A letter to all the moms like myself, who never expected to be homeschooling their kids ….
Dear new homeschooling mom,
I imagine you’re likely feeling frazzled, as though you’re being pulled in way too many directions, and you may be super overwhelmed right now.
If that’s you – first, please know that you’re not alone and you’re normal. So normal!
You didn’t plan for this and you probably never imagined yourself responsible for overseeing the education of your child(ren).
On top of that, you may be feeling the weight of uncertainty in your or your spouse’s job situation compounded by the all the feels a year and a half into a pandemic.
No one would choose to start homeschooling under these conditions.
So. Stick with me for a moment for a short pep talk?
Step one, please give yourself massive amounts of grace! You’re going to need it. Next, please keep giving your kiddos grace upon grace. No one saw this coming, most especially them. If we think change is hard to deal with, it can be even harder for many kids – especially without adult coping mechanisms.
And these kids? Well, we all know they tend to take their cues from us. So it will be far easier on all of you, if you lower your expectations now, sister. Otherwise, by the end of week one or week two…. You could be looking into one or more little mirrors, reflecting the picture of stress and exasperation you’re showing them. Cause as they say, when mama aint happy…. Aint nobody happy! Am I right?
Now that I have your attention, my biggest goal is to send lots of love and remind you you’re not alone. I remember, what it was like to start homeschooling under less than ideal conditions. And my situation was far easier than many of yours.
I too, never imagined myself becoming a homeschooling mom. But just like you, we had to do what it took to make things work.
See, my husband had already traveled full time for one year. Then, we were told that if we took an out of state move, his employer would get him off the road, so naturally, that’s what we did. We thought it was the opportunity we’d been waiting for! But instead, once we moved in and left behind everything we’d ever known, he left too. Let’s just say, nothing worked out as we’d been told it would.
We didn’t sign up for the situation we were in either. But you know what? Looking back now, I wouldn’t even change a thing!
I started homeschooling my girls so we could have the flexibility to be with their Dad, since he continued traveling for work full time. We started right in the middle of the school year, and we just figured it out as we went along!
We made lots of mistakes, dealt with many struggles, and learned to give ourselves lots of grace. We found others who were also homeschooling and listened to the wisdom of those who’d walked that road before us. We loved the amazing people homeschooling brought into our lives and fell in love with the flexibility of the lifestyle.
One of my kids ultimately chose to go back to public and then later she went on to private school. The other still happily homeschools to this day. She intends to be a homeschool graduate and loves working on all different grade levels, depending on the subject. Homeschooling has this unexpected way of meeting you right where you’re at!
Mama, my prayer for you is that no matter how long homeschooling may continue for your family, you make messy, beautiful, tear-filled, heartfelt, joy filled memories that none of you will ever forget. These days will surely go down in family history books!
Sending love and big hugs, from one homeschool mom to another!
PS – Check out the rest of my homeschooling posts here on the blog if you’d like more encouragement and inspiration.
Sybil
