25 Confessions of a Homeschooling Mom

Realizing You Can't Do It All & Knowing It's Okay!

     I created this blog because when other moms heard how many children I had, my own educational accomplishments, and my career pursuits, they would regularly say, "You're a Super Mom!" The reality was and still is, I'm NOT! I wanted to give my readers a glimpse into my world not to show everyone that I'm not perfect (although that is very true!), but to perhaps allow them to see that what they are going through, thinking, feeling, and getting frustrated with in their own homeschooling journeys, I've gone through (and often still am) and I understand.

     So today, I want to present to you a few confessions of my homeschooling journey in the hopes that you might have an identifiable moment that makes you feel a bit more normal and less alone in the experience than you thought!

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Truths about my homeschooling and life:

1. I wake up in the middle of the night sometimes thinking of the shortfalls my students have in their learning.
2. I plan lessons for filling learning gaps during those hours I'm battling lies Satan is hurling at me.
3. I feel more challenged in my homeschooling now with my youngest three than I did with my older five! I don't live and breathe curriculum searching and worksheet printouts like I used to.
4. I wonder if they will ever learn to type or write a complete sentence beginning with a capital letter and ending with the proper punctuation.
5. I know that training their character is a part of their education, but wonder if I am doing the job to their benefit.
6. I feel like I am pursuing my own dreams and leaving my children's education hanging.
7. I know they are doing well, but wonder if I could or should be doing more with them daily.
8. I understand that knowing how and when to utilize resources such as math tutoring will benefit them far greater than passing out another worksheet.
9. I feel jealous of Michelle Duggar teachig her children, keeping her house tidy, and still writing and going on speaking engagements.
10. Encouraging my children in their future careers is a priority and plotting ways to align them to reach those goals becomes a strong goal for me.
11. Bible reading is encouraged daily, even if just a few verses.
12. I don't take the time to do regular devotionals with my children and I feel very guilty about that.
13. After 20 years of using much of the same curriculum I got bored and decided it was time for a change.
14. I enjoy helping other moms find positive ways and solutions for homeschooling their children.
15. I believe a parent spending 4 hours a day teaching their child is an investment in that child's future life even if the teaching time is during non-traditional school times.
16. I believe parents are more capable of teaching their own children than they believe.
17. I believe that if everyone homeschooled their children, instilled Godly morals, values and beliefs in them, and held them to a higher standard and greater degree of accountability, the overall character of our nation would change for the better.
18. When my three littles were younger, I thought I had more time to teach them the basics and recently realized that in just 6 years, my homeschooling years will come to an end.
19. I dote on my children's accomplishments academically and try to hide their failures because I view their lack of knowledge or understanding as a failure on my part.
20. It's okay to acknowledge my part in their learning gaps, but I must also allow my students to be accountable for their roles, too.
21. I believe that unschooling has a place in education, but I also use this method of teaching and learning as a crutch for allowing them to explore topics my children are interested in learning about.
22. My house needs to be picked up more often than it stays picked up.
23. I find areas of the house I enjoy cleaning and work on keeping those picked up while assigning the rooms I don't like picking up (the living room, dining room and family room!) to the children as part of their chores.
24. A date with my husband is often a run to Wal-Mart of Lowes without the kids.
25. I'm not perfect, but I do encourage learning as often as possible whether academic, socially, building character, exploring topics of interest that may fade quickly, and pursuit of future careers.

     Let me encourage by telling you, there is no such thing as a Super Mom; only the illusion of such. God made you capable for schooling your children and caring for your family in a way that only you could do. He made Michelle Duggar capable of what she does and I don't have to try to be her! And for all the things I do that may make me seem "Super," there are far more that prove that concept wrong! 

     When you think, "How does she homeschool, do online college classes, work as a member of the Civil Air Patrol, co-edit a magazine, drive her kids to their activities, volunteer at church, take time for writing a blog and contribute to two others, write novels, work as a Facebook administrator, keep her house clean, and make it all look so easy?" Please remember or look back on these confessions! 

I can't do it all myself. I can't make it through the day without the strength my Savior promised me (I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!). I am not perfect, and I daily fail. But the One who gave me a passion for writing, for being a mom, for homeschooling, for learning, for working with youth, for discipling and mentoring women, and for being a wife worthy for my husband makes it all possible!

Blessings!