I'm Furthering My Education

Back in the days when I'd recently graduated highschool, when I would tell people that I was not attending college, I think most of them assumed that my education was over. Sometimes I'd go on to explain that I was still learning... just not in an actual school building.

As a matter of fact, I hurried through my final highschool courses because my post-graduation goal (at the time) was to read and write for hours a day. Feminism in the United States intrigued me, and I remember standing in front of the "feminism" section of our local library, staring at the hundreds of books with that subject, and thinking, "I want to read every. single. one."

And I gave it my best attempt, too.

So no, even though I wasn't enrolled anywhere, I kept researching and writing and learning. 

Because I don't think, no matter what my age or what I'm doing in life, there's ever going to be a time when I'll want my education to be over.

Sure, when Rachel and Jemima were super little, and I was pregnant with Matthias, I was probably doing more "surviving" than "learning" every single day, but there are stages for everything, and I'm definitely entering a stage where I feel like I'm "furthering my education" more than I have for years.

There are two main reasons why this is so. The first one is probably obvious, and that is... I'm homeschooling two-going-on-three kids.

I discovered that once you start teaching your children, you realize how much you've forgotten or... how much you never knew! As soon as I started reading to the kids about figures in history, I found myself continually going, "That happened THEN? Before THAT war? She did WHAT?!"

And THEN, we discovered the documentaries on Netflix and Youtube. Often in the afternoons (when most of our "work" is done for the day), we'll sit and watch shows (or short videos) about a National Park, or animals, volcanoes, the Holocaust, ships and why they sink, the "Men Who Built America" (Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, Carnegie, etc.), the US Presidents, the Easter Island statues, and so on.  

The exciting part is that we are learning together--Mom and Kids. 

Ok, and the second reason why I've been researching and "educating myself" is... I'm a homemaker who happens to be making decisions all day long. If I want our house to run smoothly and efficiently, I'm going to need to do some research! Three easy examples here would be food, clothing, and our house. 

Planning meals, shopping for groceries, and preparing healthy and yummy foods, three times a day, for 6 people, 7 days a week, is a fairly big responsibility all by itself.

And honestly, I don't love cooking. I'm constantly searching for inspiration and trying new ideas and methods (whether it be freezer cooking, gluten-free every now and then, or whatever).  

Onto clothing. We had a couple chilly mornings and evenings last week, and I realized that I was responsible for the fall and winter wardrobes for four children. When I'm looking for clothing for the kids, I'm considering how warm it will be, if it's good quality, how stylish it is, and... how I can achieve all of that for the best prices. 

I'm not done yet, but I've already spent hours researching the best brands and looking into capsule wardrobes for the kids. I want simple, inexpensive, and yet stylish for the kids, and this takes time!  

And lastly, our house. So we bought a fixer-upper, which means that almost every room has needed some sort of renovation project. Matt's the one who does most of the heavy work, but he also has a full-time day job, which means... it's often up to me to figure out what we'll do with each room. I read tutorials and reviews and stare at before-and-after pictures and watch the Property Brothers. Since it's in the back of our mind that one day we'll sell this house (once we're done renovating it), I got very excited about home staging (for whenever the time comes), and I've watched as many videos on Youtube as I could find on how to stage your home before selling it.

I love this sort of education, because it's very pertinent to what I'm doing now in my life. I'm teaching my children science and history... and learning alongside them. I'm discovering ways to bless my household (and all who live in it), based on our needs now and what my interests are. 

What I described here is obviously going to look different for every mom out there, but I'd encourage you--even you moms of little ones!--keep reading and discovering and learning. Your education is a life-long event!