Mr. Substitute.

Every once in a while I do something right.  As Principal and janitor for our homeschool, it’s not often I’m able to do a whole lot.

When I do, I want to brag about it.  Or at least, say that it was pretty fun.  It also did more good for my wife/family and myself personally than I realized it might.

Last Wednesday was “See You At the Pole”, which as a youth pastor means “a very full day”, ending in a worship rally with many different youth groups attending.  I hadn’t seen my family since Tuesday evening as I drove home Wednesday night.  I also knew Saturday was an all day event at our church, involving quizzing/talent competitions, and taking me out of the home.  All of this on top of knowing my wife was being hit hard by a cold/sinus thing.  So on that drive home Wednesday night, I decided it was time Mrs. Anderson got a day off.

I realize many men can’t simply “switch days off” so that a day like this doesn’t count against vacation.  But for those who can, let me say – this is a very good thing to work out.  At first, I was intimidated.  I know my wife spends a lot of time pouring over lesson plans, and making sure to hit every subject needed throughout the week.

Then I remembered the substitute teachers I had in school.  🙂

So I ended up taking our girls to the local children’s museum, where we worked on our “ABC’s” .  For Art, we painted on a giant glass wall, talking about Noah and the Ark.  For Bubbles, we played with giant bubble wands, talking about air and the reflections of light…but mostly just getting dads hair wet trying to make a bubble on him.  For Climbing, we climbed all the way to the top of the middle climbing…structure thing.  I made sure to take a potty break before that, thankfully, remembering being at the top of a giant climbing structure usually makes one have to pee.

We closed our morning together with running a couple errands, and some McDonalds out, coming home just in time to nap.

It was a great day of exploring with my girls, incredibly valuable “daddy/daughter” time, and Mrs. Anderson got a sick day.  I’m sure she would have rather had a day off when she felt great, so perhaps we’ll have to work on a “teacher in-service” day of some sort.  To any spouse of a primary homeschool parent, I definitely recommend this, if you can make it work.  It’s a great reminder of what our spouse goes through daily, and gives them a much needed break.  Time invested with our children is always worth more than it costs.