There's No Place Like Home

It’s hard to believe, but here we are again, another school year! Is it me or are the summers getting shorter? This week the kids are reconnecting with their friends, meeting new ones, excited to see who’s in their class, which teachers they have and dawning all their new gear including the new cell phone that the teenagers these days seem to ‘need’ entering high school! (This is what happened in my house anyway…how on earth did we ever get along without one?)

They may be taking french, calculus or science and will be learning all sorts of new methods, calculations and formulas amassing information to help them move closer to deciding what they may want to be and do when they grow up.

We tend to focus a lot on all of this knowledge that they accumulate in school, but no matter which classroom, level or educational institution our kids find themselves in this fall, there is one classroom that is the most important one they will ever be in, and what they learn there will make such a difference in their journey that lies ahead.

We may not have thought of our homes as a classroom, but in essence that’s what they are. This is where we make that oh so important and beautiful first connection with our children, the bond that seems somewhat indescribable and where the energy of love, joy, peace and contentment they bring fills every corner of our hearts and our homes.

There’s no need to go out and buy them geometry sets, notebooks or calculators for the lessons they will be learning in their home school as our kids actually arrive well equipped with eyes and ears!

This classroom offers them all the courses they will need to enjoy a happy and successful life and we don’t even have to give our own exams, life will take care of that by giving them pop quizzes and tests on these virtuous subjects, so it’s important to be aware of our curriculum.

We are their first models of what compassion, forgiveness, empathy and non-judgment look like. How much integrity, kindness, gratitude, humility and generosity we extend sends huge messages and these little sponges soak up everything, whether we live by The Golden Rule or not.

But if we are easily disappointed, constantly complain about our jobs, play victim to how difficult life is or how money is connected to success and happiness, they won’t learn how to follow their hearts, connect with their passion and believe in their dreams.

We certainly don’t wish to see them get an F in any subject, however, by seeing our fingers always pointed at something or someone else, a failing grade is looming in the course called Taking Responsibility, a pretty hot topic in most households!

Our kids arrive so connected already and our homes become the havens where they begin to deepen the connection to who they are, discover their own unique talents and passions and start to dream BIG of who and what they will become and the belief they have in themselves is so inspiring! (We had dreams too, remember?)

Of course it has been said before, children are our future, so it’s up to us as their teachers and guides to pay attention and notice what we are modelling and teaching them in this very special classroom on all levels, physically, emotionally and spiritually.

From our connected example, they will absolutely know where their own inner connection is and gone will be the days of feeling the need to seek the approval from anyone and when the phrase “I am so disappointed in you” goes out of fashion, the walls of doubt and fear won’t have a chance to build themselves.

So as our kids say good bye to the lazy hazy days of summer, adjust to their new sleep patterns and refocus on their studies at school, it’s never too late to make a few minor adjustments in our own curriculum to make sure that all of the required courses are being covered in addition to the 3 R’s!

Dorothy knew it, “There’s no place like home.”