Life on the Road

It’s always something new when you go to Church with little ones.

Last Sunday, Jewel stayed in the nursery.  But she turned two last week, so today she attended the 2 Year Old children’s “class.”

She was excited to see a lot of new books and puzzles to play with, but was also clearly intimidated by the strange place and strange people, and kept “checking in” with us.  Wolf and Nick went on in to the service, and I stayed with her.  My plan was to try leaving again in a little while when she got acclimated.

Although she had fun doing puzzles, having a snack of goldfish crackers, and coloring, she never did stop running back to check on Mama still being there.  The teacher smiled, and commented that it typically took kids a few weeks to get used to being in a new class.

In this day and age, a lot of people seem to find our parenting style odd.  In some circles, I get a lot of raised eyebrows when people hear that she’s not in daycare, and that we haven’t started applying to preschools.  So I was really touched when the teacher said, after we had chatted off and on during the class, “It’s such a blessing to keep her home with you, if you’re able to.”

It wasn’t so long ago that it was the norm for Mom to be home to raise the children.  Both Scripture and secular sources cite the fact that raising the next generation is our most important charge.  When did our society as a whole shift away from that?  And why?

We feel, absolutely, that there is nothing I could be doing “out there” that would be worth having someone else shaping our daughter’s character, or dealing with our gifted and challenging preteen son.

Of course the beauty of working our business together is that Wolf is around most of the time, too, to lend the paternal influence that seems so lacking in some kids’ lives.  I spend a lot of time thanking the Lord for providing my children with such a loving Papa, and for providing us with the opportunity that allows us both to be there for them.