I’m so like this. My children are older now and I can tell you from my hindsight that it’s what you do with what you’ve got that really matters. Just like too much stuff clutters a house and keeps you from being able to focus on anything, too many ideas and searching for a better…book, curriculum, schedule, routine, philosophy just clutters your heart and mind. I spent so many years searching for and collecting just the “right” book that the search took up more time than actually using them.
The more simple and doable you make things, the better and more peaceful things will be. A happy mom is a better teacher than any curriculum. If I spend alot of time reading blogs, talking about homeschooling, reading about homeschooling more than actually doing it, it only breeds discontent in my heart and then lots of guilt over time wasted. If I were to spend the same amount of time, plopped on the couch available to my children to read to them, to talk with them, to go for a walk, to look into their eyes I would not feel that insufficiency or discontent because I was actually doing something to make my life better and my focus was on connecting with my children not on creating an impressive homeschool (which just feeds my pride). It doesn’t take much to have a successful homeschool, but many times I want to make sure I’m using/doing the best. That’s not neccessarily a godly thing.
I’m being brutally honest. I could kick myself for time I’ve wasted. The Lord has opened my eyes to all of this recently. Time is so short. It’s so easy to spend your days wishing for something else, something you think is better, but the best is in your lap already. Many times I have to do a media fast and pull away and re-focus. What matters is what the Lord and my husband tell me to do, not what Sue is doing or what Sally is doing. That’s what God will hold me accountable for.
Figure out what you enjoy doing in homeschooling whether it’s being crafty, being active, being a tutor, or being the reading mom (that’s me). Find options that fit your lifestyle as well. The more flexible things are the easier it will be to stick to it.
Balance is key, for there is alot of encouragement out there, but don’t spend too much time looking over your shoulder. I tend to over analyze and complicate the simplest things when it’s so much better to keep things simple and stick to it. I’m a melancholy personality and have to be aware of this contstantly.
I hope this helps. I don’t mean to sound like you are doing everything I have done, but just to offer some thoughts of what I’ve learned the hard way. The Lord is good and merciful and redeems so much of what the locusts eat. Each day is another chance to start over and I’m very grateful!
