What I wanted to share with you was how amazing our first day of school was this year.

This was especially true since I was getting ready to teach a class to homeschoolers this week about “homeschooling More than One Student”. I am supposed to know what I am doing… Dream with me… The kids get out of bed bright eyed and bushy tailed. They eat breakfast and do a few chores and meet me at the table at the pre-determined time. We work through all of our lessons and they all stay focused and work diligently… (Can you hear my bubble pop?)

 Nope. That was not our first day of school.

I had high hopes.

I thought the kids had read my mental memo and knew exactly what I was thinking. I was wrong.

Although I was well planned and woke up nice and early, it simply was “One of those days”. I do not know about you, but I like to reserve these days for right before the holidays, or maybe just after the New Year. I could not believe mine fell on the first day of school!

photo by Sonja Langford

 

• By 10 o’clock I was mentally wrestling with my high school freshman over goals and I had banished my 4th grader from the school table.
• By lunchtime, I had 3 kids basically rolling on the floor with uncontrollable giggling fits.
• By 2 o’clock I was trying to not get frustrated with my 5th grader and I had had it with the dog.
• By 3 o’clock I was resisting the urge to suddenly rewrite my entire lesson plan.
• By 4 o’clock I realized I had not thought about dinner. If you know me, you know this is a big deal for me.
• By 5:30 I was trying to cheerfully answer my husband when he asked me how the first day of school went.
• I left the house at 6:00 for a brisk walk and some quiet reflection on the day. Wow. What a first day of school.

When it was all said and done we had accomplished everything I had planned to get through, yet I wasn’t satisfied. Truth be told, some days are just like that.

Nothing seems to go right, the kids will not sit still, the phone rings and the kids run and hide, the “good” kids stir up the squirrely ones, dinner never gets beyond the plan, and you fall into bed exhausted.

Experience has taught me that today will not determine the course of my homeschooling.

I will simply fall prayerfully into bed and begin again tomorrow.

Photo by Elisabet Dominguez

I share this with you in hopes that a new homeschooling mom will find encouragement that this veteran had a hard day.

I have been teaching for almost two decades and I can still count the really bad days I have had.

Most are a result of my lack of planning or being in a funky mood. Very few were fluky weird like today, but they happen.

The important thing to remember is that tomorrow is a new day. I will plan a little harder and work a little slower. I will expect the kids to still have summertime energy as I wrestle them to the table for a few hours. I am hoping your first days of school are smooth sailing, but if they aren’t I’d love to hear about it!

Preview of the Heart of Homeschooling God’s Way Master Class.

We need to STOP measuring success by grades, achievements, awards, and worksheets.