You Don’t Have to Be a Supermom to Homeschool

In our eight years of homeschooling, I’ve noticed that there are a large number of people who put those of us who educate our own children up on a pedestal:

You’re amazing!

You’re a superhero!

You must have superhuman patience!

You must be so organized!

You must be Mother of the Year!

As much as I’d love to take the credit for all of those things, there’s just one problem…

None of that is true. 

Although it is pretty nifty to hear all those wonderful things about homeschool parents, I’m beginning to believe that these ideas are what may be keeping a great many parents who are interested in homeschooling from ever actually doing it.

So, today, I’ve decided that I’m going to spill the beans about what this homeschool mom is really like in order to encourage anyone who thinks that they don’t have what it takes, that anyone- I mean anyone- who loves their children and really wants homeschooling to work, can do it, and can do it successfully.

No super powers required.

Why You Don’t Have to Be a Superhero to Homeschool

I think this is a more accurate image of what most homeschool moms feel like at times instead of superheroes.

 

I think the easiest way for me to tackle this head-on is just going to be to address all of the comments I listed above that homeschool moms often hear from well-meaning people, so I’ll begin with the first one:

 

You’re amazing!

Actually, I’m not. At all. I get up after the kids, and even then I wish I could stay in bed for another two hours. I’m cranky in the morning, and I can’t function until I’ve had at least two cups of coffee. I don’t make breakfast, unless you count cereal and frozen waffles, and half the time my kids don’t have matching socks clean.

Amazing? Not quite.

 

You’re a superhero!

Umm.. I’m about as unsuperhero-like as they come. I’m self-conscious, which is why you’ll rarely find me in any photos here on my blog. I doubt myself constantly, and I get a little flustered when talking to people I don’t know well. I’m also an extremely nervous person. A worry-wart to the nth degree. Every time my kids leave the house, no matter where they’re going, I’m wringing my hands until they get back.

I don’t think a superhero would have those issues…

 

You must have super-human patience!

Have you seen my url? redheadmom8? And I’ve got the temper to prove it. Did you ever see those vines on Christian road rage? That’s me.

 

Everytime we watch this, my kids point at me. They know, too. (Okay, I’m not that bad,  but I think you get the picture.)

And I’m an introvert with 11 kids. There are times- several times a week, actually- when I finally crack and send all the kids upstairs or outside so that I feel like I can actually breathe again.

Oh, I wish I had super-human patience.

 

You must be so organized!

Ha! That one gets a belly laugh from me. Okay…I try to be organized. I really do. I have crates for each group of kids’ school work, I have daily schedules posted for my kids and myself, and I just started writing out meal plans.

Unfortunately, that’s as far as it goes most of the time because everyday I’m still searching through all the crates for this child’s notebook or that child’s math book, and don’t even get me started on what happens to all of our pencils. If I actually went by our daily schedules I might actually wake up early enough to cook a good breakfast, and I might remember to tell my kids to get dressed everyday. As for the meal plan? I’m getting better, but we still have days where I throw out the meal plan and serve Corn Flakes, instead.

I’m telling you, it’s not pretty.

 

You must be Mother of the Year!

This one will be short and sweet because I think all of my earlier confessions completely throw this award out the window.

Maybe next year.

 

Here’s Why None of That Matters

 

By now you’re probably wondering how in the world I’m qualified to homeschool my kids, and I’m glad you asked. 🙂

You see, all of those faults work together for the good of our family and for the good of our homeschool.

My morning crankiness?

It gives my kids more time to relax in the morning before jumping into the school day. There’s a reason we don’t start until 10am!

My lack of breakfast preparation?

My 12 year old can now make pretty awesome pancakes and some mean quick bread.

My nervousness and self-consciousness?

It helps me to empathize with my kids when they feel that way. It enables me to be as diligent about their safety as possible without going overboard. And it holds me accountable for making sure I’m giving them the education they deserve.

My redhead temper?

Believe it or not, my patience grows more and more each year. Patience just isn’t something that comes naturally for some people- I’d say for most people. I think a big misconception of the population is that they could never homeschool because they’d never handle being with their kids that much. The truth is, the reason they have no patience with their kids is because they’re not with them enough. It seems contradictory, but it’s the truth. You can’t get used to being around someone who’s gone much of the time, can you?

My failed attempts at organization?

Well, since I often don’t remember to tell my kids to get dressed, I don’t need those matching socks, do I? 😉

All joking aside, this is one thing that I’m really working on, but my difficulties contain a lesson for the kids: Even moms have areas they need to work on, too.

 

Here’s what it comes down to:

There is no such thing as a homeschool supermom. Just like other parents, we’ve all got some strengths and a good number of weaknesses. But just like other parents, we do have one super power that is the only one necessary to do this thing called homeschooling:

An unfading, neverending love for our children.

If you’ve got that one covered, you have everything you need to homeschool.

Because that’s the only superpower that matters.