Keep the Faith, Baby!

It's that time of year again!

Usually at about this point in my homeschool year, I would be overwhelmed and overdone.

The good news about homeschooling is that you GET to stay home with your kids.  The bad news about homeschooling is that you HAVE to stay home with your kids.

The good news about homeschooling is that you GET to choose what to teach and how to teach it.  The bad news about homeschooling is that you HAVE to choose what to teach and how to teach it.

There were days when I was sure that hell would be like staying home with my kids and trying to teach algebra, all while cleaning the house and proofreading a research paper AND having a cold (cuz you know you're not seriously ill when you have a cold, so you should keep going). During December, when the kids are "Christmas Crazy".  Over and over...like Groundhog Day.

Are you having that feeling?  Here's a few tips to get you through the holidays!

1. STOP!  You also get to choose WHEN to teach!  Might I suggest after the first of the year?  Take a break.  Enjoy this season of your life!
2. BREATHE!  This time of the year is fraught with mega-expectations.  You don't want your children to remember how crazed you got in December.  Blaze a trail of family fun...you'll be the envy of your neighborhood.  Every year we have an open house...and we really enjoy seeing everyone.  But it takes a lot of planning and energy...and this year we simply don't have it.  We're trying to be in a "guilt-free zone" and so should you!
3. HAVE FUN!  What sounds like the holidays to you?  My daughter likes to mall crawl and have lunch out. My husband likes to have time off with no expectations. I like making cookies with my daughter and spending time on my "scrap heap".  Our son is newly married, so any time with his bride works for him!
4. As a New Year's resolution present to yourself; take yourself out for a coffee date.  Invite a few friends if you work better in a group.  When you're rested up a little bit.  Not today, when you wonder WHY God thought giving you THESE children was a good idea.  Think about what worked and what didn't.  Check out Pinterest for some innovative teaching ideas.   While you're looking at them remember that you are still gonna be you and your kids are still gonna be themselves.  If you have a kiddo who likes worksheets, they're not magically gonna love embroidering their algebra homework on a sampler.  If you're craft impaired don't plan on making a set of math manipulatives out of oatmeal containers and baby food jars.  Go with your strengths.  Accept the challenge!

Because there will be challenges!  But God has given you what you need to deal with them...like maybe a rake?

So, Merry Christmas to you and your family!  Feeling blessed, how about you?

Embracing a new time in life!

Many of my Facebook friends are quite a bit younger than I am.  Yup, I'm in the "Mentoring Mom" stage of life--somewhere between raising my own little ones and playing with the grandbabies!

I love reading about them having their own little ones...as long as I don't have to do it again.  I would take another teenager over a baby any day!  Of course, my labor experiences are the ones that you never tell a first time mom.  Who wants to hear about being in labor for 6 days?  Or 3 surgeries by the 3rd birthday?  Or a baby that still isn't sleeping through the night on their 6th birthday?  But as a Titus 2 mom; well, I'm "value-added".  No matter where you are in life now...you will survive.  Because I did.  And if there is a pitfall, I was probably there about 20 years before you.  And my kids survived...yours will too!

And if you're interested, I'm blazing another trail this year!  Our son is getting married AND our daughter is going away to college...10 days apart!  Honey, when I empty a nest; I do it with STYLE!  And here's the kicker--I'm excited!  My kids are ready for these adventures, and hopefully I soon will be.  What's next for me?  Only God knows; but I'll fill you in as soon as He tells me!

Feeling blessed, how about you?