{photo via fanpop}
“Of course it’s hard. It’s supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. It's the hard that makes it great.”
~Jimmy Dugan, A League of Their Own
Remember this movie? This quote has particularly inspired me (Jenny) this week, and I just wanted to share it with all the hard-working SLOCA parents out there. In our family, getting back into the school groove after the holiday break has been a little rough, and I’ve actually found myself thinking that I need Tom Hanks to yell at me, “There’s no crying in homeschool!” Except there is, sometimes.
Just look at that photo above – I’m sure I’ve flashed each of these looks to my kids on home days over the last month. Can anyone relate?
We all hit bumps along the road, and we can definitely approach burnout after doing this for awhile. (“The struggle is real,” as the kids like to say.) In our home it feels like we’ve had an extra share of tears and tempers over the past few weeks, but you know what has been helping? Talking to other moms, having a heart-to-heart with the kids, reaching out to a teacher, Andrew Pudewa’s seminars, reading the “Always Mindful” section of the update each week, and remembering to “see life as it should be” rather than focusing on the bad moments. These have all pushed me back toward sanity and problem-solving, and away from those feelings of doom and gloom.
It also helps to remember that when we blow it, our kids are incredibly forgiving. After a particularly hard day, filled with many bad-mom moments, I found this card on the table after lunch. (It says, “Thank you for what you do. you are the best mom ever in 1,000,000,000 Galaxies.”)
Yep, it’s worth it. Even on the tough days. This is the best kind of hard.
I hope you too find it tremendously encouraging to be reminded that being this involved in our children’s education IS hard. Like Jimmy says, if it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it.
So embrace the hard – what you’re doing is indeed great!
