ABCs of Homeschooling ~ Overwhelmed

I’ve been putting this post off for a few days… no good excuses, really, I just couldn’t land on the right topic to blog about. I wanted something that applies to our homeschool and fits where we are right now. I could have done “online” or “outside” or “organization.” I could have made any of those work. But finally, at the very last moment, I settled on “Overwhelmed.”

Quite often, with homeschooling and life and kids, I feel overwhelmed.

I mean, let’s face it. There are plenty of opportunities (there’s another “O” word) for the stress to overwhelm us.

• When you’re homeschooling and pregnant, or breastfeeding or potty training at the same time… it can be overwhelming.
• When you don’t have the materials you need and you’re trying to make do with what you have… that can be overwhelming, too.
• When your child is struggling and you don’t know how to help them– definitely overwhelming.
• When the bickering outweighs the listening and learning… can we say, “Overwhelming!?”
• When you realize your child is turning into a tween and you’re not prepared… OVERWHELMING.
• When you’re trying to balance home, school, marriage, kids, housework, hobbies and your spiritual life… often very overwhelming!!

Yes, there are plenty of things that can overwhelm us if we let them. But you know, there’s more to it that just the stressful and difficult things. There are plenty of good things, too.

• When there’s a baby on the shoulder and a child on the lap and a kid at the knee.. or these days a dogpile of kids all around me looking at a book or cuddling for a hug.. My heart is overwhelmed with the love I feel for my children and the love they so freely return.
• When God provides ways to obtain the materials we need.. my heart is overwhelmed by His goodness and mercies!
• When a struggling child at last grasps a difficult concept is finally able to succeed.. my heart is overwhelmed with joy for the fruits of their hard work.
• When learning grabs hold of us and even conquers the bickering and complaining.. my heart is overwhelmed with relief and with the excitement of the moment.
• When the emerging moodiness of the tween shifts to a display of maturity and young adulthood my heart is overwhelmed with thanksgiving and full of pride for the wisdom heeded and practiced in that moment.
• When I take a step back to look at all the blessings I’ve been given, my home, my marriage, my children, our homeschooling, my friends, my hobbies, my relationship with God… I am OVERWHELMED by them. I have been truly, truly blessed.

You see, it’s truly a matter of perspective (which I realize is a “P” word and not an “O” word.) Homeschooling, like everything else in life, has its highs and its lows. There are good moments and not-so-good-ones, the easy parts and the hard parts, the frustrations and the joys. I have to choose if I am going to let myself become overwhelmed by all the not-so-good moments… or give myself over to God’s overwhelming blessing (which comes part and parcel with the hard parts) and praise Him, saying, “I AM BLESSED!”

I’m not going to deny the stressful moments, I won’t try to paint a perfect picture. In fact, I’m in the middle of some very overwhelming planning preparing for the coming school year. When I start to feel overwhelmed as I have found myself multiple times this week… I can hand that over to God and be overwhelmed with His peace instead.

Are you finding yourself at a season in your homeschool where you are overwhelmed? Are you torn between teenagers and infants, buried under lesson plans or battling sibling rivalry? Let me know and I will pray for you. God bless.

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This post is a part of the ABC’s of Homeschooling by Dawn @ 5 Kids and a Dog. You can read the rest of my ABC posts here:

• All Year
• Books
• Choices
• Differences
• E & F ~ “Everyone Together” and “Flexibility”
• God
• Housework & Homework
• Imitation
• Joy
• Kids
• Lead By Example
• Methods
• Not Comparing