Homeschooling, Cleaning and Nurturing, how I do it all: Part 3

Nurturing

Now that you have seen How we clean and how we home school you are probably thinking I run my family like a military school.  That is definitely not the case even though we are pretty strict.

What does it even mean to nurture?  The conversation I talked about in this post left me feeling as if people thought I couldn't possibly nurture my children as well as clean and home school.  At the time I thought Nurture just meant to hold them , to hug them, to kiss them. If you know me well you know that I am not touchy feely.  So with that definition of nurture in my mind I felt like a great big loser.  Now don't get me wrong I hug, kiss, and hold my babies but sometimes it takes a lot of pushing myself aside.  Anyway on with the real meaning of nurture.

Nurture-verb

1. care for and encourage the growth or development of

1. help or encourage the development of

1. cherish (a hope, belief, or ambition).

Nurture-Noun

1. the process of caring for and encouraging the growth or development of someone or something.

1. upbringing, education, and environment, contrasted with inborn characteristics as an influence on or determinant of personality

Synonyms- upbringing, rearing, raising, child care; training, education
So Now that I have the real definition of nurture I feel so much better.  Nurturing isn't really a separate area of life.  Nurturing is homeschooling, It is cleaning and teaching chores. So because I love lists I am going to give you a list of what nurturing is to me.

• Nurturing is raising your kids to be a functional beneficial part of society

• Nurturing is giving them an education whether public, private or home school

• Nurturing is encouraging them to do good and to press on when things get tough

• Nurturing is providing a safe place for them

• Nurturing is believing in  them

• Nurturing is letting them fail sometimes

• Nurturing is letting them explore

I could go on forever with this list but I think you get it.  So I am not sure how to share how I nurture all five of my children.  I believe it is a God given desire for me.  I believe it comes naturally.  I don't believe nurturing has gotten harder as we have added to our family.   So how do I nurture five kids?  I live life.  I teach them.  I discipline them.   I let them grow.  I let them make choices.  I let them think, but most importantly I cherish them.