Whenever did they get so reasonable???

Much to our shock, amazement, and pride, the following scene played out at the dinner table last night...

A2 (age 8): "Yay, I get the last piece of bread and butter!"

J1 (age 10): "Wait a minute, A2, how many pieces have you had? Cuz I've had two..."

A2: "I've had 2."

J1: "How about we split it?"

A2: "OK" and tears the slice in two and hands one to J1.

It was just so - understated. There were no tears, no screams, no fights, no parental suggestion or involvement. They just calmly worked it out amongst themselves. Dh mentioned how well they handled the situation and how we were proud of them, and they just took it all with a grain of salt, like it was No Big Deal. Amazing! The years of patient (and not so patient) teaching of babies, toddlers, and preschoolers really does pay off!

It's so bittersweet, to watch these people grow up. We left J1 alone for the first time yesterday. We had to take our van in for repairs, and our sedan will only fit 5 of us. We talked with J1 to see if he would be OK with it, and he said sure. We left phone numbers and careful instructions. We were gone less than an hour. The brothers were quite traumatized at leaving their brother, "But won't J1 be alonely?" (no, that's not a type - in our house being by yourself is called being "alonely" - very, very cute!) When we got home J1 said he was fine, just pretty bored, he missed having his brothers around. Gotta love those homeschooling sibling relationships!

Leaving J1 alone, though, shortly after reading this post of Elizabeth's, and this post over at the Onion Dome...well, it all kept me awake for quite some time last night. My little boys are growing up, and before I know it they'll have separate lives of their own. I hope and pray that we are able to have more children eventually, because I'm just SO not ready to be done with child-rearing. I have so much to learn! So much I'd like to do better next time!

I enjoy having my children with me so very much, I really do. I'm so thankful and blessed to be able to homeschool these children, I just love watching them together and having them with me, helping them learn and grow. I just don't understand people who talk about how they can't wait for their kids to get out of the house (whether it be to away school, or college, or whatever), because we are having so much fun in our family I am just so sad at the thought of these times ending.

But I'm also preoccupied, wondering - will I teach them well? Sometimes it can be really overwhelming to be a homeschool mom, to realize how much responsibility rests on your shoulders. As we start our new school year, and I ponder how fast they're growing, I hope I can balance the urgency I feel to teach them well and prepare them for the world with my greatest desire to enjoy this precious time while I can.