This week we completed our 45th day
This is a milestone for us. Usually we are lagging behind something terrible
This year, so far, has not been without it challenges. Usually I try to do some writing at the computer while my children do their bookwork.
Well, this is a huge mistake in our house. They children will actually sit and stare at the computer screen watching me type. TYPE!!!! Not play computer games.
Not watch movies, or even listen to music. But simply typing in WORD.

It is very suffocating in the sense that I literally sit and do nothing while they work.

But I think I've come up with a viable solution. LONGHAND! Yep! Writing with a real pen on...hold on...paper! Yes, they do still make that stuff. This way I can get something done in between checking
math lessons and giving spelling tests.

Another problem has been consuming me is free time. It seems like my days are all school, and cooking.
Yesterday was the last straw. I was ready to check tests and edit logs when it dawned on me that school for the day was done. That is where I was making a huge mistake
The children would finish and I didn't. Now I will do all checking and recording during the time the children do their lessons and when they are through for the day, so am I.
At least that is the plan, for now. I am just so tired of eating, sleeping, and breathing school, school SCHOOL!!!!!!
Am I alone in this? I don't think so. Many of us won't admit our true feeling about hs. We know God wants us to do it, and that makes it a "non-complainable topic"
Yeah, we'll gripe about the childrens attitudes, dawdling, and carelessness, but our own attitude is locked behind a closed door never to be acknowledged. We act as like if we ignore it , it doesn't exist or it will simply go away.
Many moms are burnt toast. We have just been at it so long, doing the same lessons, repeating all the drills and phonics and fractions and ..... We need a change from the rut we are in academically, but our children aren't up to it.
What IS a mom to do???? We need to set aside a wee bit of time for NONschool thinking, reading writing and talking.
We tend to get into this habit of making everything we do eachday count as school. We don't just go and bake cookies, it has to be a math lesson with some science thrown in for good measure.
A trip to the zoo or park arent' just a nice day out of the house to enjoy the fresh air and sunshine and bask in the delight our children see and feel. OH NO! We spend the entire trip trying to figure out how to count it for school and all the joy goes out of the day.
Yes, we have to keep records, and log our lessons, and such, BUT there are times when we need to, WE MUST stop being a "homeschool mom" and just be "Mommy" to our children. We have to lay aside our chalk and eraser, the books and pens and paper and enjoy.
If there is one thing you get out of this today it is that you ENJOY you CHILDREN and ENJOY being a MOTHER.
Ask yourself this: why did/do I homeschool?
Was it to be closer to your children and to spend time with them because you know 18 yrs will just slide by and before you know it they will be married and on their own?
Was it to excell academically or spiritually or both?
Was it to avoid the trouble the traditional schools have, and did you begin on this journey with the best interest of you child at heart?
If you answer yes to these, even just one, but you still feel weary when the alarm rings and you realize it is another school day, can you answer this? What happened?
What REALLY sapped you of your joy? What has sidetracked you?
For myself, it has been a combination of things. Mostly trying to fulfill the laws of our state and always feeling that extra pressure for them to do well so no-one can ever mock them for being homeschooled.
When hs Moms get burnt out we sometimes resent our children for taking so much of our time. We don't mean to, but it happens. If that is the case with you, confess it and forsake it. Then make plans to prevent it from happening again.
That might mean writing, or reading, or sewing or cooking, taking classes or .....you fill in hte blank. Do something that is personal to you and alleviate the burnt toast syndrome that plagues many hs moms.
To quote an old ad that will date me....."Calgon take me away" should be a weekly experience for you.
It doesn't need to be a bubble bath, but that might be just what is needed.
Moms need to take care of ourselves bcz our children need us. They need us to be in good spirits. Bad attitudes are contagious. So be a carrier of joy and happiness, and transform you days.