They never gave ANY of us a manual for this, did they? Do you remember having your first child and feeling that no matter how many siblings you had, how much babysitting you did, or how many nieces and nephews you watched, you were still in the dark about this whole parenting thing?

That first night of having your first (only? 4th?) child at home, remember needing to get up twice (3? 5? More?) times just to check and see if the little one was still breathing? Remember calling someone (your mom, a sister, a friend, the pediatrician) to ask the question, “Is this (a certain noise, a sleeping pattern-or lack of it-, a diaper’s content, developmental milestone) normal?  Is this ok?”

No manual.

We’re all about the same things, aren’t we?

Are they breathing? Are they thriving? Are they learning? Are they normal?

No manual.

And the thing is, over time we realize that even those who give us answers don’t really know more than we can learn ourselves…but it just takes time. We learn over time…a great deal of time… about the children we have.

We learn about their personalities, their loves, their quirks, their interests, their habits, what makes them laugh and cry, where their soft spot is, favorite foods, favorite toys, what they are afraid of, how they learn, whether they like English or science best, if they are a whiz at geometry, algebra or calculus, and possibly what they know they can do to wrap us around their little fingers.

As someone who has schooled her kids at home for 15 years…I’m learning…still… every day.

We have no manual, but we have time…because we choose to do this thing that we do – that is, taking the time to learn with our kids. 

And that time is better than any manual.  Way better.

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