Ok, so you’re homeschooling or about to venture into it. I’m sure you’ve daydreamed many times about what it’s going to be like. Do you picture your children surrounding you on the comfy couch in front of a roaring fire, blissfully reading Shakespeare? Or do you picture yourself blindfolded, shell-shocked and standing in front of a firing squad, where your kids and your husband are the firing squad? Any last requests? Any last words?
If you’ve been homeschooling for a while, do you wonder why didn’t anyone tell you there’d be days like these? There are days that are great and you get a lot accomplished, days where you feel like you’re in front of a firing squad and days that are so-so. All right maybe the last daydream was a bit dramatic! But, I know there are days when I certainly feel that way. Thankfully they are few and far between. But, those are the days when mommy-guilt is at its strongest.
Don’t you wish you had someone to warn you about all of this? Why couldn’t your girlfriends tell you that there are days when life happens. When you wake up sick and can’t call in a substitute teacher. It reminds me of an episode of “Desperate Housewives” when Lynette decides to be a supermom and then cracks under the pressure. Two of her friends find her at a soccer goal in the park crying her eyes out. She tells them of her failure as a mom and how perfect and together they are and that she just can’t live up to that. The friends look at each other and then confide to her their secret, they don’t have it all together. And they all cry and laugh together about how hard it is to be a mom. Then Lynette asks “Why didn’t you tell me this before, it would’ve helped so much. This is what we should talk about. Then they promise not to keep these things from each other anymore.
We should talk about these things! Imagine if homeschool moms actually admitted their mommy guilt. What if they talked and cried and laughed and prayed with each other about their short-comings, their disappointments and their successes with homeschooling.
I’m going to start a series called “A Girlfriends Guide to Homeschooling: What you wish you Knew” It’s going to be about what you wish people would tell you about homeschooling. And it’s mommy guilt free! So, stay tuned and bring popcorn and chocolate!
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