My school teacher daughter has returned to school, college as they refer to it here.
She sorted through all the financial aid papers and came up with a grant and refers to the experience as,
“Putting myself through college. Who would have thunk it?”
I laughed at her poking fun at my teaching skills.
She is taking three classes, a good mixture, Computer, Speech and English.
“Yes, but do you thunk you need the English?” I asked, verbally poking her back in the ribs.
She attends the local Corpus college two days a week.
She works all day on the three she doesn’t go to school and half days on those she does.
“It’s good to be busy, keeps me from getting lonely,” she admitted.
Having to keep a roof over her head and food on her lap is an added responsibility none of my other children had to contend with during their college life.
On college days she calls me while she’s on campus delivering blow by blow accounts of her classes.
Th first few weeks she struggled while getting herself into a routine and student mindset.
She emailed me drafts of her essays and speeches. I would send her notes of encouragement.
Finally she called to say how proud I’d be of her,
“I spent two hours in the library after work yesterday, studying and all day today at the bookshop doing research and looking through my study guide for our computer test.”
Later in the week she told me she’d spent all her down time doing preparation of one sort or another for classes.
“The life of a student,” I said, “gotta love it!”
“I do!” she said.
Yesterday we chatted over her lunch while she was at work,
“I don’t know what it is Mum, but I find I’m looking forward to doing my homework.”
I chuckled,
“Maybe it’s because you know I’m not there to help you if you get in a bind!”
She laughed uneasily,
“Yes I’m worried about that and I have a big test tomorrow.”
She told me how she’d printed out the study guide and was memorising all the answers,
“Some of them are difficult.”
“Just put them aside and keep going back to them,” I advised.
It must be tough committing facts to memory without someone on hand to test her.
“I never thought I’d actually enjoy college work!” she said.
In the past she has loved attending college but not so much the academic side of the process.
God does work in mysterious ways and that little prayer I always used to pray at the beginning of each homeschool day, the one that goes something like this,
“Dear Lord, send the Holy Spirit down to open our minds to learning this morning,” is finally working I think!
She has always had a superb memory and now that she can channel that skill into her studies she has found success.
I was the first to hear about her test results, 4,000 miles away,
“I got a 96,” she said, in a voice that was bubbling with excitement, “you were right Mum, hard work does pay off!”
The four most longed for words in a homeschooling child’s vocabulary,
“You were right Mum.”
Well hello there! My name is Vivienne McNeny.
I am an empty nester exploring life as a Boomer…you could say I'm happily Boomering along!
As a homeschooling Mum I have finally quit the job of role model and mentor to my four children. I do what I want to do, eat when I feel like it, enjoy life with my blue eyed cowboy and clean my house once a month or so whether it needs it or not!
In true English form I write about the emergence of my true identity now that I can no longer hide behind my children as their Mum.
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