Okay so it’s been ages since I’ve written. A dear friend reminded me of that. 
I’ve been feeling stuff lately… stuff that I haven’t been able to verbalise until now.
My days have seemed, at times, to drag on while the years have just flown by!
I often wondered why there weren’t many parents of teens around the forums. I wanted to glean from them but they often weren’t around and if they were, they didn’t seem to be talking about the same kind of homeschooling stuff that I wanted to hear. 
Now, I think I am one of them. I love to talk and write about what we’re doing but two things roam through my head.
1. Bookwork/lessons just quietly potters along in the background- like on automatic pilot. I used to get so excited over teaching the children and then seeing them make connections and grow academically but after awhile I realised that they would continue to learn what they needed to know regardless of how much I stressed, planned or pondered over their curriculum. I also find it so much more exciting to witness their character growth, their developments as people rather than simply their academic achievements. But I’m not gonna brag, er write about all that, am I? So, as real life has become *more* in our lives, the bookwork has taken a backseat…which leads me to #2.
2. My children’s privacy. Years ago, online, I used to share my children’s narrations and all those other little things that are cute, funny, weird, unusual and make for good blog fodder but as they’ve gotten older I’ve come to see that I need to respect their privacy more. Yes, many people know of my children. Many people know that one of my children was a very late reader…that one struggles with Maths…etc but as they get older, I don’t want other homeschoolers to recognise them as “Susan’s child- the one that struggled with maths“. So, as my children have started to experience more of life and developed their own interests, I have wanted to share but I respect their privacy as well. But also, who really wants to hear about coffee beans, coffee grinding, and roasting as well as milk texturing and pouring all the time? It’s bad enough that I have to facilitate and encourage a child’s passion, without boring everyone with it. 
The other point is that I have been able to develop my own interests. I have been able to take on my own projects which may or may not be directly related to home education. They are related because home education is a lifestyle but in another sense, they are *my* passion and interest and others will most likely bore of them.
Maybe this is all part of the circle… maybe I’m not meant to stay around forever. I love and appreciate Beverley Paine and her commitment to the homeschooling community and there was a time when I wanted to always be around for supporting the homeschooling community, but I don’t know if it is right for me to do so. Times change, circumstances change, movements evolve…I need to move on too.
I’d love to be as articulate as a dear friend of mine who is beginning to post regularly, but alas my verbosity is nowhere near as rich, concise or relevant as her. If you like to be mentally stimulated, do check out BeyondBluestockings.
So, if you wanna hear all about coffee, Air Force Cadets, web design, web tools, Bible study, my latest rants on social issues and what we’re having for tea, feel free to visit my blog as I may decide to post here. Then again, I may not. I don’t know. I just know that I’m not the right person to be raving on about curriculum choices and occupying toddlers. Who knows? Maybe it will all come back to me when I’m a grandma eh? 
You might also like to read the following posts:
About Susan
I also think that when you’ve homeschooled for awhile, things just fall into a rhythm and there is less to write about. Learning is living and vice verse. Life continues and so we talk and write about life – which has become our homeschooling.
Well, we forgive you for not blogging lots lately my sweet friend
Enjoy this new phase of your life… and your new ventures! It sounds like fun I reckon
Hi Susan,
Thanks for being so honest about where you are at. I’ll store away some of those thoughts about respecting privacy as my children grow. It’s an important point to consider.
I usually look at your blog to keep up with YOU, not just your thoughts on curricula etc.
I’ll look forward to still dropping in – that invitation of enjoying a cuppa and “visiting” is great.
God bless,
Well my friend, it may not be the time to write about curriculum and toddlers, but I know you have a lot to share.
I know this because I’ve discovered treasures in your conversation. I know this also, because you have a biblical mandate to teach the younger women. There’s a lot more we need to learn than just tweaking learning pathways
So while I accept that you have had a world of things going on, and that during that time you have still generously, and more than generously, given of your time to the homeschooling community in making the forum a comprehensive, practical, awesome gift to us, I’m hoping you will consider this time of personal change to be a rest, not a retirement
Joi x
Joi http://beyondbluestockings.wordpress.com.A Time of Wandering and Loss
Hi Susan,
I found your blog from a link to your post on Robin’s HOW blog. I can relate to the words you’ve written here. We are in our final years of homeschooling and I don’t often see too many talking about the upper grades. I’ll have to bookmark your site.
Anyway, I really enjoyed your post!
Blessings!