day no. 14,902: the logistics of educating growing boys

Last night (6/27/19) I listed to this podcast while running on the treadmill. Tim Bayly made a couple of statements that really impacted me and have gotten me thinking ahead.

One thing he said was that young men should not be homeschooled by their mothers. By the time they are young men, they ought not be under the regular authority of a woman in order to develop and transition to their role of being men building a life and home of their own. His point was not that homeschool is not ok for older children, but that having your primary authority be a female, for young men, was not ok. 

This got me thinking about ways to become my boys primary educational authority by the time they transition into young adulthood (13-14 years old through 18 and leaving the home). This would either involve me finding a way to add it to my current responsibilities during a time that would work well for everyone involved or making the time by changing my current responsibilities. Still just a seed of a thought less than 12 hours old, but it is something I need to run out since this stage will be here sooner or later for Atticus who turns 11 this December.

The other thing he said was that men should find ways to invite their children into their work and the things they love. This got me thinking about my current situation. I can't really bring my children to work to sit in the cubicle with me. One, I don't think it would be allowed. Secondly, it would not be much of an experience for my children. Although, they would get a glimpse into the humdrummery of hard work for the sake of feeding and providing for those you love.

But that being said, it did get my wheels turning on considering what occupations I could in a short time pursue enough to be able to do them on my own, be self-employed and able to bring my sons along with me and teach them a trade. A trade is the most obvious way to accomplish this as far as I can initially tell. If I could develop a trade, I could get paid, bring my children along with me to work, teach them my work and also complement my desires with Tim's first point in creating time to be their primary educator as they transition into young adulthood. 

This is all very fresh, but it has my mind spinning on creative ways to try to accomplish these things for the good of my sons and the glory of God.