{"id":891,"date":"2020-05-14T07:00:36","date_gmt":"2020-05-14T07:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/classicalconversations.com\/blog\/brrburburdened\/"},"modified":"2025-05-01T22:17:15","modified_gmt":"2025-05-01T22:17:15","slug":"brr-bur-burdened","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/classicalconversations.com\/blog\/brr-bur-burdened\/","title":{"rendered":"Brr\u2026 Bur\u2026 Burdened"},"content":{"rendered":"
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As a child, I loved visiting my cousins in the Virginia countryside, especially in the winter months. Our visits included long rambles in the fields and woods surrounding their farmhouse. We waded through tall grasses up to our waists, clearing new paths like Lewis and Clark or the Ingalls family of Little House on the Prairie.<\/p>\n

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\"aThose adventures<\/a> were usually followed by the long, tedious process of picking the burs out of our jeans and sweaters and socks. They were everywhere! We were amazed at the sheer number of tiny pricklers that had attached themselves to us without our awareness. It was a relief to leave the last one beside the steps and go inside where it was warm.<\/p>\n

Our woodsy adventures are on my mind as the school year comes to an end and a new one looms, and it’s making me think about what it means to be\u00a0renewed<\/strong>. Does it mean striving for improvement through a combination of sweat, self-help books, calendars, checklists, and inspirational music? Does it mean reinventing oneself as a different kind of person\u2014more organized, more fit, more patient? We must be new, new, NEW! I don\u2019t know about you, but the very thought makes me weary.<\/p>\n

Yet, then again, the word is \u201crenew\u201d not just \u201cnew.\u201d There\u2019s a sense of returning, not simply going forward.\u00a0What if being renewed\u2014made fresh again\u2014is more like picking off the burs as you go home to get warm? Some burs are obvious ones, like the idea that I would\/could\/should learn three new languages, in addition to working full time and feel guilty if I lapse. Let\u2019s pick that bur off my sleeve. There are downright ridiculous ones, like the idea that I need to keep my tabletop clean in case of unexpected company. That bur gets buried in my jeans. There are sneaky ones, too, like the idea that I have to please everyone, or I am a failure. That one gets down in the toe of my left sock and pokes me for months.<\/p>\n

As a homeschooling parent, I imagine you might have some burs as well \u2014 unnecessary or unhealthy expectations that cling to you or your family. I asked around, and here are some of the responses I received from other moms and dads:<\/p>\n