When your children are smarter than you...

I was thinking about the many conversations that I have with my sons and sometimes, I swear they are smarter than me. I mean not in terms of parenting or guiding them on their journey to adulthood. But, academically they know a heck of alot more than me at times. My 11 year old son used the word, "crestfallen" yesterday to describe how he had been feeling earlier in the day. I smiled, said I was glad he was feeling better and quietly "googled" the word, "crestfallen". They do this to me quite often. Their extensive vocabulary has me doing double takes every other day. I must admit, I am spending more time lately brushing up on my vocabulary to keep up with them. Just the other day, I stopped off at a Teacher's store to get them a poster to help them use more descriptive words when they write. I ended up using it to help myself. I won't even get into Math. They may as well be speaking Russian with a Chinese dialect. My teenaged son who is awesome in Math, used to quiz the two younger boys on math questions and I would be just smiling and nodding my head. But mostly I was thinking, "what the heck are they talking about"?  I could jump in on a few of the questions,(the really easy ones) but for the most part, I was on the sidelines. Now the young ones quiz each other. Same thing when it comes to Chess. I never learned how to play it and when they have conversations about it, I am lost.

Bet you're wondering how I homeschool aren't you? Me too.....me too.

Language Arts and Literature were always my strong points. I enjoy Science but Math has never been a friend of mine and I am so happy my husband is good at it and willing to teach our two youngest boys.

While writing this blog today, I realized that I don't ever remember helping my teenage son do his homework. As an elementary school student, he never needed my help. And when he went to highschool, I never understood any of his assignments.

Let me stop writing now, I am really starting to feel like my brain is liquefying.I think I need to go read an Encyclopedia or watch Jeopardy or something. Maybe if I start now, I will be ready for, grandchildren. 10 years should be enough time to prepare.........I hope. Maybe 20 years would be better.

Another Year Without Her

My Angel, Camara (October 2, 1999-November 18, 1999)

Today would have been my only daughter, Camara's 14th birthday. But I can't celebrate it with her. In fact, I never got to celebrate any birthdays with her because she died when she was only 7 weeks old. Camara was a beautiful chubby cheeked, 8lb 9oz blessing from God. She was my 1st and only daughter after having my two oldest sons. We were so excited to have a daughter. I had had a rough pregnancy and even her birth was traumatic. During one of the checks to see if I was dilating properly, the doctor was able to feel Camara's hand. On top of that, she was actually holding her umbilical cord and it was starting to come out. Or course, that led to an emergency c-section. She was delivered safely and she seemed healthy at the time. We brought her home a few days later to start our lives as a family of 5. I was battling a post-partum infection when Camara took ill at 3 weeks of age. We rushed her to the emergency room and by the time we passed her off to the triage nurse she had fallen into a coma. She was transferred to a different hospital where a team of doctors rushed passed us as my husband and I sat dumbfounded. This couldn't be happening to our family. After a few hours, the tests were conclusive. Group B Strep meningitis. At the time, the hospital where I received my pre-natal care didn't routinely test for this. If they had , they may have been able to prevent this. Camara spent 4 weeks in the hospital. I spent it next to her in a daze. She died in my arms November 18th, 1999 with her dad by our side. There is so much more to the story, but I don't really want to feel all of that today. Today I would just like to remember how she felt, how she smelled and how much I loved her. Happy Birthday Camara Sabreen. You will never be forgotten.