This summer I had to make the very hard choice to send my kids to school after being homeschooled basically their whole lives.
I love homeschooling my kids. It was health issues that caused us to make the decision to switch schooling.
I don’t do well with change.
I worried about how they would do. I felt guilty as though I was failing them. Anything that you can think of, I worried about it.
Now, if I’m being completely honest, I would 100% still switch back to homeschooling them if I thought that I could. There are many reasons that I love homeschooling that I can’t overlook.
That being said, I’ve made some realizations since sending them to school that I would like to share with you:
I had the joy of spending all day with them. Now I have the pleasure of having a break for myself and then excitedly greeting them when they get home.
I had the joy of being the one to see them finally understand something I’m teaching. Now I get to see them light up with pride when they come home with new skills.
I had the joy of “conducting parent-teacher conferences” (which is really just a way of saying that I was going so crazy I would sometimes talk to myself!) Now I get to hear from their teachers about all the areas they’re excelling in, as well as those they struggle with.
I had the joy of being mom, teacher, everything to my kids. Now I have the pleasure of “just” being a mom (not that there’s any “just” about it).
Here’s the thing: Change is hard, but different doesn’t mean bad.
When I look at my list above, I don’t see any “right” or “wrong” answers. I don’t even see anything listed where one option is “better” than the other.
This is what I see: Parents are awesome. Teachers are awesome. Kids are awesome. Time together is great. Small breaks from each other are amazing. Homeschooling worked when it worked. Public school works for now.
Each family needs to do what’s best for their family at any given moment and that’s what’s the most important.
Stop putting pressure on yourself to be a certain way. Stop feeling guilty about the things you just can’t do. Try not to worry about the changes you have to make in your family for whatever reason. If you love your kids and you’re trying to show them that the best you can, you’re doing enough.
If what worked today doesn’t work tomorrow, make the changes and keep showing up. It will be okay.
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