Who's teaching who?

She cried out in frustration, her messy blond hair obscuring her blue eyes as she looked up at me. What? I asked, annoyed by the delay. "UHH!" She reached her hand toward mine. As the autumn sun started to set, I realized that my toddler wanted to hold my hand. I looked ahead of us at her big brothers, half way down the block, and let out a sigh of exasperation. It's wasn't exactly practical for me to bend down to hold her hand while I was wearing a baby and she was trying to ride a tricycle.

Then, in that moment, she became the teacher and I the student. As I glanced down at her determined little toddler face, I knew she was right. The destination was not as important as the relationship. We could hold hands on our walk, even if it slowed us down.

I've been struggling with this tension lately, the drive to get things done seems to oppose taking the time to love people along the way. If you are educating your children at home this tension is only enhanced. You want to teach them what they need to know, but you don't want to miss the moments that make it all worthwhile.

I don't have an answer for this tension. It's not okay to continually power through to-do lists at the expense of nurturing relationships in your home. It's also not an option to give up ever getting anything done. I guess what I'm learning is that the pace of your journey isn't nearly as important as who you are traveling with. It's no use making it to the finish line only to realize you lost your team along the way, especially if you happen to have a really cute team.