Two Weeks to Go

Poly got accepted to an international school. We were all very happy about it--Poly especially so. As the starting date draws near (August 20th), I am increasingly aware that my Polynesia is flapping his wings and ready to fly away. He is a big boy now--almost the same size as his father. They wear the same-size shoes. And I feel like wrapping him up in a little bundle and holding him in my bosom for a little while longer, but he's already too big for that.

The fact is, there's no good time for letting go. When you homeschool, you think you can keep them under your wings and feed them all the good things you can possibly think of, because there is so much time, so very much time between now and then. There is so much you want to give them, things you have, and things you don't have but might acquire in the future. Yet, there is not enough time. Even if I had another twenty years, I would still say, "It's not enough time!"

At the beginning of this summer I began to wonder what would I want to teach my kid in the last two months of our time together as teacher-student? What would I want him to know while I still have his undivided attention for a few weeks? The question paralyzed me because it was impossible. There is so much more I want to teach him! Yet, nothing will fit neatly into a two-month period. No knowledge, no wisdom is nicely bundled like that. So we ended up continuing on as we had all year, as if comes September we will start like we always have.

I will miss him, my star student (both my students are stars). I guess if there's one thing I want him to know before he leaves for school, it is that although our time is finite, our relationship doesn't have to be. Although I don't get to select his curriculum any more or dictate what he learns from now on, I can still be his life-coach, his friend, and his biggest fan. I want him to know, though I don't say it nearly as much as I should, just how proud I am of him and what a privilege it's been to be his teacher and that if I had to do it all over again, I would still jump in in a heart beat.