Survival Mode

This has been the most difficult school year I've faced yet.  As August approached, I knew it would be a challenging year because homeschooling with a one-year-old always provides opportunities to practice patience and perseverance. (Like when you leave a pie on the table and he gets up from nap and no one realizes he is up and he eats the top off the pie.)  One-year-olds are notoriously busy, need lots of training, provide multiple distractions, get sick, and change their own schedule (going from two daily naps to one) which affects everyone else's routine.  Of course, they are also super cute, fun, learn something new every day, only stay one for one year, and teach everyone tolerance and appreciation--so it works out.


But I didn't realize what all the year would hold.

The year brought more sickness than I had ever experienced as I got hit with flu, strep throat, ear infection, canker sores, and a doozy of a cold.  It's one thing for the kiddos to get sick, but quite another for mama to take a turn.  My husband resigned from his longterm job, worked another that required him to be away from us for several weeks at a time, participated in several interviews, and accepted one job only to be offered another which finally led to us moving.  We moved in the middle of the school year--and there's no need to expand on all the time, distraction, and stress that had on our homeschool.

We left our friends and our support group, something I didn't realize how difficult it would be until we did it.  I had taken for granted having people who knew me, who "got" me, and could provide encouragement when it was needed without having to be asked.  I had taken for granted the classes the kids had and the network of friends and fellow homeschoolers we could turn to for a ride or sharing materials or even just taking an afternoon off to go to the park or get together at someone's house (believe it or not, 10-15 kids playing together for an afternoon provides mothers with a break!).

For the first time in many years, I haven't had a daily (MOTH) schedule.  I hope to never have a year without a schedule again.  Each morning we get up and have to figure out what the day will look like rather than relying on that beautiful schedule that just tells everyone what to do.  It's survival mode for sure as we plug along, repeatedly digging in boxes to find a notebook or a magnifying glass or the next classic for our literature studies.  I didn't take a break once we moved--we moved in on Saturday and dove right back into school on Monday because I didn't want to get too far behind.

In the middle of Algebra, Geometry, Biology, writing essays, reading great literary classics, etc., etc. I was searching for piano teachers, violin teachers, new homeschool groups and classes, sports opportunities and trying to unpack essentials--not to mention teaching the younger children both academic lessons and character training.

I have simply "kept on keepin' on" to get through the year, and this end of the year has been especially rough (is someone moving the finish line farther and farther away or what??).  But the last couple weeks I was blessed to come across the book A Mom Just Like You at the library (which I think they should just give to me since there are "no homeschoolers at the library" chuckle).

I meant for this post to be a review of this great book by Vicki Farris (wife of HSLDA's Mike Farris and homeschooling mother of ten), but this post has gotten awfully long as I reflected (whined?), so I will extend it tomorrow.  Suffice it to say, I found her book very uplifting and just the sweet words of encouragement I need to continue on through these last few weeks.  She knows what it's like, she's been through easier years and challenging years, and she's incredibly real and transparent.  She doesn't "kick me when I'm down", she points me up.

And that's just what I needed.

"Not by might nor by power, but by my spirit," says the Lord of hosts. (Zechariah 4:6)