This homeschool mom {and so many others like me} don’t have our acts together. We aren’t as patient with our kids as we need to be, we don’t have the organizational skills of Martha Stewart. In fact, most days my husband comes home and I tell him that I just can’t do this another day.
And most of all, we are in desperate need of His new mercies…every day, every morning…every single moment.
In an effort to ENCOURAGE and BLESS homeschool moms, I have this series of many homeschool moms sharing their real moments with us. I’m so thankful for each of these posts and how different we all are. I’m so thankful that I don’t have to pretend to have it all together. We are a blessing to those around us when we can be real and honest and share our struggles.
I pray this series will bless you!!
Series beginning & introduction
Post #2 ~ a look into the trash bag from my van ~ yep, you read that right. Aren’t you trying to eat more healthy foods?
Post #3 ~ a guest post from Dianna ~ school at 8am? not usually!
Post #4 ~ a guest post from Jodi ~ who needs a school room?
Post #5 ~ my personal confession ~ I don’t always enjoy homeschooling
Post #6 ~ a guest post from Sara ~ homeschooling can include chaos
Post #7 ~ a guest post from Karyn ~ do you think all homeschool moms are organized?
Post #8 ~ a guest post from Robin ~ her NOT school-y school room
Post #9 ~ a guest post from Stacie ~ the illusion & reality of school at her house
Post #10 ~ a guest post from Reilly ~ a homeschool STUDENT shares her perspective
Post #11 ~ a guest post from Lexi ~ loneliness as a homeschool mom
Post #12 ~ a guest post from Miranda ~ homeschooling with special needs in the family
Post #13 ~ a guest post from Heather ~ when others don’t like your choices
Post #14 ~ a guest post from Nicole ~ do you believe any of these myths about homeschoolers?
Post #15 ~ a guest post from Debbie ~ anxiety & getting it all done!
Post #16 ~ a guest post from Christi ~ kids growing up, letting go of control
Post #17 ~ a guest post from Lauren ~ homeschooling with a new baby!
Post #18 ~ a guest post from Janeen ~ divorce & homeschooling
Post #19 ~ another confession from me ~ I share about my piles
Post #20 ~ a guest post from Victoria ~ a few ideas for making it through hard days
Post #21 ~ another post from me ~ dispelling the myth that homeschooled children must be perfectly well behaved!
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Great series! I’m enjoying reading it!
Thank you so much, Debbie!
I’ll have to contact you about this – great series
Kelli, I’d love to have a post from you!! 🙂
Fabulous! Sharing!
Thank you, Kendra!!
What a great series! Love it. I’m a firm believer in keeping it real.
Wow! What an awesome list! Love it!
Remind yourself often that your kids are getting older and more mature with each and every passing year. Remind yourself that they are capable at this age for certain things and that they will become more capable with each and every passing month, year, etc. Remind yourself that they WILL one day become capable and able to take over projects entirely on their own that you were once totally responsible for. And, that one day they will be gone and on their own.
Believe it or not, children really do like showing off things they can accomplish around the house. Every once in awhile and out of the blue offer them a quarter for completing a certain chore. Don’t make a habit of it though or else they’ll come to expect it. Let it be a surprise and very random.
Or, when you are out, tell them they are getting that (ex. Happy Meal) because of the great job they did on such and such or how you noticed they were working together nicely to get such and such done.
In our house, we believe that housework is a group effort and we all work at cleaning up together every room, (even the classroom space and their bedrooms–every once in a while if it’s overwhelming). That way, the kids see the adults working too and are much more likely to pitch in with less griping and complaining. We give them specifics to do that can be easily accomplished so the job doesn’t seem so big.
Let yourself actually use an entire school day, if necessary, for you and your kids to do whatever cleaning or tidying up that will make you all feel better. Consider it as a lesson/ project for “Home Ec” and mark it down as such on your lesson plan/lesson log. Give yourself and your kids the true credit it deserves. This IS an IMPORTANT life long lesson for the kids to learn. Just as important, if not more so, than that math or science lesson. They will be using “Home Ec” every day for the rest of their lives. Teach them they can put a priority on cooking, cleaning, and keeping a house & home. That way you’ll be teaching your daughters they have just as much value doing work in keeping a home as “out in the workforce”. You’ll be teaching your son to value the work it takes to keep up a home. He may even pitch in a little more when he has his own home. Remind yourself they will need these skills when in their own initial apartments, away at college, etc. By teaching them to put a priority and a certain level of respect for household chores, your daughters will be able to expect the respect due for these types of tasks and your son will value the work his future spouse will bring to the home. It will even the playing field in their future relationships and own homemaking. Homemaking is not trivial.
I would expect that most homeschoolers’ houses have their moments of being less tidy and clean or downright horribly messy, than others. Ours certainly is! There’s days I’d worry about Social Services showing up! 🙂 Other days, we could create a YouTube video on How To Keep A Clean and Organized Home. 🙂
One of the best pieces of advice I received when first researching how to homeschool, was a blog post stating forget about keeping a perfectly appointed, tidy, and clean house. The blogger rightfully told new homeschoolers to remember they are at home all day with their kids, thus you are going to have more interaction within that space where messes are going to occur. Remind yourself that the school system has a whole team of maintenance and cleaning staff, AND secretarial staff to answer emails and phone calls, AND a cooking staff, etc. The teacher in a regular classroom does not handle all of these things. So, it’s ok to give yourself and your kids a break on this front.
In our home, some days we can just charge ahead with the traditional school subjects. On other days we have to take more time to catch up around the house. On, yet, other days a simple few minutes or a half hour here or there between lessons are all that is needed to keep things manageable. I think it’s probably more normal in the homeschooling home to have untidiness and things that need to be done than having a perfectly clean home all or most of the time.
It’s ok. You all are normal. 🙂
And remember…I promise you…The kids really will grow up and move out with some of their stuff. When all else fails, watch an episode of hoarders. You’ll feel a lot better and that small mess won’t seem so big.
~A neighbor in SW Virginia.