The Reality of it All

Have you watched this video yet? I did this morning and barely made it through without crying. It's not an emotional video- it's just a 4 year old going through his normal morning at a Montessori School. 

I don't know why it made me cry. Maybe it was that my three year old was punching the crap out of the three and a half year old five minutes earlier. Or that my six year old has been laying on the couch all morning depressed that school is out for the summer. It could have been that we had yet another visit from the county to check in on our foster baby and I had to go through all the progress (or lack of progress) his Mom is making. 

Regardless, our home looks and sounds absolutely nothing like that video.  

And I think I was crying because I want it to look like that so very badly. 

After I sent the kids outside to play and right before I was headed to the office for a good "time out" (both things that are just about the only regular aspect of our schedule) a lady from the preschool down the street stopped by to find out how we take care of our chickens and how to build the coop we have. I know she just wanted to take a picture but it became that little push of encouragement that I so desperately needed today. She has a beautiful school but she obviously saw something in our environment that was worth sharing. 

Maybe in the end it's ok our house doesn't look like the school in the video. Maybe it's because our house is our house. There is an ebb and flow that doesn't occur in a school. Our work cycle is twenty four hours not three. I don't have an assistant and I don't get to go home at the end of the day. Things will automatically be different. 

I think that's it's fantastic to find new resources and see how other people do things but we have to remember that homeschooling is unique to each and every family that decides to pursue it.  Our homes will look different. Our schools will look different. That is the beauty of the freedom to home educate our children. 

To my dear Homeschool friends, 

You are doing an awesome job. It is hard. It does not seem worth it. The reality of this whole thing can be massively overwhelming. But you can do it. In fact, you did it! You made it through an entire school year with your kids at home. Take an intentional break in whatever your homeschooling looks like. Go for some pj days and celebrate the end of the year with a night out. Next fall will come quickly and we can do it again. 

You are valued and loved. It is worth it. We don't avoid the reality of the pain and the rawness of imperfect parents teaching imperfect children. We do our best. We love our children. We try again tomorrow. 

-Lauren