Where on Earth did the Year Go?- Joy School Graduation

Did an entire school year really just go by? It's hard for me to believe that our lessons from Joy School about how wonderful the earth is, the difference between 'healthy' food and 'sometimes' food, making Jack-o-lanterns while talking about feelings, and filling in a goal chart for each time Julian played nicely with his brothers were not just a couple weeks ago.
This has definitely been one of my happiest 'years'. (I'm talking school years here since so many endings and beginnings seem to occur in the June/September vicinity) I can't say I necessarily accomplished the most, but it was pretty happy. Having so many little kids at home is chaotic and frustrating at times, but I also realized this year how much fun it really can be. Caleb and Julian were finally cleared from having to go to so many doctors appointments and therapy visits and our days were free to explore LA, go to Disneyland, run in the grass, swing at the park, meet with friends, and do Joy School.

Joy School, for anyone who has no idea what I'm talking about, is a co-op preschool where moms take turns teaching all the kids in the group in their home. The lesson plans, which are pulled off a website usually the night before we're supposed to teach, are a little different from other preschools because they doesn't touch on letters or academic things. Each unit is about joy concepts like the Joy of the Earth, the Joy of Sharing and Service, Setting Goals, Being Curious, etc. Reading the book 'Teaching Your Children Joy' while teaching the units turned it into a parenting tool that helped me understand what my children are going through better and appreciate this chapter of life more fully (ie. at all ;). The Curiosity unit therapeutically helped me see Caleb's mixture experiments and the disapperance of an entire quart of extra virgin olive oil as an expression of curiosity, not just an attempt to make my life miserable. The unit on Goal setting showed me that my kids could actually work towards a goal, for example they can get themselves dressed and make their beds after breakfast in the morning, which they actually and surprisingly do quite consistently.
One of the best parts about Joy School was the families we did it with. By great good luck we all lived in a 4 or 5 block radius and the ability to walk to 'school' was awesome. The other moms are some of the most fabulous people in my life and it was a huge blessing to be a bigger part of each other's child-raising experiences. Also, they were kind enough not to make me teach doubletime since I had twins, which was a big sacrifice and something they always poo-pooed and never made me feel bad about whenever I expressed thanks. Finally, I have developed such a soft spot for the three other little boys in our group. It has been such a treat to watch their little personalities develop and see how different they are. I will always have a special place in my heart for them and enjoy keeping tabs on how they do as they all grow up.

At the graduation we had a slideshow of all the photos of the year- it was neat to see how much they'd grown and remember things like the Daddy-Day campout trip where all the dads took the kids camping and they even wound up on the local news... I know they're still young, a year away from kindgergarten, but it's going by fast so I threw in a song at the end that I edited a little called 'Blessed Be': "So dream on sweet dreams tonight, and we'll dream too of a future clean and bright. Dream on, soon you'll be Standing tall and free- Oh blessed be the hopes and dreams of our Baby."

Next year our group be all over the country and the world and Joy School as we knew it this past year will be no more. But I'm so grateful it worked out the way that it did and who knows?? Maybe next year will hold something even better in its own unique way. We'll just have to see...