i believe.

To be honest, I wasn’t in the mood to write today.  I felt February in my bones at 5:30am this morning.  I wanted to stay curled up in bed and sleep February away.  But instead I got up, grudgingly, and opened my laptop and stared at the screen for about 20 minutes.

Sometimes I get stuck because there is just too much to say, especially with a prompt like this one: “I believe…”

Aaahh! There is just so much in those two words.  Where do I begin?  Eek.  It’s 6am and I don’t know where to start but I have write something because I have chalkboard drawings to do and lessons to prep.  Oh forget it.  There’s just too much.  I shut down the laptop and watch the Olympics.

The morning and afternoon came and went.  I just couldn’t find a moment to collect my thoughts.  I introduced new main lesson blocks this week so the kids kept me busy.  After their lessons, they had to let off some steam so we had Part 2 of our balloon Olympics.

Part 1 of our Olympics was held yesterday.  Everyone participated except #4 who spent the entire time trying to blow up her own balloon.  She refused to participate until she blew up the balloon.  She’s 6 and has a tiny little mouth.  Her older siblings tried to talk her out of it.  I would blow up the balloon a tiny bit and then she would try to blow the rest of it.  It would deflate and she’d bring the balloon back to me to start it for her again.  Over and over and over.  All day.  I finally told her that I couldn’t feel my jaw anymore and that I never wanted to see a balloon ever again.  Then of course, she gave it a go on her own.  She was focused and obsessed: “Please mama, please, one more time!  I’m almost there!”

She woke up this morning and continued on her quest to blow up a balloon.  She couldn’t eat breakfast, let alone focus on any lessons.  She just HAD to blow up this balloon.

So finally, at around 1:30pm this afternoon, I had something to write about:

She did it.

After a full day of trying to blow up a balloon, she actually succeeded.  I didn’t even start it.  Her sheer will power is amazing.  Last time it was snapping her fingers and before that it was whistling.  She picked up snowboarding in a day after falling and tumbling down the hill a million times.  If someone tells her she can’t do something, she is determined to prove them wrong.  (The older sisters finally took the balloon away after the millionth time it hit them in the face after she let it fly.)

I believe in the power of the will.  The will to overcome.  The will to carry on.  The will to let go.  The will to do the seemingly impossible.  The will to control one’s own destiny.  The will to finish.

This is part of what we do at home.  I give the kids opportunities to strengthen their will.  They help me strengthen my will.  I give them time to complete things that challenge them and to face obstacles that they need to conquer.  They inspire me to follow through.  We have battles of wills but we work through it.

We have a verse that we say when we need to work with our strong wills:

I will work with my will

Through the light of wisdom

And with the warmth of love.

(We say this often…some more than others.)

***

By the way, I decided to ask the rest of the family what they believe.  Here are some of their answers:

“I believe I can win at the Olympics.”

“I believe that I will be one of the best volleyball players in the world.”

“I believe that I can become the greatest volleyball players on Earth.”

“I believe I will meet Peter Pan so I can fly.”

“I believe that I can watch fairies.”

“I believe hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.”

***

Trying to survive the February blues by getting my write on with writealm: