Some days are just hard.
Those days where you can’t seem to do anything right, when everything you try, and everything you say just seems to anger your teens or soon-to-be teens makes you question yourself. Doubts creep up (or sometimes pounce) on you, and you wonder why no one ever told you that homeschooling would be this hard.
Well here I am – saying it for you, to you, whatever. Sometimes homeschooling is harder than anything you’ll ever attempt. Sometimes, you kids won’t listen to you until you’re screaming at the top of your lungs, or huddled in a corner crying.
Sometimes homeschooling sucks.
It’s days like that, where everything seems to fall apart that I really need to step back and remind myself why we do this. Why subject ourselves and our kids to the stress of doing this education thing ourselves.
Here’s my list, it’s short, and not numbered because they’re all about equal:
- Freedom.
- Responsibility.
- Love.
Freedom
The freedom to educate our kids in the way that is best for them is something so precious I will not easily nor quickly hand it over. Not again. I made that mistake with the twins when they were young (didn’t know any better with the older two), and won’t repeat that particular mistake.
The benefits to having that freedom are many, and not insignificant! One boy loves, and I mean, loves the idea of coding his own game at some point. He’s currently going through every single Bitsbox in his subscription and doing every single project multiple times with different variations each time. This sometimes takes hours and hours, and he would not have that freedom in school. The other just started a subscription to Tinker Crate – he’s my engineer boy and has a desperate need to be touching, moving, making things. He loves the satisfaction that comes from building something and the engineering tools and teaching in Tinker Crate are right up his alley. Again – the time he spends building and making would be eliminated or severely reduced in school.
Besides those desires, they love to spend time focused on their languages, discussing various concepts, and learning – but learning in the way that suits their individual needs best.
Responsibility
With freedom always comes responsibility. In exchange for the beautiful freedom we enjoy, we also have the responsibility to raise them to be functional, amazing human beings.
Love
We love them. We always want what is best, and will do whatever it takes to provide the best environment we can to help them grow and develop in the way that best suits their individual genius.
Homeschooling is hard
But it’s also wonderful, amazing and fulfilling. So when you have one of those days, or months…remember why you started, and use your list to help you keep going. Raising kids is hard, adding homeschooling to your plate can sometimes feel overwhelming and you can feel crushingly unprepared; but this parenting gig doesn’t come with a manual and sometimes we just have to put one foot in front of another, and know that “this too shall pass.”
How do you get through the bad days? Leave a comment!
