Farm School Visit FAIL

As a mom, I forget that sometimes my desires aren't quite what my child wants.
Separating those emotions into parenting style ones can be very hard to do.
Especially when you are the parent of a child who is very much an independent little person.

Today, we went to visit Louise's Farm School.
It's an awesome little place located on a hay farm, that was once an operating diary farm (the lingering scent of cows is all you need to know that).
We walked around the premises.
In the classrooms and out.
Even got to visit with some newborn little bunnies. Only about 2 weeks old.
Saw the classroom where Kara would be with her peers.
And I was sold.

I love the things they do with the kids.
The environmental science basis.
The fact that they have Alaska Pacific University grad students teaching the kids in a 1:6 ratio.
I wanted to sign myself up.
And Mason wanted to sign up, too.

But Kara, not Kara.
She wasn't sold.
She said it looked boring.
It was stinky.
And that she didn't think she'd have a good time there.
I'm not sure she is separating the ideas of only being there part time, for only part of the day three days a week, with full time attendance at a different school.

Dealing with kids is rough sometimes as a mom.
What I want for them, what needs to be done for them, isn't always what they want.
Their best interests are always at the core of my heart and decision making.
I also don't want to crush any independent spirit that is forming.

Knowing (almost 100% guaranteeing) that Kara will, in fact, have an amazing time at this school, I made a deal with her.
Look, everything you read about "making deals" with your kids says not to.
But in this situation, I want her to try.

Children really are extreme creatures of habit, aren't they.

So I asked her to try it for seven weeks. (the remainder of fall semester)
And if at the end of the semester she didn't like it, we would find some other exciting thing to do in the spring.
And if at the end of her first grade school year, home schooling was just not working for her, she could be honest with me and her dad, and we would put her back in public school.

In my opinion, we are the parents.
Our decision will always be the final one.
But I don't want my children to think that they don't have a say in their lives.
Remember when I wrote this blog?
I am raising adults, NOT children.

And it is NEVER too young to instill in them a rightful understanding of proper and logical input in the decisions that are being made in their lives for their futures.

I'm just a mom, doing my best, trying to make sure my kids get the best education they can with experiences unlike any other.