Day 1 of Homeschool---Dreams vs. Reality

I think a lot of people who actually want to homeschool have a picture perfect idea of what it will be like in THEIR house. ha! I know that even after homschooling my kids for 5 years prior to this, I still get this picture in my head. This is the year. I will be organized. They will follow my schedule. They will do the chores I assign and life will be great. 

I always have this happy picture of myself helping my kids with their work and we are smiling and enjoying our time together. 

I work tirelessly to make sure everything is set up just right. That they can find their books and know where to turn in their work to make for minimal interruptions of myself and the hubby while we are trying to work. 

These are actual pictures from my house! 

If you like our bookshelf, I highly recommend it! The cubes are bigger than the normal size and it comes in a variety of colors! https://amzn.to/2RPulTj 

But this is reality. It is messy. It does not always go smoothly. Sometimes it does though. It does not always come with smiles. Sometimes it does though. It does not always come with good attitudes. Sometimes it does though. It is so so hard but so so rewarding. When your kids are home with you all day, you learn things about them that you just do not know when they are at school all day. You learn how they learn. 

This year is not what I planned but I am determined to make the best of it, enjoy as much time as possible with my children and to obey what God's plan for us is this year. We will need His grace and mercy, patience and forgiveness for sure.

"Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it."

                                                                            -Proverbs 22:6

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Not My Plans

This was not my plan but here we are. I realized recently that really this is the theme of my life. 

I know I am not alone in this at all but I cannot even begin to tell you how done I am making plans for myself. It's a little bit sad really, because I absolutely LOVE to make plans. To the point where my friends actually nicknamed me the "Cruise Director" for a while. 

I digress. This year has been a challenge to us all, navigating the ins and outs of reality and what our futures will look like. 

For those of you who don't know us, Tom and I homeschooled our kids starting when our oldest, Keira, who is now 12 and going into 7th grade, was in pre-school. I thought I would always homeschool our kids. I had always wanted to and really felt that it was the right thing for our family. 

Well, two years ago, I started having some health issues, really strange things that I won't even go into here. I had swollen lymph nodes that would not go away even though all tests pointed to negative, among other very bothersome things. We got to December 2018 and I felt like I was literally going to lose my mind. My kids were not cooperating and I just didn't want to be around them anymore. I loved them, don't get me wrong, but...well....I was just done. 

We started looking into some private school options and long story short, they started at a WONDERFUL, AMAZING private Christian school in our area in January 2019.  Surprisingly enough, my health issues basically vanished. It was completely stress related. They continued there last year until...well...COVID. 

So, this summer, Tom and I were just thinking and praying, and of course the schools had no idea if they were even going to be allowed to open and if so, what that would look like. The longer it went without knowing, the more headaches, stomachaches and pure exhaustion I felt. Finally, one Friday, I said to Tom, "We need to make a decision. I need to know if we are homeschooling or not because if we are, I need to make plans." That was it. he said homeschooling it was and the decision was made. 

So here I am. Surrounded by new curriculum and knowing that God's plans are best.  

I can rest in His grace knowing that this is what He wants for our family this year. I have no idea what next year will bring, because, clearly, my plans make God laugh! Now we are just praying that God will bless us through this craziness and that somehow, we will come out of this closer to each other and the Lord.

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