Homeschooling Milestone

As a homeschooling mom, I've had my ups and downs over the years.

I have three children that currently range in ages 12 to 17. We've homeschooled from the beginning. My youngest, a daughter, was born six weeks after my oldest began kindergarten at the kitchen table. So she can say she's been going to school all her life.

At one time, several years into homeschooling, I did not think I could continue homeschooling my oldest, also a daughter. We had too many clashes. She balked at nearly every task I gave her. She would suddenly get queasy the moment we began school in the morning. Moaning and clutching her tummy, she would rush to the bathroom and hang over the toilet. I stayed in the kitchen, seething, refusing to be manipulated. That little scene played out numerous times, never once resulting in the hoped-for upchucking.

One day, as I was praying for wisdom about this situation, God showed me that our relationship was my responsibility, not my daughter's. If it was too improve, I needed to do something about it. I asked God to show me what to do. The thing that came to me was that my daughter was looking for some attention from me. She needed a little extra love, nurture, sympathy, but she'd take negative attention if that was the best she could get. I started showing sympathy to her when she complained of her physical "ailments." I didn't let her off from any assignments; just hugged her and sympathsized and offered to pray for her.

Did I really feel sympathy for her? No, not really, because I didn't believe she was honestly sick. But I loved her and wanted her to know I loved her; and if sympathy from Mom was going to demonstrate love to my dear daughter, well, she was going to get it.

Funny thing, the queasy tummy episodes stopped; my relationship with my oldest daughter improved wonderfully; and I kept homeschooling her. There have been some other challenges with our relationship as teacher/mother to student/daughter, but with prayer and guidance from God we've made it to the milestone every homeschool mom dreams of: my oldest daughter is "graduating" from homeschool this spring, she has demonstrated her scholastic skills and has the test scores to prove it, and she's been accepted to several colleges with scholarship offers from all of them. I'm so proud of her. I'm so proud of me!! We did it!!

Thoughts on Terri Schiavo

I've read myriad commentaries and news accounts about Terri Schiavo in the past couple weeks. Most of them have been from a pro-life perspective because the news sites I visit most often are conservative or Christian. The determination of the pull-the-plug people has puzzled me. It seems that rather than supporting Terri's right to die, what they really want is the right to kill her or anyone else in such a condition.

Why? I keep asking myself. Why can't they be satisfied to let Terri's parents care for her? Why is Michael so bent on killing her? (It's not letting her die, it's really killing her.) How do they know she wants this?

I already knew about the "quality of life" argument. The one that argues Terri's quality of life is so poor that she wouldn't want to live, that no one would want to live like that. It is a weak argument, though. How can anyone say what someone else is feeling or what someone else wants, especially when that person can't communicate. No one likes to be told how they feel or what they are thinking, including the people who are doing that very thing to Terri. So what is really going on with the so-called right-to-die folks?

I found part of my answer in a couple of articles I read last night on NRO's website: Human Non-Person and Odd Felos.
Those who are supporting Terri's right to die are really fighting for the right to kill certain people because, in their way of thinking, they aren't really people!! Terri, and those in similar conditions, are no longer persons; they are "human non-persons." You cannot kill a person who is not a person.

The concept that some humans have less personhood than others, or no personhood at all, is quite frightening. It makes everyone of us less human, less of a person. Where will it end?

I think those who support such a position need to take a course or two in critical analysis and logical thinking. Some day these very same right-to-kill advocates are going to approach and enter non-personhood. Are they prepared for that? Do they really want that brave new world?

first post

Although I read a number of different blogs I never thought to publish my own. Here I am though, stepping out into the world of blogging. I'm sure my postings will be read by only a few, if any. But it will be an outlet for me to put into writing thoughts, concerns, prayers for the things that are important to me.