I know I’ve read several times in several places that a woman’s brain tends to stay busy. Men don’t get this, because their brains have a power save mode. I don’t know if this is true of all men and women but this is certainly true for my husband and me, and for every other woman I have talked to about this.

Our. Brains. Don’t. Stop. 

We are all thinking about different things, be we are all always thinking.

Ever wonder what goes on in a homeschool mom’s brain? 

I mean, besides the obvious normal mom stuff: “I need to feed these kids,” “time to switch the washer,” “is it bed time yet??”

Let me tell you a ‘secret.’ We like to look at our other mom friends and think they look so put together and on top of things. Homeschool moms do the same thing. We can look at our homeschool mom friends and feel pretty certain they are doing a great job. But on the inside, I’m pretty sure we’re all thinking the same things.

Here’s a list of ten things that go through my brain, probably on a daily basis: 

10 Thoughts Homeschool Moms Think (Every Day)

1. “Why are my children surprised that we have to do school? Again? Today?” I know I think this almost every day, when almost every day one of my children asks, “We’re doing school today??” And I immediately have to ask myself if I have some how failed to convey the nature and intention of what we are doing here at home and why.
2. “Where have all the pencils gone?? Why are there no pencils??” Ok, I don’t think this EVERY day. We can find pencils the day I buy a new box, and for a day or two after. THEN I start thinking this (or hollering it aloud,) nearly every day.
3. “Where is the stapler/scissors/hole punch/tape?” Immediately followed by:
4. “Why don’t people put things back where they belong?” Followed by:
5. “WHO IS RAISING THESE CHILDREN?” <— That would be ME, self, thanks for that. Note to self: teach the kids to put things away where they go. (I might be the only one who regularly talks to herself like this, I’m not sure.)
6. “I don’t think I’m doing a very good job at the mom thing, or this homeschool mom thing.” Most moms I know doubt themselves regularly. It’s because we care. And we worry.
7. “I think this is going to be end of me.” That persistent *bump-bump-bump* you hear is the nearest homeschool mom bump-bump-bumping her head on her desk as she tries to wrap her brain around the current difficult moment.
8. “I wish I could finish one thought. Just one.” It’s not that the kids are always interrupting (sometimes they really are,) but we tend to have so many irons in the fire, so many balls in the air, often it’s our own brains interrupting our own thoughts with other thoughts! But yes, with kids home all day, kids who need us, kids we SHOULD be setting aside our time for to talk with and help with school work, it does make serious thought a bit more challenging.
9. “I’m really pretty sure I’m not doing this right.” Again. I constantly criticize the job that I do, wanting to do better, be more, improve what I can improve. And I’m pretty-constantly-pretty-sure I’m not doing a great job.
10. “I can’t imagine giving this up, I wouldn’t trade this for anything.” Bottom line, it always comes down to this. No matter what frustration, what doubt, or what fear has just passed through my mind, I would rather work through the hard days for my kids than not have this time with them.

In short – a homeschool mom’s brain is a busy place. These are only ten! And I didn’t even mention thinking about math or showers or pajama pants. =p 

Linked up with Top Ten Tuesday at iHomeschool Network on the brand new iHN blog. 

Image source credit: Public domain.