Every day, as much as we can, we try to create the life we want to live, not the life someone else wants us to live. We do our work, our projects, earn income, keep house, grow things, and build things. We read real books, talk with interesting people, go places, explore new things, ask questions, and do research to find answers for things we want to learn about. If we tried to do what everyone else thinks we should do, we wouldn’t have time to do what we think we should do, what we think is important for our own lives.
People are always recommending things: this curriculum, that program, this activity, or that field trip. All of these might be wonderful, but there is only so much time in the day, and we need to make our own best choices. We try to choose authentic, meaningful activities for individual family members and for our family as a whole.
The problem with doing someone else’s work, program, or curriculum, is that then you don’t get to create your own. Every moment spent doing someone else’s assignment, worksheet, or project, is time not spent creating, building, or thinking about something that is intrinsically important to you, your children, or your family.
Create your own path.
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Thanks so much for making this website, Marcia! Though this is my very first comment, I have visited it numerous times when various things are on my mind that I recall you mentioning here or there. Your high standards and gentle tone are so refreshing and re-centering. What a treasure! Thanks again!
Thanks so much for reading and taking the time to comment, Molly! I really appreciate hearing your thoughts about it all. I like your idea of re-centering. That’s really good for each of us to do whenever we can.