I was going to post these photos on Instagram, but then I could never find the right words, because the photos are pretty simple but I have SO many thoughts and feelings that this experience brought to mind. I'm not sure I'll even be able to get them all out here, but this is a better place for my wordiness.
Every year my old co-teacher, Candace Wilson, from Westlake High School reaches out to me to see if I would be able to come and help judge at the state FCCLA competition. (Remember that I taught high school at Westlake before Lydia was born?)
This is Candance and I in 2011 with our School's FCCLA chapter leadership. (I'm on the far right - looking JUST like one of the other students, ha. No wonder I would always get asked for my hall pass when I walked through the halls during class.)
I've never been able to make it work before, but this year when she asked, I thought about it for a minute and then thought YES! My kids are at such a great stage right now and I'm feeling a huge shift in my ability to do things like this. Lucy is 2.5. I've never had a 2.5-year-old before without also having a tiny baby! Not only am I feeling more energy than I have for years, but it's just not as hard to ask someone to watch the kids for several hours because even Lucy is pretty independent.
David and I were just talking about how we are basically 1/3 of the way through the raising of our children. (If you add up their ages it equals 24, which is 1/3 of 72. 18x4=72). It absolutely feels like we've just exited that first stage, the baby/toddler stage. While thinking about that too hard makes my heart twinge with sadness, I am also SO excited for this new stage that we are entering - the early childhood/pre-tween stage. I see so many fun things on the horizon and am loving interacting with my kids right now. This is empowering for us as a family because we are going to be able to DO so many things together! It's also empowering for me as a mother because I, individually, am able to do so many more things now that I'm not needed quite as intensely as before.
This day is a great example of that. We drove up the night before and stayed at my mom and dad's house, then I woke up and drove to the Davis conference center. I only spent a couple of hours judging the "Job Interview" event, but I was able to step into an old valued role for a day and it was really rewarding.
My kids, of course, had the best time with grandma and grandpa and it ended up being a really nice day for all of us.
I have more thoughts about FCCLA from a homeschool perspective, but I'm not sure that I have the words to explain my feelings right now. The first is a slight sadness that my kids are on a different path than the kids I judged in my event. The second is a sincere relief that my kids are on a different path than the kids I judged in my event. The third is a determination to make sure that my kids still have the opportunities to help them learn, grow, and experience different things. The fourth is a decision to not worry about what my kids schooling will look like in high school because that's a long way away and we will make the best decisions for our family as we come to them.
