Hope For Homeschool Moms

The forget-me-nots in the vase beside my kitchen sink catch my eye as I finish the breakfast dishes. Such delicate loveliness, such vibrant colors! They almost look artificial in their perfection, the soft yellows, the baby blues. These are the handfuls of spring flowers brought to me by my sweet children, sitting so cheerfully on the counter. They brighten my morning as they turn their beaming faces towards me, reminding me of the many beauties and blessings in my life. 

Sometimes I find myself feeling defensive and grumpy at my children's requests, and I don't even really know why. So today, when my son's request to go kite flying made me feel annoyed, I had to stop and ask myself why it made me feel that way? Once I did, I think I was able to figure out the answer. I'm a busy mom, and with three kids old enough to have lots of ideas and requests, I always feel as if I am behind on my life and that every request is a new thing to tag onto my to-do list. It probably doesn't help that they tend to ask me these requests when I'm feeling most busy, or after a really busy day when I have sat down for the first time. Even if their requests are relatively simple, they often make messes, or require set up, or a time of the day where we need to go somewhere to make the request happen. So, subconsciously, with each request I am mentally adding up the cost of the ask, and feeling like the struggle to make it happen is more than I can curr...

Spring weather finds me weeding in my gardens. Last spring and summer I was pregnant, exhausted and not feeling well, so while gardening did happen, I was less than thorough in my weeding. This year the proof is in weeds. In just one summer of poor weeding, grass and a pesky invasive plant have retaken over my beautiful flower garden! It was unbelievable how quickly it got into all different parts of my formerly well-maintained garden.  As I ripped out much of the plants, relocating and thinning where necessary, it made me think of my life. I used to have a pretty well-maintained attitude and spiritual life. But in the exhaustion and busyness of mothering, homeschooling, pregnancy, and newborns I feel like the weeds of bad attitudes, self-pity, and anxiety of unimportant things have crept in. And like my garden it all needs some serious weeding.  Other than just mercilessly ripping it out wh ere necessary, I'm not sure there are any easy ways to do this. I'm not sure that I ca...