Already Behind

Well, we are two weeks into the new school year and I’m already behind.  This is definitely a first for me.  I usually can stay on track for a good, solid quarter before I start falling behind.    By falling behind, I simply mean that the calendar I created over the summer listing everyone’s lesson number they should be on at any given point in the school year, is no longer the lesson we are on.  Since for the younger kids, many of their lessons cannot be done independently, when I get off track, they are off track. 

I’m not concerned about being behind, since I purposely schedule my homeschool school year with plenty of catch up days scattered throughout every month.  But I had to catch myself blaming “all these other distractions” as being the reason for falling behind.  I had to remind myself that these “distractions” aren’t really distractions at all.  They are just another part of my job that are equally as important as doing lesson #6 in Language Arts.

I’ve had to remind myself that in addition to being a homeschool mom, I am also a mom.

It is sometimes hard for homeschoolers to not get caught up in the school part of their job, at the cost of all else.  In the last two weeks the “distractions” that threw me off my self-imposed schedule were things like orthodontist appointments,  car repairs, driving kids to various activities, play dates, appliance repairs, long conversations with older kids needing my time and attention, mother/daughter Bible studies and the constant, “Mom, come swim with us” during this incredible heat wave we’ve been experiencing of late.  In hindsight, that I looked at any of those things as distractions is embarrassing.  In the blink of an eye there will be no need for me to drive anyone anywhere, losing that confined time with them alone in the car.  There will come a day when no one has any desire to swim with me, or think to even want to include me.  The day is coming when I’ll long for an available child to do a mother/daughter study with and once the play dates end, will I ever really make the time and effort to spend a few hours with girlfriends?    All these activities are not distractions.  They are simply another part of my ever growing job description, all of which provide unexpected moments of blessing and encouragement.  At the end of the day, I’d much rather have a relationship with my adult children that results in their still wanting to talk and spend time with me, over the satisfaction of knowing that I completed my school year “on time”. 

I know many of my friends are not officially starting school until Tuesday, so you are one up on me already, even though I started earlier than you.  YOU are not behind!  But as your school year starts and life dares to happen in the midst of it, remember that finishing on time isn’t nearly as important as how you handle all those life things that will come up.  How you walked your daughter through her social crisis, or the conversations you would have not had with your son as you drove him from one event to the next, are the memories that will stick with them for years to come.  Those aren’t distractions.  They are another, vital and significant, part of your job.

Have a great school year!