This will only be my third full year of being a homeschool teacher so I am hardly an expert. But I have definitely spent many moments hiding in my room after (or during) a frustrating day, wondering why in the world I thought I could handle being a teacher to my own kids. As moms, we put so much pressure on ourselves for our kids to be successful and that pressure can be magnified when you make their education your sole responsibility. I’m here to tell you that you can relax and give yourself some grace. We don’t have to be the perfect teacher all the time in order for our kids to thrive. I know from personal experience that your kids will be just fine if you:

*Accidentally laugh when they mispronounce a word in a funny way.
*Get frustrated when they don’t understand a math concept (I still shudder when I think about the week I introduced long division)!
*Skip a concept in their curriculum because you think it’s confusing and dumb. I’m talking about you, Spelling Rules!
*Have to re-teach yourself 4th grade math because you don’t remember how to do it (or you can farm it out to their older and wiser sibling like I do)!

*Buy yourself an expensive gift for Teacher Appreciation Week because you need a little mid-week pick me up.
*Count down the days until summer break!
*Send them to a tutorial just so you can have a break or because you don’t want to re-learn chemistry.
*Postpone lessons because the weather is nice and you all need a little bit of sunshine.

*Paraphrase a few chapters in the book that you chose for your read aloud because it was a “classic” but you secretly hate it as much as they do.
*Threaten to send them back to public school at least once a week.
*Actively dread listening to your new reader practice reading out loud.

*Hide in the closet eating their Easter candy while they do their independent work.
*Turn on “The Who Was" show instead of doing a formal history lesson because you were up with a fussy baby all night and you need a nap.
*Have them vacuum, unload dishes, and switch over the laundry for a homeschool “Life Skills” class.

There are definitely days when I wonder if I made the right decision to homeschool. I would say this happens at least once a week and the entire month of February! But then I am reminded why I chose this path when I see my kids work together to solve a problem, when they are enjoying the curriculum that I carefully hand-selected for them, when we spend time together on our fun and educational field trips, and especially when I get to see those lightbulb moments where they finally understand a challenging concept.

Homeschool can be a difficult journey but I try to focus on the reasons I chose to do it. Even if those reasons drive me crazy sometimes!