. Then Language Arts. We learned more cursive and went over spelling words (which he already knew how to spell...I've got to get an advanced spelling curriculum). We normally take a 30 min. break and get right back into things, but I needed to run to Ada Music and wanted to get that done while Noah was still at CBA. (There is nothing as adventurous as taking Noah into a store that contains cymbals and drumsets!) Anyway, I needed to take a shower first so I told Levi he could have some free time to do whatever he wanted. At first, he chose to watch a movie. Then, before I got in the shower, he changed his mind. "You know what I'm going to do, Mom? I'm going to read my Bible." I was surprised and delighted, of course. He read the first part of Genesis and as soon as I got out of the shower he asked if we could go online and find famous paintings about Adam and Eve. Seriously. He asked to do that. How many 8 year olds would ask for such a thing? Anyway, we looked at some...Mommy had to edit a lot since Eve was portrayed as naked in the majority of the paintings we saw. We went to the music store and picked Noah up...ate lunch...made some copies...then it was back to the house for Math. Now Math has been a point of contention for us since the beginning. I maintain my view that it's too easy for him and he just plain doesn't want to do the work. Once he finally gets down to thinking about it, he'll miss maybe one or two (usually because he overlooked something simple). It's just that it seems to be a mental block for him. He doesn't want to do it and it frustrates him that he has to. Today was no different. He began rubbing his eyes and saying, "I don't want to." I was firm. This is school. This is the work. We need to focus and do our job. Finally, something clicked, as it usually does. Only this time, the attitude followed. While he finished the last page, he kept saying out loud "Mom, this is easy. I just had to think about it. This is a piece of cake!" He ended the task by quoting his Grammy's boss, "Attitude is everything, Mom!" I told him how proud I was that he had worked through his frustration, etc. Then he did something unexpected. He began to cry. "What's wrong?" "Mom, I'm just so thankful for everything you're teaching me and I'm so glad you get to spend so much time with me." Lots of hugs...more words I don't remember...but a feeling of complete and total shock came over me. Was this normal? Isn't this what I prayed for? Does an eight year old cry when they're happy? Is this a sign that he's socially retarded? Is this a sign that we're on the right track? Should I be concerned or elated? Then it came to me- about 30 minutes after it should have- that maybe that was a moment sent from above, delivered by an eight year old boy. Just maybe it was God's way of patting me on the back...giving me a much needed "atta girl" like any good parent would give their daughter. I'm no fool. I know there will be many negative moments and days when I want to pull out my hair. But days like today make it all worth it in the end. A little positive reinforcement goes a longgggg way with me...especially when it comes from above.