MommySon Day

My son and I played hooky Monday, a random event known as “Mommy/Son Day.” We went to lunch at Firehouse Subs, my favorite. We looked around a hobby store; playing with remote controlled cars, airplane simulators and sizing up robot kits. Then we went to a gift shop where I bought myself a bracelet and my son a giant green pen. What ten-year-old boy doesn’t want a giant green pen? All of this followed by a movie and a game of Risk at home.

It was an awesome day. We had a blast together. We talked about frivolous topics like Legos and online games. We laughed a lot and didn’t have a single fight. This is an accomplishment considering that an average homeschool day for us is billed as “Hard Headed Mom v. Hard Headed Son – the Death Match.”

Which is why I have Mommy/Son day. Our normal days begin with school around 8 or 8:30 and expand to a myriad of lessons, some he loves and more he hates. This is interspersed with chores, both his and mine. Any break from school is an opportunity to do the laundry or make that call. We don’t have much time to just hang out on the average day.

I think that one of the challenges in homeschooling is to protect that parent-child relationship. It is easy for the loving bond to be lost amid the teacher-student dynamic. We are much more present in our children’s lives than the average parent; our kids begin to see us as correcting machines. We’re the main ones correcting school work, behavior and even posture (sit with your back straight when writing in cursive!).

A parent whose child is in school has one or more teachers to split that burden with. It’s the teacher who makes them do math or who marks the “F” on a test paper. A homeschool parent has to shoulder all of the negative aspects of education. I started Mommy/Son day to battle the image I was developing in my son’s eyes.

Of course, my son and I could do this on the week-end and not interrupt the school week. But for us, doing it on a day we should be schooling drives the point home. I’m telling my kid “You’re more important to me than Saxon mixed practice or Daily Grams.”

Throughout our time on Monday, I was also thinking about how this relates to my life in Christ. It is so easy to get trapped in the routine of faith that we forget our faith life is about a relationship with our Savior. Our walk becomes 11:00am Sunday, 6:00pm Wednesday, 6:30pm every other Thursday. Our quiet time becomes “get that passage read before bible study,” and “I’ve memorized the entire book of Acts.”

When is the last time you opened the Word or prayed without an agenda? When is the last time you sought God, whether in Word, song or prayer, out of a simple desire to spend time with your Maker? I asked myself those questions and was startled to find I wasn’t sure when I had last worshipped just to worship.

Convicted I got up early Tuesday morning and read some Psalms. I put away the concordance and commentaries and just read. I was reminded that God is our Protector, our Strength, our Hope. I entered the day renewed, refreshed and ready for “Hard Headed Mom v. Hard Headed Son round 2.”