Chin up! You can do this! Part 1

September 8th, 2009
This was a reply to a woman who has feeling really discouraged. She was a new homeschooler and just felt like she was already failing:
Hello. My name is Barbara and I thought about you all night. LOL! I read this post yesterday, but had a few things going on and did not have time to post. I sure wish you lived down the road from me. I would invite you over for a glass of tea and a chat! As it is, the written word will have to do.
I have 14 children. The oldest is 30, the youngest just turned 6 last week. 9 still live at home, one of those is in college. I have homeschooled a LONG time. HAHA! Let me tell you a secret, promise not to share it?? ( Just kidding ) The secret to being a really great mom and homeschooler is………..
Don’t sweat the small stuff. Relax and enjoy the ride.
I’m not kidding honeybun. You have homeschooled THREE WEEKS and feel like a failure. You question your ability to do this. I looked at your profile. You have three small kids- the oldest is 5. Think back with me for a minute. When that first child was born. Did you look at her sweet little face and think, “I don’t know how to be a mom! I might mess her up!”. The first night she cried all night and you were so tired you thought you might drop, did you again think, “I can’t do this. I don’t know what I am doing!”
The first time she got a fever and threw up all night, did you think, “I am not fit to do this” ?Yet here you are. She is 5 and you have gotten here safe and sound!
Homeschooling is like that. Of course you don’t know what you are doing- you haven’t done it yet. That does not mean you are unfit to do it, or are doing it wrong. You will learn as you go along. You learned enough with that first baby to risk having two more!! LOL!
This is getting long- let me post it and finish in the next box- so I don’t lose what I have so far!(My computer hates me LOL)