Occasionally, I actually AM crazy.
But I really don't think I'm a flake. Usually, when I make up my mind it stays made up. But life with 4 kids requires one to be fluid, flexible, willing to make changes when necessary... right?
Right!
Keeping all this in mind, a crazy thing has happened. Several weeks ago the thought crossed my mind that perhaps we should let Kelsey go back to public school. She has only be asking since April, after all. And who is the parent here, anyway? So I dismissed the thought and went on with my life.
The other night I was talking with a friend and she made an observation about Kelsey that planted that idea right back in the middle of my mind. And it wouldn't go away, either. After talking with Ben, I realized that it was time to revert to my trusty decision-making method: The List of Pros and Cons. And although I had a decent-looking "cons" list, my "pros" list was surprisingly full.
We talked with Kelsey; we talked with Olivia. I had Kelsey make her own List of Pros and Cons. I prayed with Kelsey; I prayed with Ben.
The result? We're going to be a mixed bag of nuts. A week from Monday I'm enrolling Kelsey in public school again. She'll be there for second grade, maybe third. We are taking it a year at a time.
She's currently ecstatic. I'll remind her of that when she's complaining about having to do her homework.
In the meantime, I'm going to miss mornings like this:
And moments like this:
And projects like this:
I have mixed feelings, but I'm confident that for now this is the right choice.
1 comment:
(hug) I know its a big decision, but don't worry, you can always pull her out again if you want/need to! Its always a hard balancing finding the line between parental authority and respecting our children. I'm proud of you for taking Kelsey's opinion into consideration, even if as a mom, you DO see the bigger picture.
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