A Sane Mother - June, 2014

I have been wonderfully encouraged as I've read The Spiritual Power of a Mother by Michael Farris. Chapter 9 is about the myth of the perfect homeschool mom. In this chapter he admonishes:

Your children need a sane mother far more than they need a support group.

You simply cannot do everything.

You need to decide which areas are the most important and devote more of your resources and your incredibly precious time to those projects. You must let lesser priorities slide, either a little or a lot.

I underlined those sentences and have considered taping them on the bathroom mirror or the refrigerator . . . maybe both places. You can take out "support group" and change it to fit your situation.

When I am "sane" I like who I am as a wife, mother, teacher, and friend, because I like how I treat myself, my husband, children, and friends.

We all have days (or maybe a few weeks) during our school year when things get crazy and we go a bit insane, but how would you characterize your year as a whole? Do you like who you are as a wife, mother, teacher, and friend? Assigning priorities to subjects and events can be a big help in staying sane.

Because I have to drop whatever I'm doing at certain times during the day to take care of my mom, a high priority for me is to start schooling on time so I don't have to leave out something fun I planned to do or hurry and scurry through our subjects. I don't like me when we have to rush. Kim likes to talk about things and I can see her spirit close when I keep watching the clock and telling her to hurry. So I put a lot of effort, planning, and discipline into my morning routine.

On the other hand, Fine Arts is a low priority. There are many days (and sometimes weeks) when I let some (or a lot) of what I have planned slide because something else (which is a higher priority) comes up or takes more time than I thought it would. 

Getting outdoors for exercise is a middle priority -- it happens almost every day.

Do you know what your priorities are in schooling your children? My challenge to you is to take some time this summer to establish priorities for you and your children so you can be a successful, happy, and sane mother.