Gratitude for Space, Self love, and Support for our Shinniness!

Life *is* Good......



We went to a birthday party the other day- it was for one of Kathrynn's dear friends. Although their family is very different from ours in many ways, their mother really supports Play. What i mean by that is that she puts a lot of importance the act of Play, and child led play at that. I LOVE this about her.

We were the only family who "homeschools." One father actually told me that he took his hat off to me because it must be a lot of hard work- and he said it in the way so as to convey that it must a weight on my shoulders. I explained to him that i LOVED homeschooling my child, and that i was SO grateful that I got to spend each day with her. He said something like, "well, wait until they are older......" I decided it was a good moment for me to stay connected to my inner joy, and remained silent as i blissed out inside about how wonderful i feel about my child being at home. And more importantly, I was left feeling so grateful in our Partnerhood..... that homeschooling would never be about me "making" Kathrynn learn something she was not interested in learning about. PHEW that feels just WONDERFUL!!!! :)

I saw my friend later in the party, and she explained to me that almost all of her daughter's girlfriends from school have *every* afternoon scheduled for lessons and homework and practice and what not..... That they did not even have enough "time" in their lives for PLAYDATES. OMG i think i might have gasped at how horrible that sounded *to me.* I told my friend how grateful I was for how wonderful it was that our girls had the freedom to play to their hearts content when our families got together.

With out judging "those" parents, I was left feeling so overwhelming grateful for the life that my family has. I am so grateful that there is a Space in my Being to be Open to our alternative way of living. I am grateful that I love my Self enough to listen to my inner Source, which tells me how important it is to Respect and Love and Nourish my Child so that she too can be connected to her Source. I am grateful for the support of my husband, who works hard so that I can stay at home with my beautiful child. And I am grateful for all the other amazing people out there who have talked over and over about how invaluable their children's SHINE is.

I am just constantly overwhelmed by how amazing our lives are. Not always easy. And yeah, some times an *immense* amount of hard work- but the internal kind; i *do* work very hard to internally clear out *my* garbage so as to live freely. I LOVE all that hard work. Because it is all Growth and Joy and Love and SHINE.

Every year that Kathrynn is on the planet is another year of immense growth and connection and partnership. This is our life. And I love it. :)

(((((I am including a link to an *amazing* article to address that "wait until they get older" comment.....
http://connections.organiclearning.org/Issue4/anne.html
Thanks to Anne, who walks her talk, and talks her walk, and embodies Shine. :) <3 ))))