Tuesday, December 6, 2011

happy birthday josh!

so twenty six years ago today that little blue baby was born.
TWENTY SIX years ago.

man.

so i walked and i thought of him.(my josh)

and i thought about life and about parenting.
i thought about teaching my kids stuff.

and i thought of home schooling........

i knew when we started that i was never gonna be able to
teach them all the stuff they needed to know.
i didn't know all that stuff.
in fact, i knew very little of that stuff.

so i knew i had to teach them how to learn.
teach them how to ask questions, listen, find answers.
and i learned right next to them.

and i thought about how life is really just like home schooling.
and i grinned.
we always said the philosophy of home schooling was using life as a classroom.

well, i don't think i realized just exactly how far that goes.

cause it's just the same with living and learning the important life things.
you can't teach people that stuff - even if you know it.
it really seems we all have to learn for ourselves.
but we can teach methods of learning -
ways to listen for answers, ways to trust the process.

and just like with homeschooling - i've learned right along with these guys.

i had no idea what it meant to become a parent.
no idea.
when josh entered my life, everything changed.

we've spent 26 years teaching each other, growing together, and
learning what it is to be human.

i couldn't have had a better teacher, son, goof-mate.
and i couldn't be more proud of the young man he's become.

when i celebrate him today........i'll be celebrating who he is, what he adds to
the world, and how he's such a part of my very core.

happy birthday, josh!....one of the most amazing young men i've ever known!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

What you say about home schooling applies to teachers in general. True teachers don't teach facts. They demonstrate a love of learning, an excitement. They also teach you how to look for the answers. Congrats on doing that so well.
Happy birthday, Joshua Daniel!

Denise

terri st. cloud said...

thanks, denise! and you even got the middle name......you amaze me!

Merry ME said...

Happy Birthday Josh!

Terri, Home schoolers are right up there at the top of my list for sainthood! Don't know how you do it.

terri st. cloud said...

thanks, mar! well.....i didn't always do it too well! but we made it!!

AkasaWolfSong said...

Happy Belated Birthday Josh!!!

And Happy Birth Day to Momma as well!!! :)

Our children are our core...I love how you captured that essence Ter...

terri st. cloud said...

thanks, akasa!!