Losing Traditions

It's kind of a weird fear, maybe not even a fear really, but the feeling of forgetting to teach my kids all of the "important" songs, traditions, stories, etc.  Sometimes I feel guilty if my kids don't know the words to "I've Been Working on the Railroad" or I haven't forced them to read some classic book.  But I think that's kind of prideful.  Why are my traditions/favorites/experiences the best or most important?  I don't know why I feel like old culture is dying out as if I'm some 100 year old historian who must instill every last detail of civilization into my children.  

The truth is I am teaching them plenty.  Maybe we haven't covered every fairy tale that I adored as a child, learned every song I learned and loved in elementary school, or even done the same type of important unit studies on ancient Greece as I did in high school.  But are those essential?  The things I learned growing up are not the same things my parents learned.  Do I know many of my parents' favorite songs from their childhood?  Of course.  Do I know all of them?  Of course not.  So why my guilt about not teaching every last thing to my kids?

I wonder if in part it is because we homeschool.  There is an endless nagging feeling of not covering everything, let alone the basics of what an education should cover.  Sometimes it feels overwhelming to think of all the things we literally cannot cover in depth because of time constraints.  But that is also the beauty of homeschooling.  When the oldest wants to learn about aircraft design and construction, he can because we have the time and resources.  It comes at a cost, maybe his knowledge of Biology is only surface level, but that's in reality how life is.  I think maybe it's wanting the best for my kids, wanting them to have EVERYTHING, to know everything, etc.  But really, teaching them the things that are most valuable to me, valuable to life, balanced with the things that are most valuable to them is really the right way to go.  Letting go of the guilt of never being/doing enough is hard.

I hope that when my kids are grown I will look back at all the new traditions, the new songs we learned, the things that I did teach them or help them learn and I will be happy.  I think that fear is probably helpful in some ways, that it motivates me even when things are frustrating or feel like they aren't progressing.  But overall I'd love to lose the guilt.  I'm pretty sure they will survive if I never teach them all the songs of the armed forces or whatever else my brain randomly tells me that I forgot to share with them.  We'll see.