Happy Friday, Busy Moms! I’ve had the pleasure of visiting with this Friday’s Friend, Stef Layton, at a conference recently, and she’s so much fun! Not to mention helpful, cheerful and knowledgeable. You’ll love what she has for us today! ~
It felt like the same day again. Every day had been painted a dull shade of gray. This was my life, homeschooling.
It entered every conversation. It lingered on the table. It left messes on the floor. It crept into our family vacations. Homeschool was poison ivy, it began to itch and I couldn’t get away from it.
Reading, writing, math, science, history, geography, and art. Repeat. Repeat again.
I turned on autopilot.
Most curriculum taught itself while I daydreamed of beach vacations and owning a kayak. Surely having a kayak would make life more interesting. A crock pot cook book would make life more interesting at this point. So I bought one.
I was fading. I survived each day to get up another morning and do it all over again.
Feel that way sometimes? As if homeschool curriculum is all you ever talk about, homeschool lessons all you plan, homeschool blogs all you read, and homeschool lectures all you give? It is here until my kids go off to college. And by the current threats of my 5yr old … that’s never gonna happen.
One day I was drinking coffee and I read the mug, “This is the day which the LORD has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:24. I had to laugh, the psalmist was not a homeschooler.
“This was just Tuesday or was it Thursday? It doesn’t matter. I’m not even going to change out of my pajamas and no one is going to notice! Another day at our dining room table fighting over dried glue sticks and crying over subtraction word problems. This is no day to rejoice. Surely I’m being punished for skipping public school all those times”.
Then the craziest thought train wrecked my pity party, what do you want to do while you have this time?
It didn’t take but a heartbeat to start listing all of the things I had wanted to do. I wanted to learn how to play guitar. I wanted to watch cooking shows. I wanted to speak Spanish. I wanted to learn about art history. I wanted to read Greek Myths. I wanted to expand my vocabulary. I wanted to write greeting card for DaySpring. I wanted to crochet scarves for the homeless shelter. I wanted to grow fresh herbs.
As if someone had thrown ice water in my face I suddenly realized the amazing opportunity I have homeschooling. You and I have the one thing everyone else wants, time! We have time to keep learning and trying new things.
Homeschooling doesn’t have to be just about what your kids are learning. Homeschooling can be about what I’m learning! We have time to grow our skills and passions. We have time to learn something totally new!
We can keep growing, but its not going to happen on autopilot.
What do you want to learn? What do you want to try? You have the best supportive classmates right beside you at this very moment! Make a bucket list of things you want to learn and discover them together.
Enjoy today, rejoice today – learn something new together today!
Stef considers herself a relaxed homeschooling mom to two energetic superheroes. She believes in hands-on interest-led learning. Married to a busy traveling golf course architect, they have taken their homeschool on the road to enjoy many field trips. Stef is the author of Educating Laytons, Homeschool Community Manager for The Happy Housewife Conference Coordinator for The Titus 2:1 Conference and Creator of The Homeschool Village.
I am in this place and I have not even begun to homeschool. I stay home with my 2 daughters ages 3 & 1 and have my work cut out for me. This helped me today and puts things in perspective. : ) Thanks.
What a great post. Your words of encouragement are a blessing and certainly something to keep sharing with others.
Thank you!
How refreshing and encouraging!! We can all learn together! What a great opportunity to let the kids see homeschooling mama’s as students. I can think of so many benefits. Thanks for the insight, Stef.
After one year of homeschool this is where I live. I still struggle to get outside the box. I like work texts and tests and measurement. This does not make for an exciting adventure. It makes for a grumpy mommy and stressed kids. Maybe today we will go do something different. Thanks for the encouragement.
I’m totally with you Angie. I’m a teacher, so it is hard for me to see past the “schoolroom” mentality at home: lesson plans, tests, schedules. I’ve done better this year, but it is hard to stop counting lessons & days to make sure we’re gonna be done on time.
Boy, Do I feel this way? I have 4 little ones seven and under. I found out recently I’m pregnant again. I’m thrilled, But so sleepy and On Autopilot. All I want to do is take a nap. My husband comes home everyday asking if we “did anything” and my only response is…. I thought about it. Pray for ME!!!!
Such an encouragement today! Nearing the end of my fifth pregnancy (fourth live baby), as well as wanting to wrap up our ‘formal’ home-school curriculum, I often find myself on autopilot…thanks for the reminder of the blessing God has given us!
Love this so much! Every year – sometimes twice a year – I find myself tweaking our schedule, routines, and such, focusing so much on the details of the process and forgetting the passion that is supposed to be behind it. Thanks so much for the encouragement to not lose sight of the forest for the trees.