Tuesday, April 5, 2022

Children

Types of energy come in waves. I feel drained of physical energy this week, but more in tune with my emotions. And there are a lot of things to process this particular week. 

On to the topic...we are still homeschooling these days, of course. I actually share some visuals on Instagram (the handle is ourhomeschoollife_overseas), but it's not a "blog." Homeschooling offers some flexibility in the midst of a pandemic, family sickness, changing work schedules, international travel needs, and attempts at a social life. 

When a local friend recently mentioned keeping his kids home from school to skip a lecture on the current political situation, I thought...it's a good thing we homeschool. Our kids don't have to wade through all that conflicting information. Not yet, anyway. But they will still encounter it in the world. And although I thought we had time, I suddenly realized that their potential PLAYMATES are all getting an earful at their own schools. They ARE the world. We can hear them all playing on the playground right outside our window. They might wake up in the morning and get a glimpse of whatever news source their parents choose. Then they go to school and compare notes with their classmates and maybe hear a little from their teachers. And then they are outside our window, each one carrying the weight of all that information.

No, I haven't heard anything, per se. It's just where my imagination went last night as I was preparing to sleep. Perhaps the kids are just playing innocent playground games and not thinking about war. Not playing at refugees like my daughter did with her dolls one evening. 

My friend and his wife are quietly selling all their possessions so that they and their children can start a new life elsewhere. The future is now. The next generation is here. Kids are soaking it all in. In other countries, people will move on. They will vote on their next president based on a perceived notion of their own sense of freedom and security. But for a certain few countries, the effects are long-lasting, for the next generation and beyond. Freedom and security are a far-off dream.


Voices

 In the past month, it has been interesting to read the published thoughts of Russian friends as they've gotten their voice back upon es...