Hit Reset

Long ago, when I first started homeschooling a friend recommended I label every good day with a happy face. I grabbed that advice and ran with it.  The first year of school most of my family calendar boasted drawn smiles and stickers.  Homeschool wasn’t a breeze but it was snuggly and fun.  

Fast forward a few years later and our calendar is peppered with doctor appointments, tutoring sessions, sports meets, and AWANA nights.  The happy faces haven’t just vacated our calendar but sometimes our hearts as well.  Busy is as busy does. Checklists, deadlines, and other appointments can eat up a homeschool day.

It’s easy to forget homeschooling isn’t just a way of educating our children but it’s a way of life.  So what can a homeschool mama do when that life is filled with tests and tears?  

Begin with a deep, slow breath

Simmer down before you get steamed.  Whether it’s a difficult subject to teach, a trying lesson to learn, an issue of the heart, or all three, it does no good to fly off the handle.  Put away your angry eyebrows and take a deep breath.

Touch your Child

A simple kind hand patting the shoulder or a huge hug can reconnect teacher and student. It can unify mother and child.  You are not your performance and neither is your child.  Remember who you are and they remember who they are.  

Look Up

Reach out to the Heavenly Father.  Cry out to Jesus.  Invite the Spirit to take this subject or day over.  When we forget the earthly treasure we’re hoarding and grab on to the eternal, God has a way of saving the worst of days.  In a whirl, He can heal and make whole the most horrid of days.  

Make Tea

Tea or hot chocolate with a treat makes the hardest of subjects a delight.  Linger at the table together.  Read silly poetry.  Play an easy math game.  Or any game at all.  Get away from the stressor and revive the person. 

Praise the House Down

Literally!  If your situation is calmed enough and the bitterness has subsided resist the urge to thrust yourself back into work.  Instead, sing an old hymn or two together.  Give praise to the One who makes all things possible.  

If tea time was a horror, due to boiling emotion, do not skip this step.  If your heart is too heavy to sing without tears, then put on some praise music.  In times like these, I skip the radio stations and contemporary worship music.  I aim to get as much scripture flowing through my house as possible.  I turn to SEEDS family praise CDs. 

If feelings are still hot, I do not crank the volume.  Instead, I play it soft and low, allowing the Holy Spirit to grab hold of our hearts.  

Ask for Forgiveness

Many times the fault lies with me, mom, when our homeschool day goes astray. I’ve pushed too hard, been too short, or overlooked obvious calls for help from my students.  Now that the trauma is settling and the house isn’t vibrating in frustration, I take a moment apart from my children and ask Jesus to take my heart of stone and replace it with a heart of flesh.  I want a heart like His. I want to see my family as He sees them and encourage them as He would.  

Then, I take my apologies to the offended and offer them.  They’re not always readily received but I don’t force a response.  I trust that I’ve done my part and that God is doing an unseen work. 

Start Again

Show your students God’s great mercy by showing them mercy.  If the Lord leads you, begin again right away.  Sometimes He’ll encourage you to give the day back to Him and trust that you’ll make up the work tomorrow.  Listen.  Do not force school into your timing, but cheerfully lead it according to God’s timing. 

Not every bad day follows these same exact steps in the same exact order.  Some days my family goes to bed still saddened and confused but trusting that tomorrow will be better.  Bad times do not last forever, even when they feel as if they won’t ever end. Lean on the Lord and keep the happy face stickers coming and remember to count them often.  

I’m praying for you.