Encouraging Moms Who Homeschool

      There's a lot I do not know about life, about parenting, about homeschooling.  But there is one thing I do know:        Encouragement Matters. Not just a little bit. It matters a whole lot. And so today, I'm here to drop this bit of encouragement on your lap. You. Are. The. Mom. For. The.  Job. PERIOD. FULL STOP. No one else knows or loves your children like you do. Thus, no one else is better equipped to teach them, to spur them on, to disciple and discipline them, to be with them day in and day out.  Homeschooling is a long road. (Ask me how I know.) But that road comes to an end, and that day comes up on you a lot faster than you ever dreamed it would. (Again, ask me how I know.) So today, I offer this simple encouragement to you, my homeschooling friend. What you do day after day in your own home with your own kiddos? It matters profusely and profoundly. Don't talk yourself into believing that you're somehow not the mom for the job of raising your own children

 Anybody else struggle with the forced slow-down that sometimes comes when the mom in the homeschool family gets sick?  It's hard to take a break and hit the pause button on all-the-things when it feels forced and when it isn't for a good reason, or a fun reason, like a scheduled homeschool break or a vacation.  And the forced slow-down isn't frustrating simply because mom is dealing with some sort of illness; it's frustrating because being forced to slow-down when we don't want to slow-down is agitating. (For me, at least...) A few days ago, my husband came home early from work feeling under the weather and he has been home sick for four days now. And this morning, I woke up with a case of "I-caught-this-from-my-husband". Based on the way he's been feeling, I'm not expecting a quick recovery or bounce-back. And while I'm not actively homeschooling now that my kids have all grown up and flown the coop, I do have plenty of things planned that I