Roll on the weekend!

‘Life is short and time goes so quickly! I don’t want someone else to be with my children all day and impress their values and ideas on them - I want to spend as much time with them as I can and enjoy all the years I have with them.’ This is just one of the many amazing statements made by moms at a recent get together of homeschooling families in George. We spent just over 2 hours together this Friday morning and I thoroughly enjoyed it! For over 2 hours the children played together, having a really wonderful time. When we got home they listed the many games they’d played and I was awed by how this large group of children (who were all under 13 years old!) managed to organise themselves and play so harmoniously together for so long without any adult intervention!

The moms all gathered in the kitchen (the heart of any South African home!) at first and then moved out onto the patio overlooking the pool where we spent hours together.

Sylma had made some cinnamon buns – at least 4 dozen I’m sure. I was surprised to see that the children mostly took buns that were iced while the moms mostly took buns that weren’t! Closer to lunch time, after playing for ages, we all took turns to empty the table laden with eats. It was such a perfect morning and seemed to happen so spontaneously! I had originally toyed with the idea of going on Friday morning but was unsure what to do as we have started going regularly on Friday afternoons to another get together near our house. I decided not to go. But early on Friday morning I got a sms from a friend who has just moved into our neighbourhood offering to give us a lift to the get together and I decided that this was an opportunity we needed to grab with both hands.

I’m surprised at how many families here in George are using Sonlight! It’s also a very exciting and refreshing dynamic to be connecting with so many homeschoolers who are passionate Christians. I’m loving the adult interaction for many reasons!

We’ve been told that we can apply for a child support grant (something very new in South Africa!), so Dieter went to begin the application process on Friday morning. There are a couple of initial hurdles, one being that as a homeschooling family registration with the Department of Education is necessary to be able to get the grant. I asked at the get together if any other families are registered but none of them are. I find it interesting that the Dept of Education might send an inspector to interview us as parents and also check if our home facilities are suitable for schooling. I can’t begin to imagine what they will be looking for and there are no official criteria! If our registration is the last hurdle in the child support application, then we’ll register, otherwise not.

Oupa and Ouma are in Pretoria for the weekend, a quick 48-hour trip made especially to celebrate the 70^th birthday of a very special family friend. Its really strange being ‘home alone’! On Friday night we made some pizza and watched ‘The Italian Job’ with Ryan and Jed after the little ones had gone to bed. Yesterday morning Aimee and I drove through to Great Brak for René’s baby shower after Aimee had decorated some wrapping paper to wrap some baby wipes in for the new baby. It was quite a big party and was actually a celebration for 3 pregnant moms who were all surprised by the event. It was really nice to have Aimee with me and she enjoyed the games and eats very much. Her only disappointment was that they didn’t open the presents! We left just before 12pm and I didn’t think they’d be opening the gifts as that would have kept everyone busy until early in the evening for sure!

Ryan had a lunch-time football match and his team played the Leopards. They lost 0-2 but he had a fun game. He’s playing again this Thursday against the Rangers – so there is lots to look forward to! Jean, René and Lucas joined us for lunch and we had a yummy meal of Moussaka with salad and garlic bread. It was very much a family effort – Dieter had fried the Eggplant while we were at the Friday afternoon get together, I made the Mousakka after dinner. Jed made the garlic bread (mostly by himself!) early in the morning and Ethan supervised me making the salad (he would have loved to help, but I was trying to do it quickly!). We had a lovely afternoon together which we spent mostly outdoors on the grass kicking and rolling the ball before chilling over a cuppa and some delicious truffles that René had made for us. We’re really blessed to have great friends in our lives!!!