The good with the bad

On the second day of reading lessons with Jamie I was having difficulty getting her motivated. As I was nudging her a little to engage with me she said, "Mommy, I want a REAL teacher. I don't want you to be my teacher." My heart broke in two. I didn't say anything to her at that moment. Instead I left her alone with a coloring book and continued preparing some worksheets and other lesson plans. A little while later Jamie became interested in what I was doing (which was setting up the sight word memory game) and asked if she could play with me. So we started to play and she was doing very well. Suddenly she stopped what she was doing, turned to me and said, "Mommy, I'm sorry for telling you I didn't want you to be my teacher. I do. I like being together. I love you." And then she gave me a big hug. I almost cried. I suppose even with sending children to public school there are days they just don't want to go and other days they're up at the crack of dawn excited to catch the bus. I suspect the same will be true with our homeschooling. And just like with parenting-- the baby that won't sleep, the two year old that throws tantrums ONLY when EVERYONE is watching, the five year old that won't settle down and go to sleep at night, the teenager that breaks all the rules and stays out past curfew -- the good times ALWAYS outweigh the bad times.