Joining Us at the Table

Shai asked the other day to have some 'work' of his own.  The thought of sitting with us during our 'table time' doing what the big kids do is so appealing.  He practiced the letters of his name for about 30 minutes, in a book of his own.  I thought it was cute. 
It got me thinking how different my hopes, expectations and concerns with my first child differ so greatly in many ways then with my fourth.  I had a shelf filled with workbooks, a list of objectives and a bucket full of shoulds in regards to learning.  Time and trust in my kids as given me the confidence to follow his lead.  Perhaps his interest in writing will stay and he will want to keep at it, or not.  Perhaps he will want to learn to read in the next year, or not.  I know those things will come. I don't have that same list of objectives, they have switched to reading together more, bringing out the playdough more often, getting to play group every other week. 
This reflecting isn't so much about Shai, or any of my kids.  It is about me, the place I am in our journey as homeschoolers and as a parent.  I have fewer worries for him, because I have more confidence in me. I can just enjoy his dabbling in writing without making it about the end product.  It's a great place to be.