Thursday, April 12, 2012

Perfect Homeschooling

Bwahahahahahaha! Did you choke on your coffee when you read the title? There is no such thing as perfect anything. We can try to be perfect. We can do the best that we can to make things the very best that we can make them each and every day, but there is nothing and nobody that is perfect, except Jesus.

What inspired me to write this is that I read an article yesterday about how social networking, pinterest, and so forth is responsible for a lot of mothers feeling inadequate. They see posts from other mothers about all of the neat projects that they do throughout their days, and instantly feel like they are not doing enough for their own families. Homeschooling mothers are no exception.

As usual, I have an opinion. First of all, if you are even wondering if you are doing enough for your family, then you obviously do care, and are probably already going above and beyond the call of duty. We are a very busy, active family, and I am constantly posting my latest projects, recipes, and housekeeping adventures for my friends on facebook and pinterest.

The fact of the matter is that while I am helping Tarja learn how to use her roller skates, or am walking next to her while she rides her bike, I might have a sink full of dishes that need washing, or a dryer full of clothes that need to be put away. It's just that at that particular moment, paying attention to Tarja was more important.

If I spend all day running around getting the Princesses to their respective activities, or have to run errands and grocery shop, we might have to run through a fast food place to get dinner.

When I have orders to fill for our business, we might skimp on a lesson. When I want to move on to something new, we might overdo it on that same lesson. If a book that we are reading turns into snoresville, I don't always finish it. There are thousands of other worthwhile books to read. If one child is having a terrible time reading a lesson, and I really want her to know the story anyway, I am not above finding a movie to replace the book.

There are days that we are lazy, that I don't feel well, or that the baby has kept me up all night so that I barely understand which child is on which lesson on which day/week/month, etc. Some days, we all wake up early and get a good head start on things, and other days, we have a straggler that tries to sleep until noon. There are days when getting us all out the door for an appointment or activity could be the makings of a good reality TV show. Other days, everybody get up, gets dressed to shoes, hair, helps a sister princess, and all that I have to do is grab my purse and go.

We don't live in a dream world. We throw temper tantrums, forget things, eat junk food and watch too much TV. I would like to be a "crunchy" mama who makes all of our clothes and is raising a bunch of free range chickens, but don't feel that my family would agree with the lifestyle upheaval. Therefore, I'll stick to my favorite hobbies of crochet and couponing. That's not to say that some of my crochet projects don't end up in the trash, and that I don't sometimes show up at a cash register with a handful of expired coupons and an attitude. It happens.

Love,
Laurel

1 comment:

  1. I love how dedicated you are to your family and their wants and needs. I also love that you understand that sometimes it is much more important to be beside them and leave the dishes in the sink for awhile. Most of all, I love you, my friend! Keep up the good work!

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