Getting Organized:
In your home and homeschool
Dear Friends,
Last week I read an article that was designed to be an honest opinion on how someone felt about being a mom. It had a very negative tone to it. It made me feel sad when I read it. I wanted to put together an article that is equally as honest and much more encouraging.
Here are 5 Things I Love About Being a Mom:
Playing with my Kids
Being a mom is a blessing. I am able to spend a lot of time with my kids. I love playing with them and enjoy our time together. There is always something fun going on with a house full of boys. They come up with some interesting games, and they can turn anything into a competition.
When they were little, learning was playing, and now that they are bigger, we still play games that teach them things. My day is always made better by spending time with my boys. They make me laugh until I cry many days.
This week alone I have been swimming with them twice, and I took them kayaking. While they were in their kayaks, I was on a paddle board.
Developing Life Long Relationships with my Kids
From the many hours I have spent with my kids, I have developed deep relationships with them. I do not take for granted that I am with my kids a lot. Even though I work from home, I make time to talk to my kids daily. For the two who do not live at home, I text and talk to them regularly.
Time spent working alongside my children as they learn tasks helped build our relationships, too. Sometimes, we can look back as they were learning a skill, and it was hard at first. But we can see the fruits of it as they get better at the skill.
There are also times when we end up laughing at how a skill was learned through trial and error. It is okay to make mistakes in learning, and I have learned with my children that it is okay to laugh about those mistakes later.
Teaching My Kids Good Habits – Eating, Exercise, and Rest
For good or bad, our children learn habits from us. I strive to model good habits for my children in the hopes that they will take these good habits with them into adulthood. I encourage my children to try different foods, and sometimes this means I am also trying new foods. As a former picky eater, this has been a huge thing for me.
My children see me exercising daily, and sometimes they join me. Mostly, they are active all on their own. Some days I wish I could bottle up all of their energy. We had a bedtime for both the children and adults in our home. On the nights that we have stayed up too late, they have learned what it feels like to get up the next day.
Learning Alongside my Kids
Being a mom has taught me a lot! I have learned alongside my children from the time they were babies. When we started homeschooling, I found a new love for learning as I was teaching them. I so appreciate this time I have had to learn with them. I am blessed that I have been a part of their learning process. There are so many little trivial facts that I know now. Maybe I need to be in a trivia contest and put all this information to use. Learning is fun!
Finding Joy on the Hard Days
Not every day is sunshine and roses. On the hard days, I have to look for joy. With a large family, there are plenty of difficult days, but they are greatly outnumbered by the great days. Any day that I am upright and able to move is a great day.
Looking for joy can feel like a scavenger hunt some days. Like the rainbow at the end of a summer rain, the joy can be found. Looking back on the years of potty training and sleepless nights, they passed swiftly. My new normal with three teens in the house means different kinds of stress. The hard days need to be met with grace and a little humor.
Today’s Zone Mission is to have a Hot Spot Fire Drill.
Your Home Blessing for today is to empty the trash, sweep, and mop.
My menu plan for Friday is pizza and a salad.
Have a wonderful weekend!
