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Do the Little Things Make You Smile?


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Today, my son William (who turned 4 last month) called me over and conspiratorially whispered in my ear: "Roma in Italia est".

 

Which is the first line from Lingua Latina, and something he had heard me say once (as in one time). Somehow this struck me as amazing and wonderful.

 

Perhaps I'm soft-headed, or soft-hearted, or both but I was amazingly happy.

 

Do you feel joy as you see the "lights go on" in your children's minds. Seems like one of the great blessings of participating intimately in our children's educations.

 

Sorry for going "mushy" on you, but I'm having a moment.

 

Bill

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Today, my son William (who turned 4 last month) called me over and conspiratorially whispered in my ear: "Roma in Italia est".

 

Which is the first line from Lingua Latina, and something he had heard me say once (as in one time). Somehow this struck me as amazing and wonderful.

 

Perhaps I'm soft-headed, or soft-hearted, or both but I was amazingly happy.

 

Do you feel joy as you see the "lights go on" in your children's minds. Seems like one of the great blessings of participating intimately in our children's educations.

 

Sorry for going "mushy" on you, but I'm having a moment.

 

Bill

 

Oh, the softer side of Spy Car comes out!!! :001_smile:

 

Yes, I LOVE those moments!! It is definitely the thing I would miss the most if we didn't homeschool! And I really miss having a 4 year old!

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Ok so this is a little different, but yesterday my 5 yr old dd stomped out of her bedroom and shouted "stop it!" Just as I was getting up to chastize her for her outburst I heard her continue, "this isn't about love, its about marriage" and break into the song Bernadette Peters sings in Cinderella. Ah well, they all can't be as smart as your son Bill. :001_smile:

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Today, my son William (who turned 4 last month) called me over and conspiratorially whispered in my ear: "Roma in Italia est".

 

Which is the first line from Lingua Latina, and something he had heard me say once (as in one time). Somehow this struck me as amazing and wonderful.

 

Perhaps I'm soft-headed, or soft-hearted, or both but I was amazingly happy.

 

Do you feel joy as you see the "lights go on" in your children's minds. Seems like one of the great blessings of participating intimately in our children's educations.

 

Sorry for going "mushy" on you, but I'm having a moment.

 

Bill

 

It's the small, sweet, out-of-nowhere things they share with us that remind us how very precious they are. It's... all of it, it's a gift, a humbling, heartwarming, mindboggling, beautiful gift. Keep your eyes and heart peeled, too, because it just doesn't ever stop bearing the potential for magic.

 

I'll admit it, though, I'm a small moments junkie. That's why we do what we do.

Dy

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Today, my son William (who turned 4 last month) called me over and conspiratorially whispered in my ear: "Roma in Italia est".

 

Which is the first line from Lingua Latina, and something he had heard me say once (as in one time). Somehow this struck me as amazing and wonderful.

 

Perhaps I'm soft-headed, or soft-hearted, or both but I was amazingly happy.

 

Do you feel joy as you see the "lights go on" in your children's minds. Seems like one of the great blessings of participating intimately in our children's educations.

 

Sorry for going "mushy" on you, but I'm having a moment.

 

Bill

 

Have a moment and by all means be mushy and enjoy....Nice to hear a dad getting to enjoy the moment....:001_smile:

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Oh yeah, those are the moments that make me feel that something is actually going in, instead of just running off the surface.

For me, its when my ds12 uses amazing vocabulary. He is dyslexic, a reluctant writer, but reads well, and when he uses words he has read in the 100 year old books he sometimes reads, as if it was perfectly normal, my heart just sings.

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Today, my son William (who turned 4 last month) called me over and conspiratorially whispered in my ear: "Roma in Italia est".

 

Which is the first line from Lingua Latina, and something he had heard me say once (as in one time). Somehow this struck me as amazing and wonderful.

 

Perhaps I'm soft-headed, or soft-hearted, or both but I was amazingly happy.

 

Do you feel joy as you see the "lights go on" in your children's minds. Seems like one of the great blessings of participating intimately in our children's educations.

 

Sorry for going "mushy" on you, but I'm having a moment.

 

Bill

 

 

I feel like I'm one of the mushiest kids on the block here, such that there would be no question about things like that making me smile. Heck, it'd make my week, and I'd tell all the relatives!! I'm so complex, aren't I? :D

 

You go ahead on with your bad self and have all the moments you want. IMO, they're what make the fabric of life colorful. Your boy sounds delightful, and you are a good dad.

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Guest Virginia Dawn

That's sweet!

 

My dh went all goo-goo ga-ga over our 4yo ds yesterday too. The two of them were looking at butterflies in the encyclopedia when ds started explaining the stages of of a butterfly's life to dh. Dh came to me with a look of wonder, "He knew what a pupa is." LOL!

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Yes, they do! :001_smile:

 

Watching my three oldest learn to read, for example, led to many teary moments for me. Can't wait to do it all again with my youngest dd (who, by the way, is always wondering when she will get to "do Latin").

 

I'm so glad I don't have to miss out on all this stuff.

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Oh, Bill, that is so precious:). I've had many such moments and sadly, I can't think of one specifically right now. I, too, advise you to write this down. I will share a cute moment - not a lightbulb moment - that I had with my ds12.

 

When he was about 10yo he was struggling with math (still does), but he loves all things history related - especially the Presidents. He has many "presidents" books, "president" flash cards, a "president" time line, etc. One day, quite out of the blue, he turned to me from his desk and asked if presidents had to be good at math. Well, I said not necessarily, they just have to have advisers who are good at math. He sat there for about 15 seconds and then in the most determined and serious tone of voice I've ever heard him use he said, "Mom, I want to be the President!"

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Bill, how precious. I LOVE those moments. And I'm with Karen, I only have those little things to smile about so I'm extra grateful for them. Like when my newborn smiled for the first time and then laughed. A full-belly, cracking himself up, couldn't stop if he tried laugh. At 2 mos. old! And he rolled over...already! :001_huh: Yep, love those moments.

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I don't think ANY homeschooler that doesn't get mushy with stuff like that! It's AMAZING to see them growing and maturing, and WONDERFUL to see them "get it"! It happens at all ages! I still see it now!

 

Just 2 weeks ago ds17 had a lightbulb moment. He's great with languages, has an ability to pick them up quickly. But he was stuck saying he wanted to be a pro soccer player (cuz he likes to play soccer) or a computer programmer (cuz he likes playing games). In reality, those wouldn't work out! But, we were watching a missions video, which showed the missionaries in a town in Ecuador helping the shop owners and workers learn English phrases to help them communicate with tourists better, and showing one guy that was translating between the missionaries and the shop people. Suddenly ds said, "That's what I want to do!" Now he has a goal. He wants to major in linguistics or Spanish or German (we need to look this all up) and be a translator or teach English to foreign students... I LOVE that he has such a positive goal now, and it was beautiful to see him light up with the thought!

 

So, it starts young, and they just continue to amaze! Enjoy the moments...I agree, write them down!

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My ds (10) and his older sis (16) don't always get along. Sure they love each other but aren't pals like my ds and other dd (13).

 

This morning I brought dd to poms practice before ds woke up. Awhile after I came home I was sitting a the computer and ds woke up. He came up to me and was all upset because he thought his sister had already left for camp without saying goodbye to him. (She leaves tomorrow for 4 days at poms camp). He was so happy when he knew he would get a chance to see her before she leaves. It made me smile because regardless of all the times they argue I know that he still loves her.

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Absolutely -

 

Just this morning, my 3 (almost 4) yo and I made her first "A is for Anteater" from this Edupress book I've had for 12 years - this is my 5th time around!

 

I got all teary, and ran into my 15yo's room (interrupting Algebra 2) and said,

 

"Amy made her first anteater!" We both had an "Awww. . . ." moment -

 

And remembering those kind of moments keeps me from calling the Big Yellow Bus. I want our memories to be together, as a family.

 

Thanks for bringing this up!

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These are the priceless moments. You might want to write this on your calendar. I did that when my older boys were little. I have a stack of old calendars in the closet. You think you'll remember this kind of thing, but it's amazing how quickly it leaves your mind.

 

I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only one who keeps notes like this that will one day find their way into the appropriate baby books....(she says hopefully)!

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Things like this make me smile all the time. I can just look at my daughter sometimes, see her smile or laugh while reading something, watch her in her sleep, when she looks like she did as a baby, or see the sun shine in her hair, the color of her eyes, anything like that, & I'll grin like an idiot. And she is 9 & 1/2. I wonder if I'll ever outgrow that. I hope not.

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