Boy, it's been a long time since I've been here to talk about things other than autism. This journey as a homeschooling Catholic military family is incredible.
One of the many things I've been asked in regards to homeschooling has been the socialization. I never thought I'd be worried about it because well, we are socialized. My children know how to interact with other people. They participate in enough activities to have those types of interactions.
However...I never envisioned a world where it would not be enough. I've had various conversations with my children. Most of them are lonely. They feel a lack. I have one child who craves a friend who might be a kindred spirit along the lines of Anne Shirley of Anne of Green Gables. I have another who is now starting to notice boys, but she doesn't have a lot of interaction with them. Her main activity? Ballet. There is only one boy in the ballet school and he's like 10. She doesn't need or necessarily want a boyfriend (she's a bit too young anyway). She just wants a friend who is a boy (most of my friends in high school were boys so I understand). This year she expanded her horizons and attended her first CCD class. Although she didn't learn anything new about her faith, she did meet a lot of new people and that was well worth the time. She's made friends although one of them is leaving.
I have one kid who has prayed hard for that one good friend to show up. This year we are going to be more intentional about his days and include some activities that will hopefully, expose him to lots of new people.
Friendship. I've tried to explain to my children that it's something we need to cultivate. Sometimes you outgrow a friendship. It's happened to me before. We are constantly a WIP (Work in Progress to borrow a knitting term). The lessons learned when a friend leaves our lives can be difficult whether the leaving be physically or emotionally. My children have also learned that just because you know someone for years does not automatically make them a friend.
Sometimes you learn that people come back into your lives and your life becomes richer for it.
And, here it is. My rambling-not-quite-making-sense return to blogging.
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