When I was five-years-old I met a little girl in Durango, Colorado while on family vacation. Her family was camped next to mine and we spent an entire day playing in the fresh mountain air. We traded addresses over a snack of potato sticks and spent the next decade writing letters to one another. We were Pen Pals.
A while back, I “met” a fellow Apraxia mama on social media. She and I connected over our boys and their shared diagnosis. We also bonded over photography and our love of the beach.
On Ground Hog Day, I had planned to spend the day learning about groundhogs, but Jackson wasn’t interested. So the new me – the one God is transforming into a not-so-Type A person – through this homeschooling gig- said, “Forget it!! What in the world is learning about groundhogs going to do in the grand scheme of things? Zilch. Nada.
So we spent a dreary Friday sending a little love and encouragement to the friends we met via Facebook. They are running this Apraxia marathon, too. They just came out of the starting blocks not that long ago. The race still feels daunting. They live on the East Coast. The mama suggested our boys become pen pals and I absolutely loved the idea! We decided to kick things off by sending each other Valentines. So we did just that.
We got out the U.S. map and found New Hampshire. I showed Jackson photos of “K” and told him that he also goes to speech therapy because he has Apraxia, too. We got out the markers and glue and all the things we needed to make the perfect Valentine.
We are ahead of them in this race, which means we can tell them it really will be okay. We can tell them that after a lot of speech therapy, “K” WILL find his voice. We can share a little bit of hope through our own story.
Learn about groundhogs or how to share God’s love?
Stick to the lesson plan or choose relationship building?
Around Valentine’s Day, Jackson received his first letter from “K”
It was amazing to see how excited he was to read the letter. He was engaged as we learned about the little boy in New Hampshire who has so much in common with him – a love of superheroes, the beach, dogs and reading Ranger Rick.
As I read the letter, Jackson eagerly answered all the questions. We sat down together and I wrote Jackson’s answers down in the form of another letter to mail back to our new friend.
This Pen Pal thing is going to be such a good addition to Jackson’s home education. We can incorporate communication skills, writing, spelling, reading, geography and so much more!
Who needs groundhogs when you have new friends in New Hampshire?
As I relax and lower my expectations, God is showing me just how amazing this homeschool gig can be.
He’s giving me permission to throw “traditional schooling” out the window.