Keep going, homeschool mama: if you want to do this homeschool thing, you really can. Don’t give up!
But if you’re a homeschool mama who needs a bit of encouragement, a little help in your homeschool, because you’re in a challenging season, I feel you girlfriend.
But if you feel like you’re going to anyway, this poem is dedicated to you. So homeschool mama, don’t give up!
“When things go wrong as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit–
Rest if you must, but don’t quit.
Life is strange with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a fellow turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out.
Don’t give up though the pace seems slow–
You may succeed with another blow.
Often the goal is nearer than
It seems to a fair and faltering man,
Often the struggler has given up
When he might have captured the victor’s cup,
And he learned too late when night came down,
How close he was to the golden crown.
Success is failure turned inside out–
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems afar,
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit,
It’s when things seem worst that you mustn’t quit”.
If you’re giving up, because stuff got hard, don’t.
You don’t want that to be how you approach life. You don’t want to live in regrets. You don’t want to avoid doing the hard thing because it’s hard.
- Life is hard
- . Parenting is hard.
- Homeschool can be hard.
But you can do hard stuff!
But if you’re shifting towards a different direction because it simply makes more sense, and is more consistent with who you are or what your family needs, then you go girl!
You aren’t committed to homeschooling. Or you shouldn’t be.
You are committed to your children. That you should be. What’s the best choice for your child? Well, that depends on many different reasons. (ps you can connect with me for one-on-one coaching if you’d like someone to discuss it with.)
If you’re feeling unsupported, overwhelmed, uncertain, angry, or having any other challenging experience, well, address that challenge head-on.
- Ask yourself why you’re feeling what you’re feeling. (You might have to spend a week journaling about it every time the feeling arises).
- Ask yourself what the contributing troubles are. What are the relationships contributing to your challenge?
- Are you experiencing a lack of energy?
- Are you struggling with a specific child?
- Are you feeling exhausted by an outside challenge that has absolutely nothing to do with homeschooling?
- Are you being unrealistic with your expectations about how you show up in your homeschool?
- Or how you DO homeschool? Is it working for you?
- Or how much do the kids learn?
Get very clear on what your challenge is, or you won’t accurately know how to address it.
But know this, homeschooling is no utopia, and parenting is no utopia.
Putting your kids into school means you’ll have to see them at the end of the day, after a day of challenges in a school.
Keeping your kids at home and resentfully homeschooling is no benefit to you or your kids.
So be intentional about why you choose as you do.
But whatever you do, don’t give up!
And remember, When you’ve exhausted all possibilities, remember, you haven’t…
Thomas Edison
This is a poem my dad had framed for me ages ago… I’m sure it’s long gone by now… but I’m thinking I want to have it on my wall again,
No kidding? I’ve had my girls memorizing it. A great encouragement!