A Bouquet of Freshly Sharpened Pencils

I've seen your pictures on Facebook. Your kids are back in school. Mine too. Or at least they are lying around in their pajamas reading banned books like Call of the Wild and Uncle Tom's Cabin while I dutifully categorize our personal library and straighten up the glue sticks.

They have entered 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th grades. I am the teacher of all subjects. And the secretary, the principal, and athletic director. My salary is unprecedented because it is zero.

As we dive into our sixth year of homeschool, I am often asking myself, "What am I doing?" Usually the curriculum is purchased in June, ignored in July, and begun in August so we can take a vacation in September. This year is entirely different. I forgot to buy curriculum. Or maybe I meant to forget. Whichever it was, there aren't any math books on the shelf with labeled names. Today I bought folders. Not sure yet what they're for but I bought them. I may need them.

I've got four very different kids. Some love math and science and others loathe it. Some are found sneaking books to church, in their beds late at night, or at friends' houses. Some think books make great coasters. Some are dyslexic and good with their hands. Others have soaring vocabularies and brilliant reasoning skills. They are all dangerous. And beautiful in their own way.

I never thought it would last this long. As I am writing this, Number 1 is doing high-school biology in her room. Number 2 is disassembling a bike tire and re-installing a tube. Numbers 3 and 4 are singing the names of the United States while hot-gluing boxes together to make....something. This morning we read poetry and books about early civilizations. Some of the people in the pictures were topless (there wasn't censoring in BC) and nobody seemed to notice.

It's worth it. Beyond the struggle, the planning, the pep-talks. It's worth it.