Back to School!

We start our homeschooling year this Monday so I'm spending the weekend cleaning and purging our "school room". Over the summer, the kids have used the room for arts & crafts supplies, leisurely reading, and a general catch all for baseball gloves, tennis shoes, and toys. It's a wreck!
My plan is to feed the kids a hearty breakfast and send them out for the day. I'm going to deconstruct the bookshelves and drawers, purge and organize! When the grunt work is done, I plan to re-vamp our daily schedule, assemble notebooks, write at least two weeks of lesson plans, and our goals for the year.
It's quite a monumental task...pray for me!
I saw a Staples commercial the other day, you know the one, it's where the parents are singing, "It's the most wonderful time of the year!" and I thought....how sad! Most parents can not wait for school to start so they can ship their kids off for 8+ hours a day. I listen to my friends and coworkers tell me how it's a mad rush and fight to get sleepy kids to eat, get dressed and on a bus every day. Then they continue with lamenting over time crunches with extra curricular activities, forcing in a meal, showers and bed....only to do it all again the next day.
It all sounds just horrible to me! I'm not saying it's all rainbows and sunshine around here, and I'm not saying there ARE days when I'd love to ship my kids off for a couple of hours! But I really like being around my kids all day, and I really like being there for those "ah-ha!" moments when they are learning something new. I like teaching our faith and forming their conscience, and then seeing those things lived out when they are out with their friends. I love being a homeschool family because it isn't just teaching from 9-3...it's a way of life and it encompasses our entire day. So when we have those crazy days running from baseball practices, games, and other activities we still have those moments of curling up on the couch to read a good book or deep discussions of world events or theology. It's those moments that I cherish and that I hope the kids will remember.
I learned at a very young age that life is fragile and very short...and I don't want to miss a thing!