Meahwhile, back in the jungle...

I use Catholic Exchange as my home page. Yesterday there was a terrific article about homeschooling, and the January panic that sets in every year. I hadn't had a chance to read it yet, but had pulled it up for later. I walked into the kitchen to find my oldest two children reading the article and giggling.
"This is just like you", they said. And sure enough.


“We are so far behind. We will never get caught up. Why did I ever decide to do this? I am such a failure. And what is worse, I am failing these children.”

The messages start bouncing around in the mind of the homeschooling mother like superballs on a tile floor. It is homeschooling panic time."

And then there is this little gem...

"This year was going to be different. This year you were going to be perfectly ORGANIZED. This year every form was going to be turned in on time. This year you were going to plan well ahead for all kinds of wonderful, enriching field trips. This year you would do lesson planning weeks in advance and you would have all your supplies on time. This year you were going have a schedule that ran like a well-oiled machine and you would not spend entire quarters of hours searching for lost sneakers."

and finally...

"We could homeschool the children so much better if they weren’t so messy and energetic to the point of bouncing off the walls. If they weren’t children, you see, it would all be so much easier to homeschool them."

If you homeschool, I guarantee a good laugh. If you know someone who homeschools, this will help you understand them. And if you think homeschooling mothers have it all together, this tells it as it is. Don't stop at these excerpts. Go, and read the entire, wonderful article.