Or am I?
I have been wanting to write this post for months. Maybe even a year? but I couldn't decide how to put it into words. Recently though I went to see the movie Moms Night Out and reality struck me. I can do this post and it is going to be great! (okay maybe not great but I am going to do my best) and I am going to be real.
One day I was chatting with a friend on Facebook and we were talking about home school. And she said to me "I don't know how you do it!!, You are such a Super Mom" and honestly it caught me totally off guard!
My first thought was I am not a Super Mom!!! but she was complimenting me and I didn't want to be rude so I said "Thanks! I think the same thing about other moms"
That conversation left me to months of thinking and deciding what is a Super Mom? WE seem to hear that a lot!! SO he is what my brain kept telling me that a Super Mom was or had.
A Super Mom has it all figured out right? They can balance school, keeping the house up, being a mom, and a great wife, and don't forget meals. So here is a day in the life of a Super Mom
She wakes up and reads her Bible and lingers over a nice Hot cup of coffee while the kids are still sleeping. Then she moseys into the kitchen and the kids are up by now and they help her make oatmeal and fried eggs and a nice piece of fruit and it is all beautifully arranged on the plates. Then the kids clear the table and put their dishes in the dirty dish sink and sit down to start school. (Mind you they are all dressed and their hair is fixed beautifully!) School is accomplished and now it is chore time and the day has been beautiful. They get all the chores done and sit down to a well balanced lunch and then everyone has a quiet time where they read books or nap and mommy gets some quiet time to read, sew, sit, sleep (whatever she wants really) Once quiet time is over everyone comes down stairs and they do a craft or visit a park. Then they come home and make a beautiful dinner for daddy. When daddy comes home everyone is smiling and joyous and they show him all of the wonderful things they accomplished today Mind you mom is dressed nicely and wearing makeup and has fixed her hair for the day.....
WAIT A MINUTE!! WHEN DOES THIS HAPPEN?? OK LETS GET BACK TO REALITY!
Here is a day in the life of a real Super Mom.
Mommy wakes up to the noise of screeching (yep screeching) only to find out that The 8 year old is keeping the 2 year old from raiding the pantry again!! Everyone is hungry so she throws oatmeal in the pan and if were lucky we have a piece of fruit with it. Mommy makes her coffee and maybe gets a chance to drink it hot. By this time it is after 8 and school has to be started or we will NEVER finish. So the kids get their school out and mom starts reading lessons and giving assignments She gets interrupted multiple times by the two year old who needs a snack. OR the 2 and 4 year old are screaming.(mind you everyone is still in their Pajamas) Then she gets back to school and gets assignments laid out for independent work and the phone rings. Mom answers and has to take the call. The two year old needs another snack and the older two who are supposed to be doing school are punching each other and rolling on the floor in a fight over who gets to use what pencil!!! Then mom realizes that its lunch time and there is nothing prepared. She quickly makes Macaroni and cheese with broccoli in it (hey its got a be a little healthy) and everyone has a piece of fruit. While mom is cooking the kids are supposed to be cleaning up their chore Zones. It is getting done (kind of). Then they all eat lunch and argue over anything they can argue over. They double check to make sure school is done and everyone has quiet time. The two year old naps after getting up 10 times and the older kids read or play Lego's (sometimes they are quiet) Mom finally takes a shower and gets dressed and tries to have a few minutes of time to herself. Then she looks around and realizes how blessed she really is. Then kids get up and they play outside. Sometimes mom ignores the house and goes out too. But most of the time she tries to get something done and starts dinner. She gets dinner done and daddy comes home She welcomes him with a kiss and hug, sometimes. She is dressed now but her hair is in a pony tail and she has no make-up on. The kids rush to see daddy they are so happy he is home. They eat dinner and get kids to bed. Over all it has been a good day. Sure the kitchen floor hasn't been swept, there are 12 baskets of laundry that need folded, the floor needs vacuumed but it will be there tomorrow. Mom heads off to bed and gets ready for another wild day.
I realized that a Super Mom is just a mom who cares about her kids. She loves her family and what she does. She strives to be a good mom. She teachers her kids and answers their questions. She does her best with giving them healthy meals. She listens to them. She hugs them.
She doesn't have to do crafts. She doesn't have to go to the park. She doesn't need to wear make-up. She doesn't have to have a spotless house.
A Super Mom is not a mom who has it all together a Super Mom is me. A super Mom is YOU!
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Saturday, February 8, 2014
Why We Homeschool
I am getting ready to speak at a moms group in our area about why we home school and how it works for our family so I decided to just make it into a blog post. I haven't blogged in way to long!!
I am going to start by saying that homeschooling is NOT for everyone! Then I am going to tell you why it works for us and why we do it.
1) I feel led by God to home school
When I was about 13 years old i met my first home school friends at camp.They were amazing people! They loved me for me, They were intelligent and thinking individuals. I wanted to be like them! I wanted to be home schooled! and that is when i decided that home schooling was what I wanted for my kids. Then fast forward 4 or 5 years. I started dating an amazing man ( who is now my husband) and we were chatting about life and what we wanted and I told him all I want is to be a stay at home mom and home school, and you know what that amazing man cried because that is exactly what he wanted his wife to do and that was when I knew it was more than just my desire it was Gods desire also. There is no way i could go through a day of homeschooling with out the backing of my God.
2) I want to be the single greatest influence in my children's life
I want to watch them learn, I want to be there for them every step of the way, I want to be the one forming the adult they will grow into. I DO NOT think that other people cant teach my kids and help them grow into fabulous adults, but I want to be the one to do it. In want to stop hear and say I think teachers are amazing!!! I could not do their job on the scale they do. it is one thing to teach your own kids but to teach a classroom full of someone else's kids! WOW! Teachers are amazing people.
3)I can customize their education and learning style
I have very active children who need hands on activities to learn and I have children who want to sit down and do workbooks all day and with homeschooling I can make that happen for any of them! I can also look at what they are ready for and then start them there. My oldest i tried to teach to read really early and it was a horrible experience! Now I watch them and see when they are ready. I believe that it makes learning more fun for the student and easier for the teacher. One way I customize is in that one of my children excels at math but is a struggling reader at 8 years old. I can give him advanced math and easier reading and it is okay! He can be at a first grade reading level and a 4th grade math level.
4) I was bullied in school
This is a lame reason to home school but I am being honest here. This is in no way the main reason I home school but I believe it plays a part in my reasoning. I don't want them to face what I did, I don't want them to draw in a shell and be a shy person because of bullies. I know I cant shelter them forever but I can protect them and talk about the mean people out there, they know everyone isn't nice. I am going to give a few examples of things I don't want them to have to deal with at a young age, things i had to deal with. I don't want sympathy and I am not trying to cry about how bad things were for me, but like I said I am just being honest. I don't want them to be left out by everyone. I remember getting bad marks on my report card for not socializing and the reason was no one wanted me to play with them. I just sat under a tree by myself everyday at recess. I don't want them to be called ugly. In 6th grade is when i remember this starting and honestly still struggle with this today. I had a girl jab me in the forehead and tell me I had a big head with two bumps on my forehead, I had people tease me and say my bottom lip was big to the point I would bite my lip in to make it look smaller and give myself sores on the inside of my mouth, I had a girl tell me I smelled bad and sprayed me down with air freshener in front of the whole class, I even had someone tell me I talked like a boy. Wow people sure have a way of destroying innocence and self worth. My kids don't need that.There were many more instances but I will stop here. I am glad that by homeschooling I can help them keep that innocence and self worth a little longer.
5) The get to learn lots of different arts, crafts and cooking
One of my favorite things about homeschooling is we have time to spend together doing things other than school. My kids have learned some really fun and exciting things! My kids ages are 8, 6, 4, and 21/2 and they have helped me and learned how to freeze apricots, peaches, tomatoes and green beans! They have helped me can tomatoes and apple sauce, they know how to make bread. They are learning to knit, loom knit, weave, sew, cross stitch and whatever else we decide we want to do and I am learning right beside them!!!
So now you know why we home school. And here is a glimpse of one of our home schooling days.
I am going to start by saying that homeschooling is NOT for everyone! Then I am going to tell you why it works for us and why we do it.
1) I feel led by God to home school
When I was about 13 years old i met my first home school friends at camp.They were amazing people! They loved me for me, They were intelligent and thinking individuals. I wanted to be like them! I wanted to be home schooled! and that is when i decided that home schooling was what I wanted for my kids. Then fast forward 4 or 5 years. I started dating an amazing man ( who is now my husband) and we were chatting about life and what we wanted and I told him all I want is to be a stay at home mom and home school, and you know what that amazing man cried because that is exactly what he wanted his wife to do and that was when I knew it was more than just my desire it was Gods desire also. There is no way i could go through a day of homeschooling with out the backing of my God.
2) I want to be the single greatest influence in my children's life
I want to watch them learn, I want to be there for them every step of the way, I want to be the one forming the adult they will grow into. I DO NOT think that other people cant teach my kids and help them grow into fabulous adults, but I want to be the one to do it. In want to stop hear and say I think teachers are amazing!!! I could not do their job on the scale they do. it is one thing to teach your own kids but to teach a classroom full of someone else's kids! WOW! Teachers are amazing people.
3)I can customize their education and learning style
I have very active children who need hands on activities to learn and I have children who want to sit down and do workbooks all day and with homeschooling I can make that happen for any of them! I can also look at what they are ready for and then start them there. My oldest i tried to teach to read really early and it was a horrible experience! Now I watch them and see when they are ready. I believe that it makes learning more fun for the student and easier for the teacher. One way I customize is in that one of my children excels at math but is a struggling reader at 8 years old. I can give him advanced math and easier reading and it is okay! He can be at a first grade reading level and a 4th grade math level.
4) I was bullied in school
This is a lame reason to home school but I am being honest here. This is in no way the main reason I home school but I believe it plays a part in my reasoning. I don't want them to face what I did, I don't want them to draw in a shell and be a shy person because of bullies. I know I cant shelter them forever but I can protect them and talk about the mean people out there, they know everyone isn't nice. I am going to give a few examples of things I don't want them to have to deal with at a young age, things i had to deal with. I don't want sympathy and I am not trying to cry about how bad things were for me, but like I said I am just being honest. I don't want them to be left out by everyone. I remember getting bad marks on my report card for not socializing and the reason was no one wanted me to play with them. I just sat under a tree by myself everyday at recess. I don't want them to be called ugly. In 6th grade is when i remember this starting and honestly still struggle with this today. I had a girl jab me in the forehead and tell me I had a big head with two bumps on my forehead, I had people tease me and say my bottom lip was big to the point I would bite my lip in to make it look smaller and give myself sores on the inside of my mouth, I had a girl tell me I smelled bad and sprayed me down with air freshener in front of the whole class, I even had someone tell me I talked like a boy. Wow people sure have a way of destroying innocence and self worth. My kids don't need that.There were many more instances but I will stop here. I am glad that by homeschooling I can help them keep that innocence and self worth a little longer.
5) The get to learn lots of different arts, crafts and cooking
One of my favorite things about homeschooling is we have time to spend together doing things other than school. My kids have learned some really fun and exciting things! My kids ages are 8, 6, 4, and 21/2 and they have helped me and learned how to freeze apricots, peaches, tomatoes and green beans! They have helped me can tomatoes and apple sauce, they know how to make bread. They are learning to knit, loom knit, weave, sew, cross stitch and whatever else we decide we want to do and I am learning right beside them!!!
So now you know why we home school. And here is a glimpse of one of our home schooling days.
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