I found this old homeschool post just sitting in my draft pile, and I thought it would be quite fitting right about now. Many homeschoolers have a tough time in February. The holidays are over, and we’re back to the hum-drum of regular life. And May is SOOO far away!

Well, with the influx of families working through distance learning and many of them trying out homeschooling for the first time, you might feel like it’s just not a good fit.

But here’s good news…

It’s not just you!

It’s Not Just You, Homeschool Mom!

There are days when the attempt to homeschool a teenage girl can be really rough.

On BOTH of us!

Some days are great. We get up on time, get right into the day and sail smoothly through the day’s lessons, and sometimes even get in a bit more than we were bargaining for.

We don’t ever have to worry about snow days or weather delays, and we don’t take trivial days off for “professional development.” And since we don’t have those, we can actually finish the school year a little earlier than public school.

Those days are great. But they aren’t all like that.

When Homeschool Isn’t Perfect

Some days, one or both of us feel like crap. And on those days, we just can’t help it! Things aren’t going to go well, but we have to trudge through anyway.

Some days I feel like a complete loser. Like nothing I do or say comes out right, and there’s always the looming question, “Was this really the right decision for her?”

I know that it was, deep in my heart. 

Then there are days when she has a worse day than me. Maybe she failed a test or a quiz, or maybe she didn’t understand the information being taught. And she’s so hard on herself. There have been tears…on both sides.

It’s on the days that she gets agitated that I wish I could just let her see herself through my eyes, just one time, for just a few minutes. On those days, I wish I could link her heart to mine and feel it break for her the way it does when she’s sad. On those days, I wish I could scoop her into my arms like I did when she was so young and just make it all better.

But I can’t. No matter how much I wish and hope, I know I can’t.

But I tell her anyway. I try to give her the guidance that she needs to see that it isn’t as bad as it feels in the moment.

But…

Try To Think Back…

I remember being 15. I remember being harder on myself than anyone else ever could. I remember the expectations I had of myself, even though I didn’t think I could live up to them.

Oh, how I remember!

And I try to let that be a guide for me in talking to her. But then…I didn’t listen to my mother at that age either. I wish I had. It would have saved me so much heartache.

Hindsight IS 20/20, after all, right? That’s where all those songs come into play that have lyrics like, “If I’d only known then what I know now…”

Man, it stinks to know what they’re going through, all the while knowing that nothing you say will really stick until later in life.

But maybe that’s why we say it anyway. Because someday, hopefully, it will stick. Maybe someday it will come in handy. It sure is better than not saying anything at all.

Just Keep Going!

And so, we keep going, day after day. She is SO smart, and I know that she will finish her high school years with top grades.

I know because I did, and she’s waaaaay smarter than I was. She doesn’t know it yet, but she is, and she will know it one day. She’s modest to the point that maybe to her, it would seem arrogant to believe in her own worth. But, until she’s able to, I’m going to believe in her enough for the both of us.

She’s the gift that God gave to me, and I pray that I can do half the job, just HALF THE JOB, that I want to do in my heart.

Still…sometimes homeschool is hard on both of us.