The end is near :-)

You thought it was tough getting kids to focus on homework, and to keep at bay the dreaded ‘spring fever’ and ‘summeritis’ when they were in regular school. Take that level of difficulty and times it by a million when you do school at home! You’ve battled through almost an entire school year – fought valiantly through everything homeschooling could throw at you…now, there’s a month to go – you’ve almost made it to the finish line, and ugh…you. can’t. take. another. day. Help! The weather is perfect, the kids can’t sit still, or focus on even the most simple tasks. Yep, we’ve all felt this pain, and if you are that wonderful homeschool family who never experiences this – who never yells, cries, threatens or bribes during this trying ‘end of year’ time…then you are my hero, and this post is not for you. It is for the rest of us who are at the proverbial end of our ropes.

My solution? Go outside and play. Run around, walk the dogs – maybe do some school under an umbrella by the pool. “Hey guys, if you get everything finished up quickly we can spend the rest of the day at the beach!” You can change things up so you’re essentially starting summer vacation early – we just have to get some work done first, then we can…..(insert your special trip or treat here). As my guys got older, and our Smiley Academy became better at doing school at home in general, these end of the year doldrums became fewer, and farther between. To think that things are always going to go smoothly and perfectly is a dangerous trap – don’t do that to yourself, please. There will be times when you feel like this was all a big mistake – this is way too hard.

But it wasn’t – we did it – it was completely worth it. You’ll find your own solutions, and it will all work out. And if all else fails…start a homeschool mom support group that gets together to drink wine. 😉