It was an ordinary Tuesday. I had finished working at noon, and my son had begun working on his lessons. I headed into the shower and while washing my face, I heard my dogs going nuts downstairs. They were barking, growling, and howling. I knew someone had to be either on the porch, or in the yard, as they don’t get that excited otherwise. This irritated me! Maybe because I felt vulnerable due to the timing of a visitor. My dogs were upset and my son’s lessons were interrupted, and I got myself all worked up and annoyed. I hollered out to my son, to see if he could see what the commotion was and a man was leaving the yard. I knew it must be the fellow pilfering through our trash and recycling bins, but I felt invaded as he was on the property. After all, it wasn’t trash day, and he’d have his opportunity curbside, the following day.
When I finished my shower and got dressed, I stormed into our office and announced I was going to go locate this man and give him a piece of my mind. I was going to tell him not to come into the yard again, as it upsets the dogs. I was also going to let him know that I don’t recycle cans and bottles, as I return them myself, and there would be no need for him to return. My son just looked at me and then I went off downstairs.
I Was Being Schooled and He Was 100% Right
A few minutes later, my son came downstairs and said, “Ok mom, we can go find him if you want.” I glanced over and looked at him questioningly and then he continued, “I think instead of giving him a piece of your mind though, you should give him a granola bar.” Huh? “Well mom, if he’s looking for returnables, then that means he needs money, and if he needs money, he is probably hungry, so we should give him granola bars so he isn’t hungry anymore.” I was being schooled and he was 100% right and then some. Love this kid! I agreed instantly and told my son we should bring him water too, because if he’s been riding his bicycle all day looking for cans and bottles, he’s likely grown thirsty.
We loaded up a plastic bag with granola bars and waters and filled another bag with bottles and cans to return. Then, we got in the car and drove around looking for this man. He was not too far, only the next street over. We turned around, pulled over, and my son hopped out and handed him our offering. This man was so grateful and I was humbled by my son’s kindness. I really felt a fool for having gotten so upset to begin with. I was so thankful that my son was now homeschooled to be present at that time to rise above and teach me this lesson.
Being Homeschooled Has Allowed My Son to Overcome Adversities
I taught my son to be kind. He had learned this and was living this, but I was not practicing kindness or thoughtfulness at the moment of the dogs freaking out that day. My son reminded me to see the good and take a different perspective with situations. Being homeschooled has allowed my son to overcome the adversities he experienced from public school with bullying, assaults, a friend’s suicide, saving another friend from suicide, and overall high school drama. During the roughest of times, I feared I would lose him to his attackers, but he is still with us and better than ever!
Have your children faced struggles or taught you invaluable lessons? How did you overcome the struggles or learn from the lessons?
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We are always on the lookout for new article submissions, so if you know of anyone who has been through a trying time as a homeschooler, we'd love to hear about it. Of course, we don't want all doom and gloom, we want happy-ending-because-of-God's-provision types of stories! I know that most of you can probably think of at least one thing that has made homeschooling hard. Would you consider sharing it? If so, can you email me at homeschoolsurvival@gmail.com? I'd love to hear from you!The post Teach Kindness and Your Children Will Rise appeared first on Homeschool Survival.