Highs and Lows

Having healthy expectations can make or break us. Homeschooling is not easy, but it is SO GOOD! If anyone tells you that homeschooling is easy, frankly, they are lying. Homeschooling is a rollercoaster! It is the most rewarding, difficult, fruitful, challenging, beautiful, demanding, wonderful, testing, and stimulating occupation ahead of you. There are terrifically high highs and some discouragingly low lows. When you homeschool your children you get the joy of seeing those “aha” moments when they “get it.” You will also have those moments of hardship. Being mentally prepared for the lows is helpful. 

Healthy expectations can make or break you…

I have seen many parents set such high expectations and place such importance on those expectations that they go through life feeling guilty and full of remorse. This is a discernment issue because we should have healthy expectations for ourselves and for our children. Expectations that are not too low that we do not train our children up in the way they should go; and not so high that the expectations are impossible to achieve. Have some honest conversations with your spouse about what your expectations are and what your spouses expectations are. I recommend writing them down so you can see your thoughts on paper. This is where it gets tricky. Ready? Take a deep breath and let your spouse evaluate YOUR expectations without getting upset or offended. Ask your spouse to have grace with you as you share, then graciously listen to them as they discuss pros and cons of your expectations. Then be gracious and honest with them as they share their expectations.  

Be mentally prepared for when the lows come

After you have shed off some “not so healthy” expectations and have embraced the more healthy expectations for your homeschooling journey, you will be more prepared for the ebbs and flows of life.  My dad would say, “hope for the best and be prepared for the worst.” This is helpful advice for life!  We hope that our plans will come to fruition, we hope that we can accomplish our goals; and we should be prepared for if or when those things don’t happen. If we are prepared for the worst we will be more prepared to absorb the difficult circumstance and not let it knock us down.

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