Last weekend I attended the Nebraska Christian Homeschool Educators conference in Lincoln, Nebraska. It is one of my favorite weekends out of the year. I could hardly wait to see friends that I haven't seen since we moved...and some that I haven't seen since the last conference. The nice thing about some friends are, even if you don't see them for a year you just pick up where you left off like no time has passed. I had a great time as usual catching up...and attending workshops.
If you are on the fence about whether or not homeschooling is for your family...or in the trenches with us already...I highly recommend trying out this conference. They have quiet a few workshops for those just starting out all the way up to those families who have high school aged kids.
I usually spend a few weeks writing blog posts about the workshops that I attended. I even had a few friends remind me of this...I will do my best.
So here goes my first recap...of the last workshop I attended.
This workshop was titled Lies Homeschool Families believe by Todd Wilson. Todd is from www.familymanweb.com. He was hysterical!! I noticed I had a few tears in my eyes from laughing so hard. Some of my friends attended every one of his workshops...he was just that good. He hit the mark for many homeschool families. I would also highly recommend liking his Facebook page and checking out his website. He is also a cartoonist (all cartoons on this blog post are from Mr. Wilson) and homeschool father of 8 kids.
He started out by telling us to put down our pens...we didn't need to take notes. I am typically a rule follower, however I felt that I needed to take notes...and technically didn't have a pen...I was taking notes on my ipad...so fingers technically aren't pens...
Here are the lies:
1. Everyone's kids are smarter than yours.
Yep they might be. But who cares really? The nice thing about homeschooling is we don't have to be teaching certain things at certain grade levels. I know my kids are "ahead" and "behind" than some kids of the same age...but again...who cares? I don't and neither should you.
2. Everyone's houses are cleaner than ours.
I admit, if I know someone is coming over I do have our house picked up and clean. My mom was like that, so I just thought that is how things were supposed to be. But come unannounced and you will find books all over and toys scattered. We live in our house and that is just that...we live.
3. Everyone fixes better meals than me.
Yep. That is true. I don't really care though...we just have different "diets" due to our activity schedules. The hubs takes care of himself, so our meals are quiet boring nowadays!
4. Everyone is more disciplined than I am.
Probably. Probably not. I am the kind of person that goes with the flow and doesn't stress out if we don't get everything accomplished that I had hoped to. I don't schedule out our school calendar or make lesson plans. That is just me and how I operate. I know I wouldn't follow them, so why waste my time. So yes most are probably more disciplined, but we are getting done with what we feel is the right amount for our kids at this stage of the game...so all is good!
5. Everyones marriage is better than mine.
In my opinion I think Sean and I have a pretty good marriage. We have our disagreements, but get over those in maybe 10 minutes or so...just kidding...15 minutes or so. Marriage is hard. Knowing what the Bible says about marriages has been extremely helpful and has provided quiet a bit of guidance for us. Are there marriages better than ours...who knows...I am not married to anyone else and have never been. You never know what goes on behind closed doors. The only marriage one should care about is their own...not the marriage of others.
6. You are the only one that feels how you feel.
Homeschooling can be overwhelming. Especially when you have more than one child that your are teaching. Especially when you are trying to compare yourselves to everyone else. Take a step back and be thankful for what you have...and not what others have or are doing.
So how can we combat these lies?
Be real with each other. My close friends know that I am pretty real...hopefully. I will just tell you how it is and don't really care what others think. I don't actually say....hey I don't care what you think...that isn't what I mean. That might rub some the wrong way...but I am confident that where I am at with our kids is where WE need to be. Not you. Not your kids. Not the kids down the road. Our kids.
I think I may have failed though in a sense. I have some friends who keep saying that they love reading about the homeschool activities that I do with our kids. I have come to realize that these posts may have done more harm than good for some. Please believe me when I say...our days are not full of fun, exciting activities all day, everyday. I don't share pictures of a child crying when she misses one spelling word. I don't share the times I have sent a child to their room for throwing a fit over losing at a game. I don't show the hard times. Homeschooling and being with our kids all day is not easy. Some days it is not even fun. But I know that this is where God wants our family to be and I honestly can say despite all of the hard days I wouldn't trade my job for any other. So I hope that my "fun" posts don't discourage other homeschool friends.
The last thing I wanted to share from this workshop is that God gave your children exactly the mother that they needed right now. Your children are going to be exactly what God created them to be!
If you attended this same workshop and wanted to add anything else...comment on this post. This was definetely one of my favorites.
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