Are you stretched too thin? Maybe it’s time for a break!
Are you stretched too thin and trying to hold it all together? I know I have felt that way before! Preemie babies in the NICU, speech/OT/PT therapy appointments, moving houses, leading Bible studies, volunteering at church, parenting alone as my hubby traveled for work, caring for my Dad through pancreatic cancer, working at homeschool conventions, fibroid/hernia/cerclage/c-section surgeries, ER trips for allergies, flooding basements, house renovations and additions, caring for my mom and sister through health concerns, working part-time, caring for our pet dogs/cats/hamster… a lot has happened in the last 23 years of homeschooling. I am sure the same is true for you!
Just like a rubber band stretches to hold things together, a homeschool mom gets pulled in all different directions. So many look to her for help, and so much falls on her shoulders! Stretch a rubber band over and over, or try to hold too much together with it… and it snaps! Are you stretched too thin trying to hold too much together? Maybe it’s time to choose to take a break – before that rubber band snaps and breaks on its own!
Take a Break from Homeschooling
Homeschooling doesn’t need to be an all or nothing thing. Neither do breaks. Planning breaks in your homeschooling is a healthy thing to do. Do you have planned breaks in your homeschooling? We take the summers off. It is a needed break for us, especially since summer is our busy work time at Heart of Dakota.
We also take a break from homeschooling on each of our birthdays. If a birthday falls on a weekend, we take off the next school day. We’ve made so many good memories on our birthdays! And I always have time to make a cake and wrap gifts. I like knowing I’ll have time to enjoy doing those things!
Fishing and hunting trips give breaks to all of us! My sons get a break from homeschooling and make some great memories camping, fishing, and hunting with my hubby. And I get a break and some needed time alone at home. Sometimes I do a big project – like paint a room or go through a clothes’ closet. Other times, I just sleep in, take it easy, meet my sis’ for lunch, or pop some popcorn and stay up late watching a movie.
Valentine’s Day, my anniversary, Easter, Thanksgiving, Memorial Day, and a few weeks over Christmas – these breaks energize us. They keep us loving our homeschooling! In between these planned breaks, we consistently homeschool each day. Everyone is happy to do so! We know a break will be coming soon. Do you plan for breaks like you plan for homeschooling? If not, take some time to do so!
Take a Break from Activities
I used to teach a women’s Bible study of seven at our church one time a week. I loved it! Homemade treats, freshly brewed coffee, praise music softly playing, candles lit, prayer journals and Bible study booklets for everyone – I simply loved it!
Then the Bible study grew to 40+ women – praise God! Suddenly instead of leading one Bible study, I was overseeing five Bible studies on different days/nights with different teachers. We provided a nursery, but a daycare used our church nursery. So, I had to set up our own nursery in a less than ideal room with all my own toys, supplies, etc.
We also provided preschool lessons for 2 to 5 year-olds using Little Hands to Heaven – which everyone loved! However, that meant I needed to find a rotation of teachers, as well as stock all the necessary supplies in another makeshift room.
Are you hyperventilating yet reading this?!? Oh, did I forget to say I was pregnant – with a high risk pregnancy – and I had a three year-old to take care of while setting all of this up as well. Yeah. Imagine a rubber band trying to hold way too much together, stretched way too thin, and about to break. That was me. It was time for a break! It was someone else’s turn to lead.
Are you stretched too thin with too many activities? Maybe it is time to step down. Let someone else – not stretched so thin – take on the mantle. You have homeschooling to do, and you need time to make it a priority. Consider taking a break from activities!
Take a Partial Break
Helping care for my Dad through pancreatic cancer was one of my most difficult times in life. Such a big and strong man! It was so hard seeing him suffer. My mom and sisters were amazing! We came together, and I’ll never regret that time we spent loving on my Dad and making his days the best we could.
My homeschooling though? It suffered. I was mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausted. There is no way I would have made it through those two years without the Lord. Thank you, God, for never leaving me to walk alone!
Did I mention we were also adding an addition, a garage, and a wrap-around porch to our 100+ year-old house at this time? We were already started when my Dad was diagnosed. Did I mention the foundation of the original house also had to repaired in an emergency-type way? Our house has square nails. It is that old!
Imagine that rubber band stretched to maximum capacity. That was me. However, homeschooling was our ‘normal’ during that time. I needed it! My kids needed it. Heart of Dakota was the glue. So, we took a sort of partial break.
On the good days, I homeschooled full-speed. On the bad days, I homeschooled half-speed. And on the really bad days, my thirteen-year-old son got a break from his homeschooling and homeschooled my other two sons instead. He rather enjoyed it, and he will make an excellent homeschool dad someday!
Are you poor in health? Or are you caring for a child or parent who is poor in health? Consider taking a partial break!
A Planned Break Once a Week
I had six hospitalizations with my last pregnancy. Emmett was born nearly seven weeks early. He had many therapies, as well as a helmet. Appointments were adding up! I felt like I was always running somewhere and homeschooling haphazardly in-between. I was stretched too thin.
Tuesdays became my appointment day. I took off the whole day, and I put every appointment and errand on that day. Yes, it was a crazy day! However, my other four days of the week were gloriously set aside to homeschool. I loved it!
Every time I needed to make an appointment, I asked for Tuesday. I put them back-to-back as much as possible. The dentist, orthodontist, optometrist, physical therapist, occupational therapist, speech therapist, family practice doctor – they all knew Tuesdays were my day. I made the appointments WAY ahead of time because I knew Tuesday was my day. It was so freeing!
I brought special snacks and drinks along, and I saved all the ‘fun’ books, toys, and treats to take for ‘appointment/errand’ day. Frozen pizza and a long children’s movie with popcorn and M & M’s were our Tuesday night ‘special’ at home. We all looked forward to that ‘break’ as well.
Do you have an appointment/errand morning, afternoon, or day set aside? If not, you might want to make that ‘break’ an intentional part of your week!
A Broken Rubber Band Doesn’t Work
A rubber band that has snapped is broken. It can’t hold anything together; it just doesn’t work. And no amount of hasty make-shift knotting really fixes it. That knot will always be a weak point. And two, three, or four knots? That rubber band is a mess, prone to break apart at any given time with just a bit of strain or pressure.
Has homeschooling stretched you too thin? Are you trying to hold too much together all by yourself? Are you all tied up in knots feeling like at any moment you may reach your breaking point? Well, maybe it’s time for a break! You deserve that. And so do your kids!
In Christ,
Julie
