Puke soaked sheets at 3:00 a.m.

After stumbling upon this blog post, 'Couples therapy for homeschoolers', my first thought was it is probably the most messed up thing I've ever read about homeschooling. Initially, I thought what does this have to do with homeschooling?

However, after reading elsewhere on the blog how and why the author cut public schooling out of her life, it appears she is taking a huge step in the right direction to remedy her own education and past. Deciding to homeschool her children was probably THE best thing she ever did to heal from a traumatic childhood and to empower herself. This mom is making the journey and transitioning to a stronger advocate for her own children. Much of what she writes about may make you uncomfortable but she is quite open and honest about sharing her experiences (even the ugly personal ones) and her discoveries.

Penelope Trunk seems to have landed in the same trap many women, since the 1960's, have tumbled into. Many of us were indoctrinated into thinking we needed to be overachievers or career oriented in this world to be successful and happy. Some women overcompensate to hide a past or to prove their worth. Some of us put off childbearing until we feel we can incorporate both a career and children into our lives. Unlike your fancy car or stunning wardrobe though, children are not a status symbol.

Once motherhood becomes a reality, we find ourselves needing to make some tough choices concerning our livelihoods. Being a mom is a full time job in and of itself. The harsh reality, in spite of years of being told 'we can have it all', is that having children means puke soaked sheets at 3:00 a.m. when you've got a team meeting at the office the next morning at 8:00! Unless you're willing to pass off that responsibility to a daycare worker, public school teacher or high school counselor, your life's mission, as a parent, is to provide for every aspect of your child's life. That includes the physical, spiritual, educational and moral well-being of that child you were blessed with.

Having a career or job isn't the same as having an income. One of the greatest challenges will be finding a way to feed, clothe and house your family as a homeschooling or stay-at-home mom. If you've established a career working outside the home and away from your family, you may need to rethink your situation if it interferes with your responsibility of raising healthy, happy and well educated children.

I'm looking forward to reading more of Penelope's blog in the future. We old timers can relate to her struggles and appreciate her growth as a homeschooling parent. Sometimes it takes motherhood to bring life into focus for a clearer vision of what nature intended us to be, not what present day culture tries to mold us into. Sometimes success and happiness can be measured by how quickly we can provide fresh clean sheets and much needed hugs to a sick child at 3 o'clock in the morning.

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Combining work and homeschooling is easier than you think

Do you work and want to homeschool your children but don't know how to do both? Here is a great article at Business44.com with some helpful tips on how to work AND homeschool your children at the same time.

Over the years we managed to work out that problem for ourselves by first deciding I would stay home with the children while my sweet hubby worked outside the home. From there I managed to establish several home-based businesses to make more income and to teach our children how to create home-based businesses of their own. We did everything from flea markets to publishing but our main source for the most reliable home-based income turned out to be eBay! These days my hubby still  commutes 100 miles a day round trip to his job but my commute consists of a walk down the hall to the eBay room and out to the mail box to ship what we sell.

The benefits to working from home while homeschooling your children are endless. Now that our children are older I treasure the time spent with them while they were growing up. I fondly remember the teamwork effort we all put in to survive and thrive. Our children are now both happily employed and have never been on unemployment assistance. Neither have my husband or I even during all these years of working. We taught our children there is a difference between having an income and having a job. There has always been a way to make an income for our family and our homeschooling no matter how large or small. You just need to get creative and be willing to work at it.

Learn to manage your priorities NOT your time. You cannot manage time but you do have control over your goals and priorities. Become financially literate as well. Talk to other homeschooling families to get some ideas for home-based businesses and find out how they solved the problem of combining work and homeschooling. I know a single mom who worked three jobs and still homeschooled her son. By the time he turned 18 he had nearly 30 college credits and was accepted into the U.S. Army without a high school diploma, high school transcripts or SAT scores. If she can do it so can you!

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