I’m sure as you are reading this blog title, you going “Are you INSANE? Why would anyone want to homeschool their kids permanently? My kids are driving me through the roof and I can’t wait for my kids to go back to school!”
But yes, 2020 – the year all parent’s lives got turned upside-down, has become the year that I decided to homeschool my kids permanently. Why? Here’s why:
Photo Credit – Celeste Bester @ Bester Photography
Public schools want to fit my kids in a pre-set “box”
I have a daughter whom I sometimes refer to as Drama Queen 2.0. And I am not exaggerating. This almost-pre-teen child has a very creative mind, loves anything art and tends to overthink EVERYTHING. In other words, she’s a very sensitive, creative soul. And that is what makes her NOT fit into that pre-set “box” that public schools want kids to fit in. My son, on the other hand, loves all things mechanical. One could, instead of giving him a toy, just leave the toy in the store and give him the box it came in. With that box, he can create anything and I mean ANYTHING that fits his Lego… or his Dinosaurs… or his Roblox… or whatever he can lay his hand on… That, in a nutshell, are my kids… The definition of two kiddos who DON’T fit into THAT box.
Photo Credit – Celeste Bester @ Bester Photography
Lockdowns and Quarantines showed me who my real kids are
During the times we were required to stay in quarantine, I noticed how relaxed my kids were when it came to doing school work. That “please do your homework” and “if you don’t stop moaning, I am going to lose it” phrases didn’t cross my lips even once. Instead, my kids gave me a glimpse of what life looked like when they don’t have the added anxiety of having to “fit in” at school every day. They could be themselves. They could read books while sitting outside, not in a stuffy classroom. They could do math with noodles instead of learning multiplication problems like parrots. They could UNDERSTAND what was asked of them without having to be labelled as being “behind the rest of the class.”
Photo Credit – Celeste Bester @ Bester Photography
2020 showed me that even if I can’t do it all, I can do better
From every single day of school being filled with tantrums, tears and anxiety, our days are now filled with laughs, jokes and (I am not sugar-coating), the occasional fight between siblings. We get to LIVE. Just LIVE. From my kids having a Mom that shouted about homework, messy schoolbags and PTA meetings, they now have a calmer, relaxed and happier Mom. And as my husband would put it… “Happy wife, happy life!” I am a full-time freelance writer. I work from home – I am a mother and I am a wife. I can’t do everything right all the time. But I can do better than what I had done prior to 2020. And I AM doing better.
With that in mind, I decided to homeschool my kids permanently. Because who wants to go back to seeing their kids unhappy if you got the taste of what a better life could become? Yes, not everyone might feel this way, but as mothers, we do what’s best for our kiddos and I believe I made the best choice I ever could!