Tales of the Heartily Homeschooled: Sample Chapters

Crackers

Rachel:

Keturah looked askance at Tirzah as she dreamed up an unusual recipe.

“You take hot water and a bowl,” Tirzah said. “Then chocolate, so it melts. Yum.”

Keturah nodded slowly, struggling to catch on.

“Then you put marshmallows in,” Tirzah continued. “And gummie bears . . .”

“And crackers,” Keturah said, nodding sagely.

Tirzah stopped short. “No! Not crackers!”

People sometimes assume that big families must turn out little cookie-cutter kids, every one exactly alike. The opposite is true. One of the blessings of a big family is that we get to examine the creativity of God up close―because no two of us are exactly alike in any respect, despite the fact that we share parents, upbringing, and circumstances.

This becomes obvious whenever we have to do anything together. Walk, for instance. Becky and I do not walk well together, because she charges down the road like a woman of purpose, while I like to lollygag. She makes tracks, and I stop to look at them.

Shopping is a similar experience. Becky can be in and out of a store in 15.3 seconds. I usually follow along behind, holding groceries which she thrusts at me, tripping on things and humming with the background music. Of course, our divergent personalities do come together in lovely ways. If the background music is good enough, we just might drop the groceries and waltz.

Our personalities often clashed in our trade show days, when we had to set up booths together. The fudge booth for example. Deborah would have it up in three hours: every piece of chocolate in perfect position, every bit of wrapping crisp and professional, every price tag a work of art. Becky would put it up in five minutes and begin hawking fudge before the dust settled. I’d spend forty-five minutes pulling supplies out of boxes and saying, “Wait, what’s this again?”

Each member of the family has unique strengths, weaknesses, and quirks. We really don’t need a TV for entertainment―it’s just as much fun to sit on the couch and watch the family interact. Deborah and Leah line dance in the living room while Becky and I sing old English folk songs in the kitchen; Jon plays battle scenes from Lord of the Rings while humming his own soundtrack and Tirzah jumps around in circles just for the sheer exhilaration it. Naomi draws and Jimmy hammers at projects in the basement while Anna cuddles with anyone available and Tabithah sits and looks bewildered by it all.

Thanks to my parents, nine sisters, and two brothers, I’ve learned that individuality is best developed when it is forced to rub shoulders with others. I’ve learned that we can meet through our differences as well as through our commonalities, as we discover that crackers may be just what the recipe needs.

Together, we are something much stronger―and definitely more interesting!―than we could ever be alone.

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