I'm sure you've all seen the countdown chain idea many people use to give kids a tangible way to see how many days are left until Christmas or another big event. I’ve turned to countdown chains many times during the years for something fun for both me and the kids to do. My favorite chains are the ones we make to count down to a vacation.
When my husband was finally finishing graduate school after 4 long years, we were all barely able to think about how we were going to make it through his final semester. We had a family, he worked more than full time, and he had been going to graduate school during evenings and weekends. We were all more than ready to be done! We decided to make a countdown chain, but it was too daunting to include all the days left, so we made a chain for each week. On each Sunday night, we would make a big deal of cutting the chain as we got ready to start a new week. Now, with less than 7 weeks to go in my son’s final year of homeschool, I decided we are ready for another chain!
The chain is really for all of us because we are all very ready to make it to the end of the school year. It’s been a really tough one for me because I’ve had two high school students in a very intensive online learning program. Honestly, I wasn’t sure I was going to make it at some points. I can see the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel now though, and I’m excited. Oh, and I’m also scared out of my mind for all the stuff ahead of us, but at least I will have gotten my guy graduated from high school. There were plenty of days in his early schooling career when I wondered how we would ever get there. He’s been going to school since he was 3 years old (important for someone with autism). He spent many years at a special school for children with autism. He spent a few years in the public school system. He has spent 6 years at home with me doing an online virtual academy. It’s been one of the greatest blessings of our lives to be able to learn and grow together. My daughter joined us in our homeschool adventure 4 years ago and I love being able to spend my day with both of my children. It’s not always easy, but it’s very rewarding. And boy oh boy, do we enjoy our summers!
Are you counting down to anything? You might want to consider making a paper chain – it’s very therapeutic!
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By the way, today's the day to take 12 pictures if you are doing the 12 of 12 project!
