I'm not enjoying every minute of this homeschool journey. And that's ok.
Some of you might not know this about me, but I actually homeschool my kids. I know, I know. It's shocking. I just got back from my yearly homeschool convention trip, and it was amazing as always. This year was especially good for a couple of reasons. First, I actually had a budget to BUY something! It's always more fun to buy the books I need and want instead of caressing them lovingly before putting them back in a stack only to be picked up by some other mom that surely won't enjoy them as much as I would. I bought a few things that I'd been thinking about since last year's convention. So that was exciting. More importantly though is that it really helped me get over my homeschool slump.
I'll let you know something else about me that's going to be fairly scandalous and shocking. We've moved a lot in the last few years. 5 1/2 times. The half could also be considered an extended move since it took a month from start to finish. It's been somewhat...let's say...disruptive to our daily lives. This school year was so promising. And then in September (you know, when a school year BEGINS), our lives fell apart. I don't know about you, but it's hard for me to concentrate on things like activities and checking off all of my self-made homeschool boxes when I'm wondering when my husband will get a new job.
As my heart has been healing and learning that I can actually make plans again, fill out a calendar a month or two in advance again, that last piece that needed to come together was school. This weekend one of the speakers said something amazingly hilarious.
And yes. It's true. We have been that family. Life has happened multiple times over. Death, sickness, moves, mental breakdowns where I just. can't. fight. over. one. more. math. problem. And I shouldn't feel bad about it really. I mean, most kids get a whole summer off for school while mine will be doing math by the pool. It's not like we're not covering what we need to cover...eventually.
This year has been especially hard for me though. I mean, every year is hard in some ways. But this year was a tough year in a string of tough years. I am just not that mom that loves homeschooling for the sake of homescchooling. I don't. I don't love it. I don't revel in pinteresty homeschool crafts and activities. Let me throw a book at the kids, have them tell me about the book, write about the book, or draw about the book. And let's be done quickly so we can do something else, please.
Every year we stick with it because no matter how much I want to load those kids onto the yellow school bus, I still know it's the best thing for our family. And finally. Finally! I have the inspiration to keep going and and even enjoy the journey again. We CAN do 8th grade! I CAN teach my third child how to read. Which by the way is so much easier than potty training. I'd rather teach a kid to read any day than potty train.
I don't feel guilty about not enjoying homeschooling half the time. I see the pressure to "love every minute" and I just don't feel it. It's a lie. Where did that come from? That lie that we're supposed to love and enjoy every second of life, and if we're not, we're doing it wrong. It's not true in anything and it only leads to disappointment. Those couples that think they have to be happy every single married second of their lives? Yeah. That's stupid. And it's a yellow brick road to the emerald city of divorce. Sometimes things are hard and unpleasant, but we keep doing it because it's the best thing. Homeschooling for us is still the best thing. So I keep doing it. If something else becomes the best thing, then I'll do that.
Today, I'm honestly just thankful that I have the inspiration to keep trying to do this homeschool thing well for one more year. =) Until next year's convention...
I'll let you know something else about me that's going to be fairly scandalous and shocking. We've moved a lot in the last few years. 5 1/2 times. The half could also be considered an extended move since it took a month from start to finish. It's been somewhat...let's say...disruptive to our daily lives. This school year was so promising. And then in September (you know, when a school year BEGINS), our lives fell apart. I don't know about you, but it's hard for me to concentrate on things like activities and checking off all of my self-made homeschool boxes when I'm wondering when my husband will get a new job.
As my heart has been healing and learning that I can actually make plans again, fill out a calendar a month or two in advance again, that last piece that needed to come together was school. This weekend one of the speakers said something amazingly hilarious.
"Homeschoolers lie all the time! We lie about how much school we've done! It might have been a day...or a week...or a month since we've actually sat down and officially done math!"
And yes. It's true. We have been that family. Life has happened multiple times over. Death, sickness, moves, mental breakdowns where I just. can't. fight. over. one. more. math. problem. And I shouldn't feel bad about it really. I mean, most kids get a whole summer off for school while mine will be doing math by the pool. It's not like we're not covering what we need to cover...eventually.
This year has been especially hard for me though. I mean, every year is hard in some ways. But this year was a tough year in a string of tough years. I am just not that mom that loves homeschooling for the sake of homescchooling. I don't. I don't love it. I don't revel in pinteresty homeschool crafts and activities. Let me throw a book at the kids, have them tell me about the book, write about the book, or draw about the book. And let's be done quickly so we can do something else, please.
Every year we stick with it because no matter how much I want to load those kids onto the yellow school bus, I still know it's the best thing for our family. And finally. Finally! I have the inspiration to keep going and and even enjoy the journey again. We CAN do 8th grade! I CAN teach my third child how to read. Which by the way is so much easier than potty training. I'd rather teach a kid to read any day than potty train.
I don't feel guilty about not enjoying homeschooling half the time. I see the pressure to "love every minute" and I just don't feel it. It's a lie. Where did that come from? That lie that we're supposed to love and enjoy every second of life, and if we're not, we're doing it wrong. It's not true in anything and it only leads to disappointment. Those couples that think they have to be happy every single married second of their lives? Yeah. That's stupid. And it's a yellow brick road to the emerald city of divorce. Sometimes things are hard and unpleasant, but we keep doing it because it's the best thing. Homeschooling for us is still the best thing. So I keep doing it. If something else becomes the best thing, then I'll do that.
Today, I'm honestly just thankful that I have the inspiration to keep trying to do this homeschool thing well for one more year. =) Until next year's convention...
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