Snow Day Blessings

As I write this, I’m on day two of snow days trapped in our home with our four young children. We’ve watched more TV than I can stand. I can only say no to hot chocolate so many times. But the true struggle has been the challenge of my spouse faithfully working her night shifts these last two evenings. She is caring for the homeless, the poor, and all those that are unable to get to their primary care provider during these ice storms. The challenge is sleeping at six o’clock in the morning while the four young children continue to exist loudly downstairs. It falls to me to ensure that we have a quiet home and children who do not hate one another, or their father for that matter. Challenge, nervously, accepted.

I’m thankful for these spurts of rest in the spring semester because much like for students, the spring can seem long for teachers too. Still, there are difficulties. How do you explain “no running” to boys of four and two? I could use the “fear of God” like I did yesterday, but today my goal was to let go of expectations and to grant them some freedom. Let them make all the crafts they want, watch all the shows they want, and give lots of grace. Guess what?

I have been pleasantly surprised, and it’s largely due to the influence of Pinnacle Classical Academy. My two older children who are currently enrolled have stepped in to become leaders of the younger two children in the most amazing ways. They’ve led crafts with grace. They’ve been generous and wise about what shows they choose to watch, and they’ve practiced their poetry and memory sheets with only a simple reminder. Seeing them turn the chairs around to face the warm, rolling fire in the hearth as my eldest reads to the others has been a blessing from God. She reads with passion as she stumbles through the first Wingfeather book, excitedly trying to capture the fear and playfulness in the tone of her voice.

I’m reminded again of the value of classical Christian education. We strive to give our young students a rich moral imagination, a culture that affects the rhythms and habits of the household, and a love of good, true, and beautiful things, like a good book in front of a fire. I don’t have to explain the goodness to them. They see the blessing of it. We still struggle with staying quiet as their mother sleeps away the long hours of work from the previous night. In the end though, these are formative days in their memory of childhood, and I hope they go back to school appreciating the good blessings of snow days.

Jake Hilburn
Upper School Teacher