The End of Homeschooling and Time in Lucca

“How did it get so late so soon?” 

- Dr. Seuss

We’re nearing the end of our time here in Lucca. It’s the penultimate day of homeschooling, our last full week in Lucca, then off for our last adventure in Norway. After that we pack up and head back to American soil. Back to In-N-Out Burger and Starbucks as the girls would say.

For the last two weeks it has been hot here, and sleep has been somewhat fleeting. Not unbearably hot, but it has also been mosquito ridden because we live next to a canal. Our A/C barely works and we have no screens on our windows. The girls have moved from their twin beds upstairs to sharing the pull out couch downstairs. We don’t go to the park in the afternoons because it’s too hot. So, we’ve taken the opportunity to get out after dinner. We ride our bikes on the wall at nine in the evening. The breeze feels nice. I get up early enough to make my morning run before the heat sets in. We have pizza at our favorite spots, listen to the Lucca Jazz Festival in the Amphiteatro, and the kids play their piano songs ad nauseam on the keyboard.

Yes, it’s bittersweet. We love Lucca, but we’re also missing our family and friends. At the end of every school year I feel a sense of loss. Another year of my children’s life that has passed and another year closer to them leaving my nest. This year is special. I’m not feeling so much loss because we really didn’t lose any moments together, and what we gained is so much more.

Don’t get me wrong, homeschooling was not a cake walk, we definitely had our ups and downs. The struggles of separating parent from teacher being the most difficult. But, as I’ve come to realize recently, I was as much of a student this year as Ashley and Arya. Things that I have forgotten or never learned in the first place became fresh. 

For starters, fifth grade social studies - the American Revolution and the creating of our government’s documents. Ash and I bonded through the memorization of our states and capitals, presidents, and the preamble of our constitution. From there I was able to compare our form of government to what we were seeing internationally. And dates. An intangible concept to me before, started to make sense. I’m beginning, after 37 years to see the big picture. From Stonehenge to WWII, we touched history. How our world was built and is growing through technology. And geography. A class I took in high school summer school, now relates to me. Many of the things that I regurgitated for a grade in my K-12 years, I finally actually really care about and understand. For me that’s huge. But more than that, I hope it’s significant to my kids. 

Maybe their experiences will add meaning to the words they read in a textbook. Maybe it won’t. Maybe they’ll forget everything because they were only eight and ten. But, even if they do forget the dates and the places, it’s okay. I’m pretty confident that they won’t forget our time spent together. And that’s why I have joy in another year passing. We recently read a book with the girls called “Momo” by Michael Ende (the author of the Neverending Story). While, not my favorite book ever, the central theme was how our time can easily be stolen away from us. In this family, we are learning communication, we are learning how to compromise and prioritize, and we are learning and relearning how to love one another well. No time stolen here.