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As you spend your days with your children, do you feel like motherhood is all-consuming? Do you feel like your whole identity is wrapped up in your role as a wife, homeschool mom, and homemaker? How can we flourish as homeschool moms in this busy season of motherhood?
Motherhood is a Busy Season of Life
I’m a stay-at-home mom to three little girls. I love being a mom. If I could sum up motherhood, I would say it is the sweetest and most demanding calling.
A mother’s work really is never done.
A mom is on demand around the clock as a comforter, a need-filler, a teacher, a servant, a manager and an overseer.
And homeschooling can feel all-consuming in and of itself sometimes.
For me it could be a day where my kids and I don’t even leave the house, yet there’s still so much to juggle, to tend to, and to focus on.
All of this to say, after first becoming a mom, I realized that many of the passions and pursuits I held before motherhood were put on the back burner. I felt like I didn’t have the time or ability to pursue those things, let alone new things.
I truly felt like my identity was wrapped up in all the things I had to get done for the home and family—and one day’s responsibilities would bleed into the next day’s with no breaks in between.
Maybe you have felt the same way.
A Homeschool Mom Needs Passions & Pursuits Too
Without question, the role of homeschool mom is of high importance and should invoke a great deal of attentiveness and dedication.
I would never want to become dissatisfied in this season with my young children, or to selfishly circumnavigate this season in some way.
This time is short and precious, and worth my contented devotion.
My children will not need me in this intense way forever, after all.
But here’s the question I have started to ask myself: Am I investing time for my own growth, for learning new things, and for pursing my own hobbies, work, and interests?
I have come to realize that I need to have balance in my life as a mother, meeting the needs of my family and home and also investing in some of those things that are important to me personally.
So I’ve started to dive back into some of my old interests and pursuits, and also into some new ones.
For me currently, this is nothing profound, but a little time spent here and there.
This looks like teaching piano lessons a couple hours a week, practicing baking pastries and sourdough bread, learning to ferment vegetables, writing and creating for this blog, and learning more about homeschooling.
It’s also taking care of myself by getting enough sleep and getting into God’s Word.
These pursuits allow me to be creative. They give me exciting goals to attain. They allow me to rest and recharge.
And you know what else? They allow me to grow in ways that compliment my growth as a mom.
They allow me to model to my children a lifelong love of learning, healthy ambition, and a desire for personal growth.
How to Make Time For Yourself as a Homeschool Mom
I will admit, there are those “treading water” type of seasons in motherhood where there really isn’t any extra time to spare.
But I’ve been learning more and more that, most days, I can set aside time to cultivate my own interests, hobbies, work, and learning, and I bet you can too.
Your devotion to your children and your own personal pursuits really can exist side-by-side.
Is there a book you would love to read? A skill or craft you would like to develop? A project you’ve been wanting to start on?
The key for me has been to manage my time a little smarter, and to balance my priorities.
Currently, I find spare time either early in the morning, in the evening before bed, or during my kids’ nap times, depending on the day.
I’m sure as my children become gain independence we can work and learn side-by-side more and more.
Am I able to pursue the exact same interests in the exact same ways as I did before I had kids? No.
Do I have a great deal of time to devote to these things? No.
But that’s okay.
I am maturing and adapting to this season of motherhood, and there are new wonderful things to enjoy and learn in this season.
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