I was a blessed child.
I had a full-time mother.
I was blessed because my mother chose to make a career out of her family.
What does this really mean?
It means that the family was her main focus. Everything revolved around the needs of her family. Family life did not come second or third or fourth. It came first.
Family was my mother’s priority.
Because of this, a powerful seed was planted in my heart and though its strength would be sorely tested through my own life’s challenges, in due time, it would reap its designated harvest.
My mother taught me to coo, to roll, to sit, to crawl, to clap, to stand, to speak, to walk, to drink from a cup, to feed myself, to dress myself, to use the bathroom & toilet, to listen, to observe, to touch, to care, to believe.
My mother did all this without a specific degree handed out to her by an Institutionalized Educational Department person.
She did all of this without worry or stress or anxiety attacks.
How? She simply was there for me and ensured that she provided me with a loving, respectful, safe, nurturing environment.
She praised greatly and corrected lightly.
No institutionalized system could have substituted such excellence.
My mother taught me to play, to pretend, to create, to imagine, to wonder, to think, to socialize.
She taught me to read and to write, to use language skillfully, to express clearly and to enunciate always.
My mother imparted a love of books, creative stories, poetry & singing.
My mother taught me to give. To give my best and to give of myself.
No institutionalized system could have substituted such excellence.
My mother taught me to read, to spell and to tell the time and thank goodness she did, because the educational system did not. By Grade 2, my mother had me reading so well, that my teacher sent me to the Grade 5 room to set an example of how good reading should sound.
Towards the end of Grade 3 my mother discovered I could not tell the time at all, so she took matters into her own hand and then furthered things by teaching me how to count back change and to calculate figures in my head. We owned a small Bakery and my mother taught me how to efficiently run the shop front and how to present stock for maximum customer appeal. I learnt about catering for customer needs, ordering, stocktaking, planning and how to handle customer disputes.
I also learnt how to be pleasant despite the attitudes of others, how to debate respectfully and how to bow out gracefully.
(As a side note, my father taught me numerous things about baking and measuring, being observant, paying attention, checking and re-checking, using my own intuition and the importance of being precise. He was particular about being organized and orderly and keeping one’s work space clean. My father instilled a respect for punctuality – and to this day I am one who always strives to be punctual for any appointment or activity or meeting or play date! There are countless other things that I have learned from my beloved father, but this is specifically about my mother!)
My mother taught me to respect the past, live in the present and embrace the future.
My mother taught me to love openly and abundantly.
To care deeply and to empathize sincerely.
My mother did all of this and infinitely more, all because of the choice she made years before I was even born!
My mother chose to make her family – her priority.
Our family was blessed because we were privileged to have a full-time mother.
I was born in 1968 and home schooling was not known to us – what a tragedy because I was a child who would have thrived at home all day with my mother!
Being away from my mother was horrid for me. I missed her desperately – right through to high school!
Once I was able to escape the oppression of institutionalized education, I went right back to where my heart needed to be and worked alongside my mother in a new business venture. I stayed there for many years.
Career options were plentiful for me because my mother had taught me to be strong and confident and poised and articulate.
She had enabled me to hold my head high in anyone’s company, to present myself with ease and grace and to always remain teachable.
Being free of the confined limitations of a failing, demeaning educational system, I was once again overjoyed with the beauty of learning for pleasure and thus, I quickly gained knowledge and skills in my desired area of health and fitness (exercise physiology). This led to further study and eventually on to an interest in neurology, sensory integration, and children’s development.
My mother’s love for children and mothering had begun to come to full fruition and until I was able to mother within my own home, I used all my knowledge and skill and wisdom and love for the benefit of everyone else’s children. It was sheer joy to do so!
At the heart of all this knowledge was the voice of my mother. Her voice was heard through my teaching, my instruction, my workshops, my leadership, my employee training, my singing, my writing, my development programs and my parent training.
Her touch and her presence were felt through the way I moved and created and spoke and hugged and cuddled and encouraged and listened and observed and advised.
By the time I was promoted to mothering within my own home, everything good that my mother had poured into me came gushing out!
My home overflowed with all of her passion and joy and patience and wisdom and creativity and laughter – and more!
Children love to be in my home and spend time here – and children still love to be in my mother’s home!
People experience the same joy in my home as they do in my mother’s because in many ways … I am my mother!
Now thankfully we have discovered home schooling!
The moment I shared this new found revelation of Home Education with my parents, my mother’s eyes reflected a resounding, “yes”. It’s as if we both knew that this was what we had always wanted – for mother and child to be together until both could equally determine the child’s readiness to move on.
I was not ready to ‘move on’ until I was ready to be married at age 23. Though I certainly moved on, I most definitely did not ‘move out’ of my mother’s life! To this day she remains a vital part of all of our lives.
Being able to Home Educate is a sheer delight for me (though this does not mean that it is always easy nor that it is without its own challenges!).
I feel no loss at having to leave behind my worldly career because now I understand the vital importance of making one’s family …one’s career.
Instead of pouring all my time and energy into a worldly career, I am free to pour it into my home. I do not have to live in conflict or guilt or be torn between serving an employer and tending to the needs of my home.
We often hear about the positive impact that some teachers have had on students by believing in them, but rarely do we hear about the countless mothers like mine or perhaps yours.
In particular, we hear little about Home Educating mothers who daily impact positively on their children’s lives by relentlessly believing in them.
Our children are so infinitely precious and priceless to us that we are prepared to give up ourselves to nurture and nourish their spirits, their souls and their bodies.
Are there really any Super Mums?
Yes there are! They are the ones who put their families first.
Who pour themselves into their children simply for love’s sake.
There is no institutional system that can ever replace the love and nurture of a mother who knows the value of her family.
I was a blessed child.
I am a blessed woman.
I have a mother who chose to ‘mother’ and who still chooses to ‘mother’.
This is one career position from which she shall not ever choose to retire.
I am eternally thankful for all that my mother has taught me.
Mothers – you are uniquely qualified to be your child’s educator and instructor because you have your child’s whole future in your heart. No one loves your child like you do and no one will make the sacrifices that you are prepared and ready to make. There is no worldly degree that could come close to this love and certainly no salary or wage or piece of paper that is worth what you are worth.
Thank you Cassandra for sharing this beautiful letter with me. XX
ent à ce que beaucoup de gens croient, ce n’est pas de calcium dont nous avons le plus besoin, mais de magnésium, un oligo-élément essentiel qui a disparu de notre alimentation en raison du raffinage des céréales d’une part, mais aussi et surtout des méfaits de l’agriculture intensive.
Damoris 