Share 4 somethings – February 2025 edition

It’s the last Saturday of the month, and that means it is time for Jenn’s Share 4 Somethings linkup. This is where we each share some things we loved, some things we learned, some things that went well, and some things we let go of this month.

Some things we loved

I love how my son’s graduation announcements turned out. I ordered them from Homeschool Diploma, and am really happy with the end product.

Some things we learned

I learned that reading fiction is a stress reliever for me. I was an avid reader when I was in school, often checking out a dozen books from the library and reading them all in a week or less. I worked at the library in my hometown until I graduated college, and books have been a big part of my life.

But when I began my career, I had to spend hours outside of work studying for my certification exams, and the last thing I wanted to do with my free time was stare at another book. I never stopped reading non-fiction, but had pretty much given up fiction. I even told myself reading fiction was a waste of time.

Over the Christmas holiday break, I decided to read a couple of fiction books and I was struck by how much stress just disappeared. I’ve read several more fiction books since then, and I notice a big difference between an evening spent reading and an evening spent scrolling social media or listening to podcasts. So I’m making an effort to incorporate reading fiction (including listening to audiobooks) into my regular routine.

I may write a post about the books I’ve read, but for now I’ll just share one of the ones that I read over Christmas break – The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins kept me enthralled the whole way thru, and still surprised me at the end.

Some things that went well

The absolute top thing that went well for me this month was the intentional focus on spending quality time with the people I love. I work full time at a demanding job, homeschool, and try to ensure we are eating healthy homemade meals. Time is tight around here. And I’m an introvert, so I really don’t mind if I don’t leave the house for days and days on end.

But I also find the most joy and contentment when I have strong relationships. In February, I intentionally chose

• an overnight date night with my husband
• two evenings spent with a close friend
• a day spent with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law
• an evening spent with family
• dinner with my in-laws
• two afternoons spent with girlfriends and their kids
• some time nearly every evening spent with my husband and sons
• a weekend trip to spend time with my parents
• a video call with my sister, niece and nephew

Some things we let go

Hmm, this is the hard one for me. I tend towards being a control freak. But the truth is, I’m not in control even when I think I am. And I wouldn’t want to be, because I have faith that God’s plan is better than my plan. I’ve seen it play out over and over in my life. And yet, there are definitely some things that I’m trying very hard to control even as I type this. So maybe I’ll have a better report next month?

I have let go of the need to monitor my older son’s school work at least. He is a senior in high school, and taking all his classes through our community college. He is responsible, and has done well. Yet, as a homeschool mom, it has been hard for me to not intervene when I see him leaving assignments to the last minute.

This semester, I told him that I am here if he needs me, but otherwise he is ready to handle this himself. And I haven’t checked up on him. I haven’t looked at this grades or his due dates. Occasionally I will ask him how school is going in general, but he usually just says “fine” and we leave it at that. He has asked me to tutor him a bit on his statistics class, but not all that much. Our relationship has far less friction this semester, and that has made me much happier.