Expectation

Nearly every person I know, have read their blog, or have talked to in one way shape or another has some sort of expectations. Maybe for their homeschool year, maybe for their children, their lives, or how they believe they should have x, y, or z. And we all need to have some expectations in life.

I expect my children to

• Live in faith.
• Be respectful 
• Do their chores and lessons without argument
• Behave during mass and all other church related functions
• Say their rosaries daily
• and find the time to do the things they enjoy personally

I expect these things from our homeschool experience

• That everyone, not just the children, learn something every day
• That we first honor God in our lessons and then revel in the knowledge that He gives us
• That the children will get a better education than they would in a public school setting
• That learning can be fun as well as educational
• and that we find a love for learning in all that we do

In my life I expect very little actually

• That my husband and I remain faithful and loving to each other
• That I raise my children to the best of my ability
• and that no matter what happens we'll all make it through it

Expectations can be a good thing as long as you don't hang all of your hopes and dreams on something that may (or probably won't) happen. I do not expect life to be easy, I do not expect my children to behave at all times (it wouldn't happen), I do not expect that things will simply be given to me, and I do not expect to receive something for nothing.

My children are not always respectful, sometimes they argue about both chores and lessons, and some days they forget to say their rosaries. BUT, they are children. They are still learning. One day they'll be glad that I expect these things from them and do not give in to their unacceptable behavior simply because it would be simpler.

Sometimes we fail to learn something new in a homeschool day, it ends up being all review. Sometimes we're not having fun but we're certainly learning and end up feeling a sense of accomplishment when that new concept has been mastered. And sometimes in our homeschool even I feel lost as to what happens next (it happens to the best of us).

As for what I expect out of life... Well, my husband and I have never cheated on each other and have said I love you each night before going to sleep. We've never gone to bed angry with one another in the whole time we've been together, even if it means we loose sleep as we talk things out. I know of no other way to raise my children than to the best of my ability. And if I did not know that we'd make it through things I'd loose my mind when the big challenges cropped up.

There used to be things I expected that were unrealistic and I had to learn how to let those go. I did so far before the movie Frozen came out and "THAT" song began to bother all of us with how addicting it is and how often it is repeated. It is a good song though, and one we can all use as a mantra. If there is something that we cannot hold onto because it is unrealistic or harmful to us than we should simply "Let It Go". Life becomes much easier when you realize that certain expectations shouldn't be in your life. You cannot expect the world to give you everything if you work for nothing. You cannot expect to quit smoking if you never put down that cigarette. And you cannot expect God to solve all of your problems if you do not first lay them before Him and trust Him to handle what you cannot.

Linking up with Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers for List It {Tuesday}

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