Jolabokaflod
Homeschooling has had its fair share of challenges over the years, there’s no doubt about it. But as we end 2020 and look at starting a brand new school year on Monday with ALL THREE girls (how… I don’t know), I can’t help but feel that we’ve been inordinately blessed by it all. We were as prepared as you can be in our home life for what the pandemic brought. And here, at the end of the year, we got one more blessing from our homeschooling life: Jolabokaflod. It is doubtful that I would have heard of this outside of my homeschooling circles, and we are now in love with the Icelandic “Book Flood” Christmas tradition where each family member is gifted a new book (with some chocolate) and everyone spends the day reading.
A book, a bar of chocolate, and Christmas Eve. That’s all you need. Only we have a toddler/preschooler so it wasn’t a blissful read-all-day kind of dream, but it was close!! Willa listened to Ella Enchanted on Audible, Ray swapped back and forth between Flora and Ulysses and The Strange New Dog on the Kindle, Brian worked on Jesus and John Wayne, and I tried to devour Becoming Mrs. Lewis. We drank wassail, listened to quiet Christmas music, had snacks for lunch, and took turns filling Gemma’s love bucket so we could both get chunks of time to read. It was delightful and, Lord willing, you will find us behind a book next year for this same wonderful tradition.
Ruth
I love this tradition. The book “Becoming Mrs. Lewis” is one I’ve read and enjoyed. Reading is a joy. Gerald and I both love reading the Scriptures daily and a chose book before we go to bed. God bless all of you and grant you his wisdom for this next year. Thanks for persevering through a very difficult one. We are praying your teams can return soon to give more support and encouragement for the needed work there. Grateful that one has been able to return. Love and Care from here as well as prayers.
Hannah author
We so deeply appreciate your thoughts and prayers!! I’m only about halfway through “Becoming Mrs. Lewis” but I’m really enjoying it. We were also reading aloud a biography of C.S. Lewis and the unintentional pairing of those two books was perfect. Love to you both!!
Esther C
We’ve thought about this tradition too, as we love the idea of it. Unfortunately, our children have not developed the love of reading just yet. K likes the idea of reading and dreams of one day being able to, so I have hope for her. 😀
Love that you’ve found a new tradition to share! Happy New Year!
Hannah author
Yes!! It certainly takes time, but I’m sure once she goes she’ll really go!! There’s just too many wonderful worlds and people and adventures waiting for her to discover out there. It was a great tradition. I highly recommend!!