Veteran HS Mom has melt down

Earlier this week I had what I would call a "melt down".  It was mostly internal.  I didn't really take it out on anyone but the feelings were so overwhelming I felt like running away and not stopping! So I decided to go out on a limb and share on a homeschool forum that I belong to.  Here's a portion of what I wrote:


"Okay, so I'm really going out on a limb here and make a confession: I'm tired of hs-ing! (14 yrs!) I'm tired of all the decisions and mostly situations in our private life have caused our hs to be more of a "to do" list than a way of life... I feel like most days *I* just don't have the brain power to do school with him. It's not fair to him at all but ps isn't an option at this point. So I guess I'm letting myself vent here a little and I need some encouragement...Is there anyone who can relate?..."



The ladies there were so encouraging!  I got lots of prayer and scripture and reminders from these sweet ladies who identified with how I was feeling.

Thank you AO Forum!

I'm going out on a limb posting this here, publicly, not that I have that many readers but you never know who will see this and well, I feel awfully vulnerable.

But maybe, just maybe someone else needs to know that they are  not alone and that everyone has "low" times; especially in homeschooling.  It's such a BIG job, you can't possibly expect it to always be FUN right?  Right.

So thank you for the encouragement ladies, and bless you to anyone else who is feeling this way.

Now I am ready to move forward!

The Homeschool Mother’s Journal ~3-2-12

I wrote this a while back and missed the link party, but thought I would post it anyway!  I have a tendency to write posts, not finish them or think they have to be perfect. But today I'm posting imperfect posts!  Yay!

In my life this week…

My “baby” turned 14 years old this week!  He’s been counting down the days until his birthday but more importantly his party.  He’s tried every year to get his friends together and have an overnight party with outdoor activities and video game marathons and this year it’s happening. Tonight his friends will all come over and they will have a wiener roast, play capture the flag, football, video games and who knows what else?



In our homeschool this week…
We had a good week this week.  I know it’s almost spring but I am just now getting stuff really organized for the year!  Back in August we were gone 3 weeks and it really put a kink in my planning and we’ve been really just “doing the next thing” all year.  That’s fine, but I don’t think we were moving like I think we should.  So this week I dusted off the old Homeschool Tracker Software and got everything up to date. This is what his daily list looks like:

I always have to make a list like this so I don’t miss anything when I’m planning lessons.  It really helps!  I know it looks like a lot but many things don’t take but a couple of minutes.  Then of course somethings take a while, like Algebra!!

Spiritual Warfare

I don't often post about spiritual matters, I'm not sure why that is...hmmmm
But I really just needed to write down what God showed me this morning.  I have this Bible reading schedule that a friend and I do.  We read the scripture, write our thoughts or what God revealed, then we pray.  I've been doing this sort of quiet time for well over a year now.  So as you go through the Bible you LEARN no matter what your reading schedule.  My Sunday school teacher calls it "the as you go principle".  It's so true!  I've been so amazed at what God has revealed to me in some very unusual or obscure passages!
Right now we are reading 2 Samuel and we were on chapter 21 today.  (This is copied from a NLT version of the Bible.  I know some people don't like this version, but I have been enjoying reading it because it's worded different and it allows me to have less preconceived ideas.  You know?)
Anyway here is the passage:

Battles against Philistine Giants

 ¹⁵ Once again the Philistines were at war with Israel. And when David and his men were in the thick of battle, David became weak and exhausted. ¹⁶ Ishbi-benob was a descendant of the giants; his bronze spearhead weighed more than seven pounds, and he was armed with a new sword. He had cornered David and was about to kill him. ¹⁷ But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to David’s rescue and killed the Philistine. Then David’s men declared, “You are not going out to battle with us again! Why risk snuffing out the light of Israel?”

 ¹⁸ After this, there was another battle against the Philistines at Gob. As they fought, Sibbecai from Hushah killed Saph, another descendant of the giants.

 ¹⁹ During another battle at Gob, Elhanan son of Jair from Bethlehem killed the brother of Goliath of Gath. The handle of his spear was as thick as a weaver’s beam!

 ²⁰ In another battle with the Philistines at Gath, they encountered a huge man with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in all, who was also a descendant of the giants. ²¹ But when he defied and taunted Israel, he was killed by Jonathan, the son of David’s brother Shimea.

 ²² These four Philistines were descendants of the giants of Gath, but David and his warriors killed them.

I found it interesting the enemy was kin to Goliath in a way, and David is still battling and conquering them, although he almost got killed himself.  It makes me think of spiritual parallels.  The way we go into a "battle" but we are worn out and not refreshed and ready to handle it, but praise God for prayer partners who swoop in and save us!  Sometimes we need rest and renewal and we DEFINITELY need each other! And I also noticed that the same enemy cropped up again and again in David's life. Sound familiar?  It is to me.  This was so amazing to me that I decided to share it.   I love God's word and I love to learn from Him every day.

Thoughts on blogging

It seems I have only been posting the Homeschool Mother's Journal, and even that is hit and miss!  I'm struggling a bit with whether to keep blogging or not.  I'm not a natural born writer but I do love to talk!  But I need someone to talk to.  I need give and take.  Do any of you struggle with the "faceless" nature of blogging?