As the main teacher/caregiver of the family this past year I have a new appreciation of what a privilege it is to educate your own children. I also have developed an appreciation of how taxing an occupation that is. It is so taxing that from time to time I need to be away from my children and either have time to myself or time to reconnect with Amy.
I think it is vital for parents to take time away on a regular basis. Amy and I are blessed that both our parents are somewhat local and can watch our children from time to time. We also have a neighbor that can often babysit at a moments notice. Some families don't have those luxuries. Perhaps they have older children that can watch the kids. Perhaps they have other families that they can trade babysitting with.
There is a family from our church that has 3 adopted children 5 or under. They have a 3 year old who has many special needs. At home he can be quite a handful and make it very difficult for the rest of the family to connect with each other or be able to go on outings like the zoo or even be able to get work done around the house. So when they joined our home school support group they put a prayer request in that they were looking for some people that could give their son some respite care.
Amy and I both have some background in ministering to special needs children, so we offered to help. About once a month Luke comes over for a day or two. He is a wonderful boy and quite frankly we are still waiting for him to have any type of episode. One of our children will generally implode the weekend he is with us, but never Luke. His parents have told us he usually does much better with other people. Our kids love him, and we all look forward to his visits. In July, he will stay with us for a whole week, and it should be a great time.
So that's why I think taking a break from your kids or helping others do the same works for me. Giving stuff away works for me also and as this is my 75th post, It is time for Crazy Dave to come out and give something away. I am giving away a book and a c.d. so that the next time you take some time off you will have something to read or listen to. The c.d. is How you Live by Point of Grace and the book is Unsung Heroes by Michael Kelly Blanchard. The giveaway ends 10:00 CST April 30th. Just leave a comment to enter. I am again giving additional entries to those following my blog. See the sidebar for official rules.
To see what else works go to We Are That Family.
Next Time: Hockey Lessons
9 comments:
Teaching children, particularly your own, is rewarding. But very tiring!
What a great blessing you are to that family...nice! I love it.
May God continue to bless your family as well...
Peace out, Homeschool Dad! (which btw, I think rocks that you are schooling your children....my husband likes to have his "turn" on his day off with teaching...where he is then considered "the better teacher"....hmppph.)
This is a great post. I'm so glad I found your blog via WFMW. I've homeschooled since 1999 - this year I get a little bit of a break because my daughter is enrolled in school. However, we live overseas, my husband is deployed, and I am doing home preschool with our little guy. So yeah - I definitely see the need for some respite care! Lucky for me my neighbors stepped in and took him for a couple of hours on Sunday just so I could read a magazine by my little lonesome.
Hope your week with Luke goes really well - he sounds like a sweetie pie.
You are so right.. thanks for the inspiration. --Mary, a mother of 7 year old twins with not enough time away
So true. It's really hard when you stay at home full time and homeschool to get some much-needed time away from "work." Thanks for the reminder to take care of myself. I'll be a much better mother/teacher/wife because of it.
Thanks again!!
I love your blog... as a teacher, its nice to see parents getting involved in their children's lives. Sadly, I don't see it very often. Thanks for the inspiration!
I just learned of your blog, and I think its awesome that as a dad you homeschool your children! Thanks for entering me into your giveaway.
We are woefully short of grandparents and babysitters around here. I can totally relate to the need to get away sometimes.
It's nice to see a homeschool dad!Keep up the good work - as you know, it's the most important job you'll ever have.
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