“I don’t feel like doing math right now.” Has your child said that to you? Probably, in the beginning of your homeschool career, when the child was all new to the experience of homeschooling.
Surely, since then, your child has learned that we do our school work first, regardless of our feelings, and then we get to do what we feel like doing, within reason. If not, you have a long homeschooling life ahead.
Recently, I had a conversation along these lines with a fellow homeschooling mom. It became very clear that she is scared of boundaries and of setting them with her children. She is even scared of talking about boundaries, about acknowledging them as a viable tool to use in relationships.
There is nothing I can say to somebody in that situation, especially not while she is in denial about it.
The sad thing is, people who grew up with no boundaries at all don’t understand boundaries any more than people who grew up with too many boundaries, enforced with a heavy hand. Healthy boundaries can be as rare as precious metals.
“Feelings… nothing more than feelings…” crooned many singers in the 70s. More recently, this song has been ridiculed because it has no meaning. Neither do feelings, really.
Living your life guided by feelings is a recipe for disaster. Controlled by your feelings, one day you go here, the next day you go there…
And then, what happens when your feelings go against biblical principles or the call of duty?
May the Lord grant you the will to follow Him regardless of your feelings. We all need His help in this age of “my way” and “just do it.”