Day Six :: I want the log schoolhouse

I started filling out applications for kindergarten next year. There's a strong possibility I feel more stressed and overwhelmed with impending schooling decisions than having a second baby.

I know what to do with a baby. I know how to keep a baby alive and content most of the time. I don't know what's the best academic opportunity for Madeline based on our family's values, her learning abilities and her personality.

We live in a community where we have multiple great schooling options from public to private to homeschooling. Just within public, we have magnet, charter, project-based, Montessori, inquiry-based and Spanish-immersion. I'm happy that all these options can mean better learning opportunities for children. 

But all these avenues are very different and would impact Madeline and our family in very different ways. It all makes me long for the days of the log schoolhouse and "Little House on the Prairie." I'm pretty sure Ma didn't stress about schooling decisions because she was too busy salting the meat for winter.

I'm overwhelmed and clueless when I start thinking about all of this. That's when I have to remind myself I'm blowing this decision out of proportion and taking on an unnecessary burden.

I'm learning I need to make a decision for kindergarten and kindergarten only. While I would love to send Madeline to a place we love and would never leave, God might have us in one schooling option for just a year or two. We don't know what our future looks like and that needs to be OK with me. We just need to make the best decision for her for right now.

I also am learning my instinct is bask in my overwhelmness (I'm ignoring the red underline and declaring that a word) and crave wisdom without asking God for it. He knows what's best for Madeline. He knows what's best for our family. He wants to help us but we have to ask Him first.

I just need to put down Laura Ingalls Wilder and ask Him.