My greatest fear around homeschooling, and what I'm doing about it...

As a mother it is so easy to continually be giving, pouring your energy into everyone else; meeting their needs, holding space for their feelings. Being Mother is an incredibly rewarding role but, if allowed, can be exhausting. Draining. Depleting. Adding in the additional role of being responsible for your children’s education, along with nurturing the home and it can be easy to go days without noticing, let alone meeting, your own needs. Needs for nourishment, solitude, nurturing. 

My greatest fear around homeschooling actually has nothing to do with my children’s education, or their future success in life. It’s about my ability to hold it all. To feel the deep desire and importance this journey holds in my heart, but not allowing myself to get lost in the process. Remembering that I matter too. Instead of succumbing to this fear, I am in conversation with it. Asking where the fear is coming from and how I can overcome it. It’s something that I have given thought to as we begin our journey, not as an afterthought. 

Some of the things that I’m working on currently include:

• Ensuring that I consistently create space to pause. To check in with myself. To notice what needs and desires I have that may not have the space to be heard in the bigness of our days. To ensure that I’m feeling grounded, nourished, fulfilled and experiencing joy in this life we’ve chosen to lead. 
• I have a number of practices and tools that support me through this season. Knowing that these too can evolve as the seasons shift, both in nature and in our family unit.
• I have a vision for how I’d like our days to feel, and the core values that I come back to when making decisions. I have both of these on the wall as an anchor, reminding me to come back to what matters most. 
• We know WHY we have chosen to homeschool, also coming back to this why when the ground is feeling shaky.
• I care for myself physically, mentally and emotionally through movement, meditation, journaling, healthy eating, being in nature and taking time to be alone and tend to my inner world. I remain connected with my cycle, remembering that I am a woman with a different hormonal and energetic landscape across a month. I prioritise rest and sleep, as well as making space to do things that fill my cup and bring me joy. 
• I have systems in place to hold the mental load of the household. 
• I take the seasons into consideration when planning our daily and weekly rhythms. 
• Turning down the noise of the outside world. I don’t pay attention to the news, I stay away from social media as much as possible and I try my best not to look at what other homeschoolers are doing unless we’re having a challenge that I need support with or inspiration for. 
• I keep connected with other homeschool families in our area, making sure we get to a meetup at least once a fortnight. 

This looks like a lot when it’s all written out in a list like this, and maybe it is. In reality, this isn’t all happening every day. Some of these things are weekly, or monthly. But they’re always there, available to me. And the more I lean into these ideas and practices the more smoothly our journey seems to go. 

I truly believe that homeschooling can be a wonderful and sustainable journey for our family (and others), as long as I ensure my wellbeing first. This space is where I hope to share my belief in this message, and that I can inspire other mama’s to take care of themselves first. Knowing that when mama is nourished, the family is nourished. 

Sending love,

J xx