Re: Frustrations . . . update

[S Gaissert]

Sandra Dodd wrote:

Sometimes I think of things I wish I had done or said or I wish I had
been more attentive or patient and sometimes I see in that very
moment that I'm sitting there thinking about myself instead of
getting up and going and being with my husband or kids. It's weird,
and people who come to it new think "martyrdom!?" or self sacrifice,
but it's not that. It's investment.

Sandra, I've been trying to do that more, too. When I'm tired and tempted to wallow for a few moments in some self-centered thought, I force myself to get up and place myself back within the family circle. It's infinitely better than the other choice, because I soon forget why I wanted to wallow in the first place. There's something written about service being the antidote to suffering . . . I don't mean "service" like martyrdom, but like involvement, interaction, being there for and with the family. It always works.
Susan G.

[Sandra Dodd]

Susan G. wrote:

-=- When I'm tired and tempted to wallow for a few moments in some

self-centered thought, I force myself to get up and place myself back
within the family circle. It's infinitely better than the other
choice, because I soon forget why I wanted to wallow in the first
place. There's something written about service being the antidote to
suffering . . . I don't mean "service" like martyrdom, but like
involvement, interaction, being there for and with the family. It

always works.-=-

I wanted to save it but I didn't have a perfect place for it, so I
made one:

http://sandradodd.com/being/

Please pass this on to anyone who's wondering about unschooling.
It's yet another good "front page" to the information I've been
collecting for years now.

There are some little folding pictures cubes, and however you unfold
and re-fold, it's still a picture on each surface. My unschooling
website is starting to seem like that to me.
http://www.math.nmsu.edu/~breakingaway/Lessons/MFC/MFC.html

Sandra

[Jenny]

>Sandra, I've been trying to do that more, too. When I'm tired and tempted to wallow for a few moments in some self-centered thought, I force myself to get up and place myself back within the family circle. It's infinitely better than the other choice, because I soon forget why I wanted to wallow in the first place. There's something written  about service being the antidote to suffering . . . I don't mean "service" like martyrdom, but like involvement, interaction, being there for and with the family. It always works.
> Susan G.

It feels infinitely better for my spirit when I do that too. It's
easy to get caught up in ones own self thought. If I let a day go by,
or hours, in that mode, at the end of the day, I find myself thinking
that I should've, would've, could've, and once again, I'm in that
mode. To just go and be with my kids as soon as I recognize that
mindset, I avoid all the guilty afterthoughts of what I should have
done better. So, I not only avoid the guilt complex, I get to relive
all the fun and wonderful moments that I intentionally sought after.

It seems that unschooling, for me, is a compilation of all those
moments of being with my kids instead of doing something else. It's
fun to go out of your way to do cool things with your kids and seek
out opportunities, but the real stuff seems to happen in those moments
that could just go by within each and every day.