Homeschool Mama, Are you Living a Life Worth Living?

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

What would it look like to truly live your homeschool life on purpose — not just get through it?

Most of us started homeschooling with a vision. A picture of slow mornings, curious kids, meaningful conversations, and a life that felt intentional. And then somewhere between the math arguments, the laundry, and the endless planning, that vision got buried under the weight of just keeping up.

But every so often, something stops us cold. A friend loses a child in a car accident, a pregnancy doesn’t continue to term, a marriage falls apart, a pandemic forces us indoors, or an elderly friend passes before we got around to calling her back.

And in that moment, we’re forced to ask: Is this the life I actually want to be living?

Seize the day. Carpe diem. Our days are limited — we know it. We have many reminders that this is true, but given enough time, we drift. We forget. And sometimes we go through the motions.

---

“I would like to rise and go

Where the golden apples grow.”

Robert Louis Stevenson

Our days are limited, we know it. We have many reminders that this is true, but given enough time, we can continue living and forget that this is our reality. 

Until that one day, when that one thing happens, and we can no longer deny what we’ve always known: our days are numbered. And we finally stop to ask the harder questions.

We finally stop to reconsider the content of our life.

• Are we living beyond regrets?
• And are we enjoying every moment?
• Are we learning not to care what others think?

So How Do We Live Our Homeschool Life on Purpose?

Here are ten honest, practical ways to start.

1. Live beyond regrets.

Perfection isn’t ours to capture, so we’ll never be mistake-free. But regret festers when we never try, never adjust, never extend grace. Bestow grace on those who need it — and more challengingly, extend it to yourself. Ask yourself: What am I holding onto that I need to let go of in my homeschool or my life? Living beyond regrets doesn’t mean living perfectly. It means living honestly.

Reflection prompt: What is one decision in your homeschool you’ve been avoiding that, if you made it, would bring you more peace?

2. Enjoy every moment — even the ordinary ones.

This isn’t going to happen every moment. Not when there are dishes to wash again, or more than one child practicing their peacekeeping skills loudly, or you wake up with a crick in your neck. Not every moment is good. But this is the moment we have. The ordinary Tuesday is the life. The slow breakfast, the reluctant reader, the impromptu nature walk — this is it. Learn to find the good in the unremarkable days, because they make up most of your homeschool life.

Reflection prompt: What happened in your homeschool this week that you almost overlooked but was actually worth noticing?

3. Learn not to care what others think — but stay connected.

You are not going to stop caring what everyone thinks — that’s actually a sign of healthy human wiring. You were born to care, commune, and connect. But there is a difference between caring about others and caring so much about their opinions that you can’t make a decision without their approval. To live your homeschool life on purpose, you have to be willing to make choices that fit your family, even when others don’t understand them.

Reflection prompt: Is there a homeschool decision you’ve been putting off because you’re worried about what someone else will think?

4. Do the things you actually want to do.

If you believe you can’t do what you want to do, you won’t. You’ll overlook the opportunities right in front of you. Not everyone can own the biggest house or fly a private jet — but every one of us can do the thing we were made to do. In your homeschool, this means building a life that includes your interests alongside your children’s. Your curiosity matters too.

Reflection prompt: What is one thing you’ve always wanted to learn or do that you’ve told yourself isn’t possible right now?

5. Live a life well-lived — with your people.

Sit with your people and commune. The neighbours, the church community, the other homeschool families, the piano teacher — these are your people. Learn from them. Share with them. Be present with them. A life well-lived isn’t built in isolation. And neither is a good homeschool.

Reflection prompt: Who in your community have you been meaning to connect with? What’s one small step toward that this week?

6. Address the overwhelm — honestly.

Overwhelm doesn’t go away on its own. It compounds. Name what’s overwhelming you. Write it down if you need to. Is it the curriculum? The schedule? The pressure you’re putting on yourself? Or the weight of doing it all alone? You cannot live your homeschool life on purpose when you’re drowning. Addressing the overwhelm isn’t weakness — it’s the necessary first step.

Reflection prompt: What is the single biggest source of overwhelm in your homeschool right now? What would it look like to reduce it by even 20%?

7. Simplify — and look honestly at why it’s complicated.

Complexity rarely improves a homeschool. More curriculum, more activities, more commitments — often less peace, less presence, less joy. Ask yourself why things have gotten complicated. Sometimes we overcomplicate our homeschool because we’re afraid that simple isn’t enough. It usually is.

Reflection prompt: What is one thing in your homeschool you could simplify or let go of this month that would create more breathing room?

8. Ask why you’re not present — and what’s taking up space in your head.

Presence is the gift your kids remember. Not the perfect curriculum, not the Pinterest-worthy projects — your presence. But presence is hard when your mind is full. What is taking up mental real estate that doesn’t deserve it? Comparison? Worry? Unresolved conflict? To live your homeschool life on purpose, you have to show up in the room you’re actually in.

Reflection prompt: When do you find it hardest to be present in your homeschool? What’s usually competing for your attention?

9. Ask yourself how you can show up more on purpose than you have been.

Not perfectly. Not dramatically differently. Just more intentionally than yesterday. Small, consistent shifts in how you show up create the homeschool — and the life — you actually want.

Reflection prompt: What is one way you could show up more intentionally in your homeschool this week — for your kids, or for yourself?

10. Don’t just write a bucket list. Write what you’re going to do today.

If the knitting Pinterest board sits untouched, it’s time to change that. If you want to learn the piano, have your daughter teach you. And if you’ve had enough of that math program, find something else. Or if you want to save for Paris, set money aside every day. Do you want a cappuccino with a book every morning? Set an alarm.

The bucket list is lovely. But the life is built in the daily choices.

Reflection prompt: What is one thing on your someday list that you could take one small step toward this week?

A Story About Carpe Diem

There was this teenage bucket list dream I had — volunteering in Africa.

It’s hard to imagine it actually came true. I checked that dream off the list, but it didn’t live up to its romantic notions. Amped up on antimalarials and stomach-protectant Dukoral, vaccinated against nearly everything, we flew eighteen hours across four planes with four children over five days, then drove three hours crammed into the back of an ambulance up 6,000 feet into the Great Rift Valley — where we met water shortages, rice and beans, and irregular electricity.

We spent every day with people who found white visitors novel, but we encouraged strangers simply by being willing to show up. It wasn’t Jane Goodall romantic. But it was a life changer — toward gratefulness, simplicity, community, and carpe dieming for the rest of my life.

We luxuriated in a four-star Parisian hotel on the way home. Balance.

I wrote at the time: it was a bittersweet goodbye — like the moment you know you’re finished having children, and you can’t imagine not holding another newborn, but also, really, no, you don’t actually want to do that again.

In my life well-lived, I hope to return to the developing world. But until then, I will practice what I’ve learned: to seize the day, live our homeschool life on purpose, and make today worth living.

“Look closely at the present you are constructing.

It should look like the future you are dreaming of”.

Alice Walker

One Final Thought on Living Your Homeschool Life on Purpose

You don’t have to fly to Africa to live on purpose. You don’t have to do anything dramatic or Instagram-worthy or impressive.

Simply, you just have to stop drifting. Stop waiting for the right season, the right curriculum, the right circumstances. Start asking the better questions. Start making the small, intentional choices that add up to a homeschool life — and a whole life — you’re genuinely proud of.

The present you are constructing right now? Make it look like the future you’re dreaming of.

Want a practical starting point? Grab the Living Your Life on Purpose Checklist and begin today.

---

---

People also ask:

• how to live your simple homeschool life on purpose
• Finding Healing & Purpose When Life is Life-ing
• Deschooling and Life Purpose: Is there a connection?
• how to take care of myself as homeschool mom in middle age
• Let’s Chat Homeschool Mom Nutrition to Make her Feel Nurtured
• the Homeschool Mama Book Club: So we can Show up on Purpose
• helping our kids live their lives on purpose
• Awakened Homeschool Family: Living with Purpose, Learning from Heart
• Homeschool with Purpose: Honouring our Values & Priorities
• 10 Simple Steps to the Homeschool Life (& Live it on Purpose)
• Dive into 10 Helpful Books for Homeschooling Moms!
• Homeschool Reading List
• Do you offer one-on-one homeschool life coaching?

---

Call to Adventure by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3470-call-to-adventure
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/