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In a world that teaches conformity, I hope to imprint uniqueness and individuality in my children.
Our children were created and designed for a unique purpose. And so were we.
So how do you become more you as a homeschool mama?
How to become more you beyond your role as a homeschool mama?
We get to be more us and our kids get to become more them.
How to unearth that unique purpose in our children?
We give our children experiences to explore, we give them books to engage their curiosities, we give them tools to discover their interests, we search for people who might mentor them, and we listen and watch them.
We affirm them and we guide them; we give all these opportunities to our kids.
And one thing we do, encourage them to be more them.
Life’s not better because we try to be someone else or try to be just like everyone else.
Each of us is inherently important and valuable. So our unique approach to life, our unique purpose, how our homeschool will look, and how we engage everything will look different.
“To be yourself, in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
I must encourage myself to be me too.
Just as I affirm my children in what they were meant to do and be, I also recognize that I need to do the same for myself: I must be who I am and do the things I was meant to do.
In the beginning years, I didn’t know this truth: I am not only a homeschool mama.
So, who am I outside my homeschool mama identity?
I’ll tell you a few interests I’ve followed over my homeschool years, but I know that my interests and your interests might be as far from one another as Asia to America.
- Began writing in a lowly Starbucks every Wednesday evening for two hours with a pumpkin spice latte and scone.
- Designed a home on a big piece of construction paper. (I have been doing this since I was a little girl.)
- Researched laying hens and raised three batches.
- Researched meat birds and raised eleven (put eleven in the freezer last weekend).
- Didn’t research Large Guardian Dogs, but bought one anyway. (Should have researched her, Violet, our Great Pyr.)
- Built a vegetable garden, and fruit orchard, and learned to forage and preserve.
- Built a bed & breakfast business and opened last summer. (Learned that I love interacting with new people and sharing our peaceful homestead.)
- Researched goats and hope to, one day, bring a few home.
- Started an online homeschool coaching program as I love to encourage and empower homeschool mamas to do their thang. (Cause I believe if you want to do it, you can do it!)
Who are you outside your homeschool mama identity?
Get a journal & pen out and write down your answers to the following questions:
- Remember who you were before you were a mother.
- Acknowledge what you liked to do before you were a mother. Do you want to adopt a few childhood interests into the present?
- Acknowledge what new aspects of you that you enjoy now. What additions have been made in your life now?
- What are your lifelong emotional challenges? Where do they originate? How do these stories about your challenges influence how you see yourself?
- In the middle of the night, when you wake up and can’t get back to sleep, what occupies you?
Even consider what you would like to do and what you value…
- Make something. Peruse Pinterest, a magazine, or YouTube. What would you want to make if you had all the time in the world or had someone teaching you?
- What kind of musical concert would you attend if you had the money or time? Sit with Spotify and a favourite drink and listen to a taped concert, the whole thing. Or book concert tickets.
- Write a list of the people you value, and why.
- Write a list of your three most important values, and why they are important to you.
- Find your mantra. For a while, mine was ‘carpe diem’. Now that I’ve seized enough days, and that notion is built into my bones, I’m seizing other mantras, like “this life is for learning, for authentically sharing, and being” or “everything is working for good in my direction.”
- Choose your daily words. Write them in your journal each morning. I have four this year: Monetize. Understand. Expand. Separate. These are daily reinforcements that help me focus.
- Support others as they make choices that don’t seem instinctively natural to you. For example, permitting young kids to make musical choices in the car that you would never listen to.
- Spend a day away from the kids. Don’t do anything FOR the family. Then you’ll see what interests you. Have no expectations for the day.
- Meditate. Every day. This facilitates listening to the inner voice, to identify what’s inside you.
Now, choose one or two ways you can develop yourself.
Invest just fifteen minutes each week to develop the YOU behind your homeschool mama identity.
It’s easy for us, as mothers, to get swept up in the demands of our roles and lose sight of our identities. However, this podcast episode serves as a gentle reminder that our journey doesn’t end with homeschooling; rather, it’s an opportunity to nurture our passions and personal growth alongside our children. By embracing our uniqueness and dedicating time to explore our interests, we enrich our lives and set a powerful example for our children. So let’s seize this moment to reconnect with our authentic selves, rediscover our passions, and invest in our personal development.
As we embark on this journey of self-discovery, we not only enhance our homeschooling experience but also cultivate a more fulfilling and balanced life for ourselves and our families.
The Homeschool Mama Mini-Retreat offers a clarifying, energizing, and free opportunity for homeschool moms to take a break, reassess their approach to homeschooling, and enhance satisfaction in their homeschool lives.
Designed by a fellow homeschool mom, this retreat aims to empower moms to homeschool authentically, confidently, and purposefully.
Ideal for moms feeling tired, unmotivated, or overwhelmed by homeschooling, it provides a separate space for recharging, addressing boundary issues, and personal development.
Leave feeling energized, equipped to face each homeschool day with renewed enthusiasm, and with clarity on the reasons you’re homeschooling. With support and tools provided, moms can create plans and routines that meet their needs while nurturing themselves and their children, fostering confidence, purpose, and resilience in their homeschool journey.
Access your free Homeschool Mama Mini-Retreat to spend time exploring you.
Grab your Retreat Planner: the Homeschool Mom Retreat Planner is a tool that helps you organize and optimize the benefits of your retreat break. With journal prompts, planning pages, and checklists, it ensures thoughtful organization, promotes your wellness, and helps you return refreshed and focused on your homeschool mom life responsibilities.
“You can spend your whole life building something from nothing,
One storm can come and blow it all away,
Build it anyway,
You can chase a dream that seems so out of reach
and you know it might not ever come your way,
Dream it anyway.”
Martina McBride
Wellness Guide: Homeschool Help for Moms
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Teresa Wiedrick
I help homeschool mamas shed what’s not working in their homeschool & life, so they can show up authentically, purposefully, and confidently in their homeschool & life.
