6 years in 10 minutes

It has been almost 3 years since my youngest was born, and about that same time, my life drastically changed. My older children at the time were 14, 12, 10, 8, and 7. My oldest was finally old enough and responsible enough to babysit. Now, to be clear, I didn't leave all of the children with him, but it was nice to be able to run errands and not have to take EVERYONE. That little fact was seriously life-changing. Additionally, my older children had acquired more responsibility at home in terms of life skills: they did (still do!) their own laundry, keep up with their rooms, can prepare full meals, and a host of other skills 100% independently. It took so long to get to that point, though, and the time between me being 100% responsible to them being fully responsible was the hard part. Like seriously, if you read back through my previous posts, you will see the struggles I openly shared as a mom and wife. Life ain't easy!

And that brings us to now. 2020. My oldest is now 17, a high school SENIOR, and has been accepted to Clemson University (Go Tigers!). I stopped homeschooling him in 2017 at which time he started at York Prep Academy. However, he does dual enrollment so he actually doesn't go to the high school at all. His classes are all through our local community college and it has been a perfect fit for him/our family. He is earning both high school and college credit (hence the term "dual enrollment") but more than that, he has taken 100% responsibility for his education. I have no idea when his papers are due, when he has a quiz/exam, etc. He just knows if he fails a class, he doesn't graduate high school (since he needs the credits). This is his second year doing dual enrollment and so far, he has made As and Bs.

My second child is turning 15 in 3 weeks, which means he will start driving. I CANNOT WAIT! This boy has had his own lawn business since he was 7. Seriously. It started with mowing/blowing neighbors' yards, but over the years, his business has expanded to basically all of Rock Hill. Between us (his parents) and his older brother, he keeps us running him around every weekend during the school year and every day during the summer. Don't get me wrong, I am extremely proud of his work ethic and determination. He has saved up, purchased, and sold several commercial mowers over the years, and he continues to upgrade his "fleet," as he calls it. When he gets full driving privileges (next fall), there will be a celebration at our house, for sure! :)

To save time and so as not to bore you, I will briefly share the current ages of my other children as well as introduce you to the youngest two.

Tristin-Grace is now 13 and in 7th grade, Teagan is 11 and in 5th, Annie is (almost) 10 and in 4th, Taryn is 8 and in 2nd, and Ruthie is 6 and in 1st grade. Titus is turning 5 on the same day as Tanner and will start kindergarten in the fall. He is so much like Tanner it's crazy! Tobias is the baby and he will be 3 in April. He has completed our family and I seriously cannot imagine life without any of my kiddos. Like I wrote above, life ain't easy, especially with kids and all that comes with them, but it sure is sweet!

Now, a little about me now that I am no longer homeschooling...

I am in my 2nd year teaching 4K at a local preschool. I was a little apprehensive about teaching this particular age group, but I LOVE it! I can totally see God's hand in putting me where I am today, and I am so thankful. Paid teaching has provided me an outlet that I was missing for so many years. Being a SAHM can be very isolating, and for me it was (again, read back through my posts and you'll see what I mean). But also, having a large family is also very isolating- who wants to have a family of 11 over for dinner? Not many are willing, and I don't blame them. So that put the burden on me to entertain if I wanted to have friends over. And that added more to my "plate" which produced more anxiety. The anxiety led to be not wanting to do it because of the added work load, and that lead to depression. It was a viscous cycle that I was in for so.many.years. Too many years.

Going back to work allowed me to have adult interactions, time away from own kids, and most importantly, time to do what I love, which is teaching. I am happiest when I am at school as I love my job, my class, and all that goes with it. Don't get me wrong- I love my family and enjoy them, as well, but it is different. I eat, sleep, and breathe teaching. I enjoy researching best-practices for certain challenges in the classroom, I love planning and implementing fun lessons, and most of all, I love to see the growth the children make over the course of the year. My brain is challenged differently at school than it is when I am at home.

So, that's the past several years in a nutshell.