The Hardest Part

There are many parts of parenting that are hard. I don’t need to tell you that. The whole world is more than happy to trumpet the difficulties inherent in raising children. We all know about the sacrifices of time and money and personal space, the push and pull of wanting to be both here and there, the physical pain of getting them here in the first place (by birth or adoption, I’m here to tell you). We walk in knowing it won’t be a cakewalk.

And then, one of our kids faces a giant we can’t fight and suddenly, we learn it all over again: parenting is hard.

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The Ultimate Guide to Planning a Homeschool Graduation

Spring is right around the corner, and that means graduation season is upon us. In just a few short weeks, grocery stores will be filling their stationary sections with balloons in the shape of mortar board caps, and mailboxes will swamped with the news that far-flung and rarely-heard-from relations are setting another 18 year-old loose from the constraints of secondary education. While at first glance, it seems that the institutional educators have a lock on this particular celebration, never fear. Just like that moment when you discovered that it didn’t take a degree in education to teach your child to read, you’ll quickly see that even a busy homeschooling parent can plan the kind of graduation that you— and your graduate— will remember for all the right reasons.

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Spring For Our Souls

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As much as I hate busy, I’m living in it right now. I feel like we swing from one event to the next, from one happening to yet another appointment. I admit it drives me crazy, but I also admit that I can’t seem to figure out how to hit the pause button and slow this freight train down. I have been more appreciative of Lent than ever before because of this; there’s been no choice but to stop and breathe deeply each night as the candles are lit and the electric lights put out. I needed this calm, this reflection, this space.

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Writing Stories

I wrote a short story on October 18th, 2015. It’s ten pages long— the result of a particularly vivid dream I had. (I won’t bore you with the details. Dreams should be summed up in one sentence or not at all.) I did nothing with the story until May of the following year, when I did something I would never, ever normally do. I wrote a sequel. Then I wrote another. And another. And another.

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Straddle Family

People ask what it’s like to have kids in their twenties and twos, what it looks like to have college kids sharing space with toddlers, how it feels to talk about planning for the future just around the corner while setting up a wooden train track.

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The Power (and permission) to Slow Down

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Homeschooling high school can sometimes feel like jumping onto a moving treadmill. Everything counts, we’re told. And in truth, it mostly does. Feeling the weight of this (not to mention the unspoken but always present specter of post-secondary education and/or job prospects), our efforts at educating our teens can feel rushed, frantic— and more than a little stressful for all involved parties.

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Keep Calm and Don’t Quit

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Nearly every homeschooling mother I have ever met has admitted that February is her nemesis. Oh, plenty of times we stumble around trying to find the swing of January after the blessed break that is December. And yes, there’s the long, slow march that is April. But February? February pulls us under and leaves us slogging through not just the gloomy muck of rain and cold outside our windows, but the tiresome repetition of yet another math lesson, “can you please spell that word again?” and “no, for the last time, we are not done with school for the day!”

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