Making Memories Monday: The Day AFTER the Homeschool Convention
The boys and I spent the past three days at the Homes Educators Association of Virginia (HEAV) Convention in Richmond. While the convention was all that it promised to be: engaging, educational, encouraging, it was the day AFTER the convention that I will remember best in the weeks to come.
Today (the day after the convention), I took the boys to the Children’s Museum of Richmond (CMoR) and the Science Museum of Virginia before heading home. We didn’t go to learn or experience anything in particular (although I’m sure the boys did learn a thing or two), we just went to have fun… and we did!
As I watched the boys race around the three-sided apple tree, collecting red apple balls and depositing them into the coil that lifted them up to tubes that led back to the trees for a repeat performance, I couldn’t help but smile at their excitement over a full basket of apples and their persistence in completing their self-imposed task over and over again. As I watched Connor and his new friend, Quinn, step on the splash fountains to aim them toward a bucket they wanted to fill, I couldn’t help but ponder their creativity and resourcefulness. As I watched Connor don a medical jacket and Ryan head off to “work” in the bank, I laughed at how true the boys are to themselves, even in their play: Connor, who talks daily of being an animatarian when he grows up, “You know, Mommy, a doctor for animals,” and Ryan who collects coins and loves math, especially when adding, subtracting, multiplying or dividing money!
Sorry, no photos to share.
My cameras were traveling elsewhere this weekend:
one in Alaska and one in Utah!
When the time came to head home, I was struck by how much I enjoyed simply watching the boys, observing them in their play, laughing with them, smiling with them, and seeing each of them as the very special young men they are!
In a homeschooling family, there is an ever-present danger of becoming so concerned with learning and teaching and training, that one forgets to take a moment to step back and just enjoy the children as children, rather than as students. Today was a wonderful reminder of how important it is for us to add a little fun, just for fun-sake, into our homeschooling lives; of how refreshing it can be to simply watch, laugh, and enjoy a child-minded moment with your children; of what precious memories are created when we simply allow a child to be himself, and sit back to laugh, smile, and experience the joy of childhood along with him!
Do you have a favorite memory of time spent enjoying the simple pleasures of childhood through the eyes of a child? Link up and share this or one of your other special memories for Making Memories Monday this week.
Remember:
- Please leave a link back to Adventures in McQuill-land on your Making Memories Monday post!
- Add your name to the MckLinky at Adventures in McQuill-land and enter a 2-3 word subject to give blog hoppers an idea of what we’ll find at your post. Like this: Jennifer @ McQuill-land (playing dress-up).
- AND… Please be sure to link to your individual Making Memories Monday post, not your home page. This makes it easier for blog hoppers to find your shared memory.