Have you ever been disappointed by your expectations?
When I was in kindergarten our classroom had a prize bin. You could earn points throughout the week and exchange them for small trinkets or candy. I’ll never forget the day I spied the most amazing prize I’d ever seen — a shower cap.
Now you might laugh, but little me was thrilled by the idea of keeping my hair dry in the bath. Surely, this was the coolest prize I had ever seen! But there was a problem, it was an expensive prize. I’d need to save my points for a couple weeks in order to earn it.
When the big day finally arrived I was giddy with excitement. I tore open the packaging only to discover my prize wasn’t a shower cap at all! What I held in my hands instead was a handful of . . . candy lipsticks 😳 This, I was certain, was the cruelest trick anyone could play.
Ordinarily, I loved candy lipsticks and I would have been excited! But not this time. My expectations, hopes, and dreams of dry hair had been so disappointed that I couldn’t see the value of what I actually held.
I wonder what expectations you’ve been holding in your homeschool, friend? Perhaps you’ve found those expectations utterly disappointed this year. Maybe, like me, you find yourself holding a prize that looks very different than you had pictured or far different than was advertised. You were so excited and worked towards the expectation. And yet, after all the anticipation you found only disappointment; and perhaps, even grief. In these moments, disappointment has a way of clouding our ability to see what we do have.
As we’ve navigated neruological learning differences in our homeschool this year I have had to learn to set aside my expectations for what I thought things would look like and learn to value the treasures I actually have. In the process, I’ve learned that while my expectations were disappointed, I hold a treasure far more valuable than what I thought I was striving for.
So, I’ll ask you:
✨ What expectations have disappointed you this year?
✨ Is it time to release them and view the treasure you do hold in your hands with new eyes?
It might look different, but maybe — just maybe — what you’ve gained is even better than a silly old shower cap anyway.
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