Today I have a guest post for you on the topic of important considerations for your homeschooling decision.

This is a topic that is near and dear to my heart, as we have homeschooled at our house several different years, in a couple of different ways. There was so much that went into this decision.

Our expert today is here to share with us what we should think about when we are making this important decision.

Going to school is the norm for most children. However, it doesn’t always have to be. Homeschooling is the legal alternative to sending your kid to a traditional school.

In homeschooling, you can enable teachers to educate your children at home. While some parents opt for homeschooling due to their religious beliefs, it is also an excellent way to provide your child with a flexible learning environment.

However, homeschooling is not for everyone, so before you opt for this style of education for your child, you should consider a few factors. Just because it works for me doesn’t mean it might work for everyone.

Did you know that the homeschooled population in the U.S. has been growing at an estimated rate of 2 to 8% per year?

The benefits of homeschooling are why many parents, including myself, prefer it over the traditional method of education. I

If you also wish to enter the world of homeschooling, you should consider the following factors:

1.    Your Schedule:

The most important thing about homeschooling that you must understand is that it is a full-time job. You will have to commit to homeschooling if you decide to go for this method of education. You must also do regular research to plan your child’s curriculum.

As a homeschooling parent, I have had to create and maintain a structured schedule for my child. You will also have to plan lessons, teach, grade assignments, and handle administrative tasks. 

2.    Your Educational Background:

In homeschools, parents are the primary educators of their children. Although you don’t need a degree to homeschool your child, you must be knowledgeable. You can take online courses to supplement your knowledge if you need more aspects. I have also attended workshops to improve my knowledge and be the best educator for my child. There is also plenty of guiding material online for parents who are new to homeschooling. 

3.    Your Child’s Personality:

A child’s personality can help you determine their learning style. I figured out the best way to educate my children by observing them. As a homeschooling parent, you must focus on providing your child with an environment that promotes growth. To accomplish that, consider whether your child prefers a hands-on approach or lecturing. Another factor to consider is whether they thrive in social settings or prefer to learn alone. 

Taking care of your child’s mental health is also important for building their personality. You can also look into pediatric therapy services in Central KY if you’re from that area and if your child needs professional assistance. You can also find pediatric therapy centers in almost every city if you aren’t in that local area.

4.    Financial Considerations:

Homeschooling is much more affordable than traditional schooling. However, it requires an initial investment in supplies, books, and curriculum. If you wish to become a homeschooling parent, you might also have to quit your job. So, before you decide to homeschool your child, take a look at your finances. Only opt for homeschooling if you are financially ready for it. 

5.    Socialization Opportunities:

Children get plenty of socialization opportunities in a traditional school. However, we can’t say the same about homeschooled children. For a child to grow into a confident adult, they must socialize with their peers.

As a homeschooling parent, you will have to provide socialization opportunities to your child. There are plenty of clubs, homeschool groups, and community activities that your children can participate in. Homeschool groups can also provide support and guidance to us parents. 

6.    Homeschooling Laws & Regulations:

Each state in the U.S. has its own rules and regulations regarding homeschooling. You may have to register with the state, keep a record of attendance, and submit test scores. If you want to avoid problems later, learn about the regulations beforehand. Finding out about my state’s rules regarding homeschooling helped me a lot as a parent. By following the laws set in place by the state, I could focus on providing my child with quality education. 

Advantages of Homeschooling:

The following advantages of homeschooling are why more and more parents in the U.S. are opting for this method of education: 

·      Safe Environment:

One of the biggest plus of homeschooling for me was being able to protect my child from things like peer pressure and bullying. The negative aspects of a traditional school can be detrimental to a child’s mental health. As a result, 1.9 million American children are currently studying in a safe and controlled environment. 

·      Stronger Connection with Family:

Students of public schools in the U.S. spend 6 to 7 hours a day away from home. Even after coming home, they rarely get to spend quality time with their families due to schoolwork. The situation can be reversed with homeschooling.

Through homeschooling, you can build a strong bond with your children. By spending the majority of your time with your child every day, you can build a strong family connection. Your children will also find it easier to come to you with their problems if they have a strong bond with you. 

·      Flexible Schedule: 

In traditional schools, all students are required to follow the same schedule. However, in reality, every child has a different learning speed. If children are forced to change their learning speed, they end up hating to study. With homeschooling, you can design a flexible schedule for your child according to their needs. Flexible schedules also help improve a child’s learning ability. 

Disadvantages of Homeschooling: 

Homeschooling also has a few disadvantages that you must be aware of: 

·      Isolating: 

Homeschooling can be an isolating experience for both parents and children. You will be unable to meet and connect with other parents if you homeschool your child. Your child will also miss out on connecting with their peers. 

·      Limited Socialization: 

Although you can find socialization opportunities for your homeschooled child, they are only sometimes enough. Limited socialization opportunities can impact the personality development of an extrovert child. 

·      Hectic Routine for Parents: 

Homeschooling can be harder than a full-time job with a heavy workload. You will have to research the curriculum and create lesson plans. Make sure you are ready to take on the heavy workload before choosing homeschooling. 

Final Thoughts:

Homeschooling can be a great way to bond with your child and protect them from the dangers of a traditional school. There are also plenty of resources to help parents who are thinking of homeschooling their children. However, make sure to weigh the pros and cons of homeschooling before you make the final call about your child’s future.

The post 6 Important Considerations for Homeschooling appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

We live in Maryland. Our teachers were given less than 24 hours of notice before schools shut down. Therefore, they cannot guarantee that all children have internet access at home or parent involvement. That limits how much the schools can assign. In some ways, I am thankful for that. One of my friends has children in a local private school that handed out more work than they can actually get done.

All of a sudden, I have four children, of all different ages, to keep busy all day long. This is the perfect time to panic, right? I mean just a little…

Those years (2014-2016) that we home schooled the boys have helped me a ton. I have some materials left over to use for the younger boys. Plus, I remember how stressed I got last time, putting way too much pressure on myself. This time, I am trying to take a far more laid back approach to it all. Each day I have a very reasonable list of no more than 6 things I expect us to get done each day.

Thankfully, you can find a ton of stuff online these days to help.

Here are a few websites I have found immensely helpful for daily school work.

#1. 15 Fun Indoor Recess Games and Activities

The very first day that my youngest child was hot on my case to “start home school now now now”, I sat down and asked him what they do first everyday. He is a first grader. His teacher makes school so much fun that he adores her and looks forward to going everyday. She is a quiet, introverted teacher, so I knew she must be running things well to make him love school so much.

He explained that they start each morning with “morning work,” and then they have their morning meeting. At the meeting, they greet each other, they share about their day or weekend, and then they play a game.

That was easy enough to incorporate into our home school. Sure. We can play an indoor game each day to get everyone in a good mood, having fun together. So far we have played Simon Says (only we called it Mom says), balloon tossing, charades, hot/cold, hide-and-go-seek, and four corners. I got almost all of these ideas from this website.

#2. Brain Pop

I have written about Brain Pop previously, here and here. I was already a fan. But now I’m an even firmer advocate for this website because they are providing their top rate services for FREE during the COVID-19 quarantine.

This site offers fun, engaging animated lessons on every subject, from science to art to math. Not only that, but it has games and quizzes to support those lessons. My son’s middle school uses these lessons regularly. They are solid and easy to pay attention to. This one is a big personal favorite at our house.

Go here to sign up for your free account.

#3. Brain Pop Junior

Everything I said for Brain Pop applies here, only this is the one geared towards kindergarten-third grades. I cannot recommend this program highly enough, and no, they are not paying me to say that. I am not on their payroll. We just like it that much.

Go here to sign up for your free account during the quarantine. Once schools are back in session, this website will go back to being a paid service.

#4. National Geographic

Nationalgeographic.com is one of the websites listed on our school’s recommended websites list. My middle schoolers are supposed to read or watch science or social studies articles or videos on there and then summarize them.

#5. Duolingo.com

This is a foreign language program and app. I downloaded the app version of it to my phone. It teaches about any common language you can think of. My sixth-grade son is using it for French. He says it’s fun, and he enjoys it ever so much more than he ever enjoyed going to his French class at school. This is another must-have, and I downloaded the free app version. However, it will only let you play a limited amount with a free account. There are days that we run out of tokens and could use the paid version.

#6. Typing Club

When we moved to Maryland, I was dismayed to discover that all the middle schoolers here have been typing for years. That left my kids in the dust. In fact, my 3rd grader has already begun typing lessons at his school. Apparently, it’s never too early to begin learning typing in our ever-increasingly electronic age.

Typing club is a very clear typing program. It teaches typing the same way we learned it. Only this generation never has to worry about a typewriter or correction ribbon. Aren’t they lucky?

We did pay for this service. My 8th grader is using it everyday while my three younger boys are using it sporadically. Go here to try it out.

#7. Starfall for grades PreK-3rd

This one was also on our public school’s list. The games on it are super cute. My first grader thoroughly enjoys the learning games on starfall.com. They have a variety of subjects too.

#8. Reading Eggs/ Reading Eggspress

This reading skills website is for kids ages pre-k through first grade. Actually, if you go with the reading express version, it serves more of a reading comprehension purpose and is good for all elementary school grades past reading eggs.

You can try it out now free for the first 30 days. They are running this deal to support all the kids currently out of school.

Our family has a long history of using reading eggs. It is a fun and effective program. My first grader LOVES it.

#9. Math Seeds

Math Seeds is the math portion of the reading eggs website. It is also really cute and fun. I highly recommend these. Math Seeds is also doing a free trial.

#10. Stack the States

I could not find this one in Apple’s app store, but it is available for $2.99 in Google’s. I downloaded this app for my elementary sons on our Kindle fire tablet. We also used this app back when we home-schooled before. It is really fun. This one is worth the $2.99.

#11. Library

We have not gotten around to using this one yet because I am such a book hoarder we haven’t needed to. However, I have several friends who are using the library’s ebooks every single day. I need to dig out my library card and try this one out.

I will say silent reading time is my FAVORITE subject of the day. I set my oven timer for 30 minutes, and that is the quietest half hour we have all day. I use it to start cooking dinner.

#12. Prodigy Math

My nine-year-old loves prodigy math. He logs on there and plays math games and battles dragons and wizards and other kids. They battle by solving math problems. It’s a hit.

#13. Helpful YouTube Videos

Here a few YouTube videos we have enjoyed:

Social Studies:

CC Timeline Song in its entirety

Tour the States music video

Tour the World music video

Math:

Geometry Song (area, measurements, etc.)

Counting by 3s

Multiplying by 7s

There are countless fun multiplications songs and such on YouTube.

Science:

Science Songs (atomic number, periodic elements, creation & evolution, etc.)

Cell Songs (parts of the cell)

There’s a whole National Geographic channel. The Weird but True ones are our favorite.

#14. Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems

If your kids like the Pigeon books or the Elephant and Piggy stories, they will love these art lessons with Mo. He started this series specifically for all the kids at home due to coronavirus.

My first grader is a big fan.

#15. NASA Kids’ Club

This is one that I just discovered, but if your kids like to learn about space, this looks like an obvious win.

If you click on “Fun activities to do at Home” it takes you to crafty science projects. There are also puzzles you can print out.

There are videos and photos to look at. This website is more of a resource than a game place, though it does also have a few games.

We are all in this together! Add any of your family’s favorite school websites or apps in the comments below.

Okay, I am off to decompress. I feel like I have earned some Tri-Peaks Solitaire time, or maybe I will just take a nap…

The post 15 Helpful Websites and Apps for Your Quarantine Home School appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

And just like that, the whole country became home school families!

Does anyone else feel like a month has passed since last Wednesday? Our “cancelling school” announcement came on a Thursday night, and that was the day the world felt like it began to unravel. Then we all sort of went underground.

Now you know this all feels extremely ironic to me. I said I would never home school again. It was not for me. Honestly, I was a bit scared of this task. I tried it before. for two years, gave myself v-tach repeatedly, and then they boys returned to school. V-tach is a dangerous heart arrhythmia that is rare, and most of you do not need to worry about it. I have much to learn in the way I handle stress, so I take heart pills now. Really I should probably return to full on anxiety pills too, but that is a topic for another day.

I have good news.

So far the second act of home-schooling our four boys has gone drastically more smoothly than our first try. Still, I won’t count our chickens before they hatch. I am sure this could all still go horribly wrong. In the meantime, when I start to feel like the room is too chaotic for me, I make them all chant that mom is in charge several times, threaten to take away all video games, and then things calm down.

In fact, I did take away video games from two unfortunate ruffians today who forgot Mom was in charge, and that is THE KEY to maintaining order: making good on any threats/promises. Consequences are obnoxiously important.

The hardest thing about home school for me has always been the chaos. I like things to be quiet and somewhat peaceful, which is hilarious because I have four children. In an attempt to control my environment, I make schedules and lists like this, and it helps a great deal:

My motto is that the times themselves are not important. They are a loose guide to remind me to give recess and lunch and not forget anything I had planned to do. As they say in the Army, “The plan is nothing, but planning is everything.” Well, I think they say that in the Army. Someone says it. If they don’t say it, then they should.

So many questions

This week brought up so many questions for us. Did it for you too? I texted my sister-in-law and my mother-in-law because they both taught middle school for years. I do not know the first thing about teaching middle school. Elementary school is where my experience lies, but my eighth grader has informed me that my activities are “for five-year-olds.” This is an exaggeration, of course. I am not teaching anyone how to read or count. But at the same time, he’s right. My stuff is elementary, so I have been frantically digging for how to level things up.

People have sent me questions too.

Ah, feeling useful felt good. Thank you for asking me questions. The questions I was asked were about home schooling school-aged children when you have a toddler underfoot. This is what I told her, just off the top of my head. It isn’t much, since this was all via text message. We are being good citizens and staying socially distant.

Ideas/advice for someone trying to homeschool older siblings when there’s a toddler at home:

-Pray on your face and cry. (hahaha I really wish I were kidding.)

-First, the older siblings have to know that mom is in charge, and they cannot say “no” to any of her directions. They do not say “no” to their teachers, so they must treat you with that same respect.

-Mom can provide choices, but the stress of dealing with disobedience is mind-blowing. (I was having to deal with it at the moment I texted about this, so the feelings of frustration were still raw.)

-My best tip is to start the day with a toddler activity.

-If you need to work with one sibling, put the other sibling in charge of the toddler.

-Do some group reading where Mom reads out loud to all the kids. You can also watch educational YouTube or National Geographic videos together while the toddler plays with a game or toy they don’t always have access to.

-Older siblings can also read to the toddler.

-Find work the older siblings can do online alone, like Brain Pop or whatever sites your school system recommended. One of my kids is learning a language using Duolingo. He likes it, and I am not even involved. We actually use the app version. I think he has learned more from the app than he was learning in his French classroom at school, but the traditional classroom is not his favorite way to learn.

I could talk about home-schooling all day because I am currently overseeing the education of four boys, and it consumes much of my day. Ah yes! Another excuse to spend less time cleaning!

Click here for more of my articles on home-schooling, written back when I spent two years fully engaged in teaching our boys.

Don’t forget to enter the giveaway for my new book, Tour Israel in Pictures and Stories. It ends at midnight Thursday night/Friday morning. I was so excited tonight to discover that it is currently the #2 best seller in Israel travel guides on Amazon. Wahoo! Thanks for your support, everyone!

Send me any great activities you know for middle schoolers who hate school work, and send any questions you have too. Best of luck you all! No stressing. It isn’t worth giving yourself heart problems. Keep calm and home school on.

The post Life in the Underground Day 2: The Great Return to Home School appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

BOOM!! bounce bounce bounce

The school day is done, and I was answering blog comments, and I heard this loud noise. Don’t worry. All is well. I ran to check it out. I scanned the front yard. No one there, but it sounded like someone had hit our house with a basketball!  Weird!

Just then, Joshua barged in the back door and proudly proclaimed, “I just kicked a soccer ball OVER the roof! I’ll go get it!”

Big boys. I am lovin’ it. Babies and toddlers are adorable, but big boys are WHERE IT’S AT!

BIG week for Joshua: #2! He scored 5 points for his team on Saturday!!

They wipe their own bottoms, they still do hilarious things, they can get their own snacks (but then you have to guard your kitchen), and best of all, they only require minimal supervision. No, actually, the best part is that they can even help with their little brothers!!

“Ew. public bathroom. Here, Joshua. Take Daniel to the bathroom with you, and make sure he washes his hands.  Thank you!!!”

They earn their keep for sure.

It’s a hazardous role.

but oh, so rewarding

One thing that is often mentioned in my comment section, especially yesterday, is that I am too hard on myself.

This is true. I am waaaay too hard on myself. I’m going to try to give myself a little more grace. Even my kids pick up on this.

Joshua looked at me the other day, as I was struggling to teach through the bronchitis, and said, “Mom! Go lay down!”

I adore them. Hang in there, Moms of only little bitties. Our work will pay off!

Are you afraid they will fall? 😉 They didn’t.

It’s ridiculous that we are so hard on ourselves, because if you step back and look at it, it’s all pretty cute and hilarious. I mean, the kids are cute and hilarious. Actually, our expectations are too!!! (She thinks she can home school 4 boys, update her blog daily, AND have a clean house, isn’t that cute and hilarious!??) Or maybe it’s just me….surely someone can relate…

We are raising four boys here. What did I think that would look like????  Ha!!!

Seriously, Mom. What did you expect?

As I was writing this, John David needed attention, so I stopped and sat with him on the porch. I love the little balcony I have in my bedroom, and so does J.D. I asked him if he’d like to read, and he did, so we went inside to the book corner. I pulled out several books.

He insisted on Old McDonald Had a Farm. It has good pictures. Plus, I sing that one.

I finished, and I tried to move onto Richard Scary. Nope.

JD scowled and handed me back Old McDonald. I sang it again. Daniel heard and came running. He wanted Oh, David next, so we read that.

JD scowled and handed me back Old McDonald. I sang it, half hoarse, thanks to the lingering bronchitis, for the third time.

That made Daniel think of his Old McDonald game, so he begged me to get it down for him until I finally did so.

JD scowled and handed me Old McDonald.  The only way I was finally able to get out of singing it for the sixth time was, “Hey, JD, do you want to go eat a snack!?”

Food works for everything. Food is our most powerful bargaining tool as parents, well, I mean, besides guilt (also effective bwaaahahahaha). I am not ashamed, besides, it was 3:00, and I was starving.

Three o-clock has to be snack time. Who in the world can go from 11:30 pm to 5:30pm without eating?

Well, it isn’t good for your metabolism either. 🙂

Apparently, JD was hungry because he consumed a ton of Greek yogurt, which he, of course, insisted on feeding himself. I’ve just recently let him do that, and he is really good at spoons now!

Cheeeeese!

As I sat there, just watching Daniel and JD eat yogurt, I couldn’t help but notice the yarn strewn across the floor. Caleb had been “building” something. The school books weren’t put away yet. The sink is still full of dishes. I unloaded the bottom rack of the dishwasher, but I didn’t make it to the top rack before someone needed something. Two baskets of clean laundry to be put away stared at me from the stair landing.

Most of all, I noticed their adorable faces, the way the yogurt falls from their spoons to the floor sometimes, and most importantly, the way they smile at me. They love and appreciate me with their whole little hearts!

It all made me think of this blog, and yesterday, and how uptight I probably sounded. Ha! Clutter! Mess! Yogurt faces….

What a beeeeeeeautiful mess. Glorious. It all means one thing. It means that I get to spend all this time with my four favorite little boys, and at the end of the day, my favorite man comes through the door.

Wow. I am so blessed. WHY am I being so hard on myself? How ABSURD! People often use the term ‘hot mess,’ and I think that more applies to a young, attractive person that doesn’t have their act together yet.

What we have here is abundantly more exciting than that. A house full of growing children. 

Now that’s what I call success. 🙂 That is what a beautiful mess actually looks like, and I LOVE it.

Perhaps I need to chill a little bit and embrace these gifts.

The post What did I expect this beautiful mess to look like??? appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

Well, that’s been me for…well, since we moved, I guess. I just keep telling myself that if I just make it through this year, things will get better.

I love my children. I enjoy teaching them. I don’t even mind cooking dinner, but there is one part of this whole stay-at-home, home-schooling, blogger-mom gig that causes me very great stress.

Housework.

Where the school day ends, the house work begins, and with a house of 6 people, that “career” is enough to keep me busy all by itself. Then there’s the whole question of dinner. I’m out of the habit of making realistic dinner plans, so I’ve been pulling that together at the last minute.

Plus, every where I turn, we have another ant invasion. That’s right, our whole neighborhood has the most insane ant problem I have ever seen in my life. There are lines of them, eating-I can’t-figure out what in all of our bathrooms. With the rain, they have come into our home in record numbers.

Basically, around 3 or 4 everyday, I feel so completely burned out and defeated, that what I truly wish to do is get in my car and just drive until I find a restful place to stop.

The other day, in the depths of feeling as melancholy and hopeless as ever…

(I get that some of you have no idea why I would feel that way. Well, I’d take pictures of my house to explain it, but I’m afraid that would cause me to be judged by others of you, so I will be sharing no such pictures at this time.)

My messy house makes me want to cry. It sucks the energy out of me. People think of me as laid back, but I’m totally not. I’m actually a polite, high pressure, control freak that smiles a lot. There I said it.

Today I had 20 or so things on my mind, I was desperate to get out of the kitchen and escape somehow for a minute, and just as I thought I might go sit on the love seat and pout for just a second…Daniel spilled juice all over himself and the kitchen floor. At that EXACT SAME moment, JD knocked over a BOX of vanilla wafers, which at the bottom of the box, was more crumbs than wafers.

Did I mention that I had JUST swept and mopped the floor, not 30 minutes prior to this incident?

Did you also know that JD is so tall–almost freakishly so–that he can reach the kitchen countertops?

Somehow I didn’t manage to find all the crumbs to sweep up, so the floor is wet and crunchy. Daniel, Caleb, and JD are all taking a bath. That sounds nice, except I’m going to have to summon energy from SOMEWHERE to get them all dressed again.

When I say that I want to cry every single day, that is a gross understatement. I actually do cry most days. I have no idea how to catch up on all of the housekeeping, so I’ve taken to keeping one room of my house completely immaculate. I just started this a week ago.

It makes me feel like I have some sort of control over SOMETHING in my life. What room did I choose? The smallest room in the house: the laundry room. I’ve been working so hard on that room this week. It’s all I have time for! The washer and dryer are crud and dust free. The floor is spotless. The shelves are dusted. Nothing is in that room that doesn’t belong there–well, except for those photos that I haven’t hung yet.  But seriously, when?? When will I hang pictures?

So if you can’t find me……that may be where you will find me. NO, not hanging pictures, but cleaning my laundry room, so that I can feel like I’ve got something under control.

Do you think this is an awful lot of whining about house cleaning? It is! The cleanliness level of my house directly affects my mood–even if that should not be so.

Wednesday, as I was laying flat on my face, crying and whining to God in my prayers about how hard it is to teach these boys, never leave the house, and whoa whoa whoa whoa wheaaa wheaaaa wheaaa wheaaa wheaaaa….. I said, “I should just go get those boys right now, and put them back to work. Lord, what in the world should I do?”

“See them how I see them.”

No, don’t worry, friends, I do not hear the audible voice of God, never have, but I promise that he speaks to my heart.

I went to the boys’ window, and looked down at my three biggest boys, on the trampoline. JD toddled along beside me.

There they were. They each sat on a different side of the trampoline, Indian style. They appeared to be having some sort of meeting.

“Oh, right,” I thought, “They are just darling little children. I’m so thankful they have each other.This time on the trampoline together is good for them.”

I need not destroy the magic of their childhood with my own anxiety problems. Yes, I put too many demands upon myself. That’s not their fault. They are just children. 

So I have a goal, a very important goal. I am going to ENJOY the trip to Alabama this year. I’m not pregnant or breastfeeding, so I have that going for me. Yes, I have to fly with four children, but at least this time Alan gets to go with us.

I’m going to try to enjoy the plane ride and visiting the way that the children do, because normally I don’t, and that makes the trip less fun for everyone else.

Is this phase of homeschooling while also taking care of a toddler and a preschooler the hardest thing I have ever done?  YES. Aboslutely YES. I did home school Joshua in K4 and part of Kindergarten. That is  not the same at all as home schooling three different ages. Joshua and Caleb are so big now, that I don’t want to mess this up.

The really sad thing is that I’m letting all of these  pressures that I put on myself steal my joy. Why? I want everything to be perfect, and that is not an achievable goal.

Who likes perfect people anyway?

I’d better go take the boys out of the bathtub, remind myself to see them how God sees them, and try not to rain on everyone’s Christmas. 🙂

I feel like I’m giving my Eeyore-self a pep talk!!

“But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.'”            James 4:6

The post “See it how I see it.” appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

I can’t believe that frumpy looking mom is me. This is not me. Oh, but it is…oh, but it is.

I don’t know about you, but life definitely goes in cycles for me. I have phases where I’m like, “I got this,” and I wear make-up everyday, exercise regularly, smile at people, have feelings of happiness, and spend time socializing as well as time taking care of home and family. Okay. Well, things are never really all THAT perfect, but I definitely have phases where I am taking way better care of myself than I am right now.

This is not that phase.

This is a learning new things everyday, flying by the seat of my pants phase. We moved across the country and took on home-schooling our four boys for the first time this year. I’m way behind on lesson plans, blogging, housework, and pretty much everything.

My primary focus has been teaching and toddler care, and that just hasn’t left me much time to take care of myself.

I rarely wear make-up. I never exercise. Some days I don’t really even get dressed–not really.

*gasp* the horror!

My eyebrows have not been properly plucked since the road trip in June. That was also my last pedicure. There is one dot of polish left on each of my big toes.

Shake my head.

My wardrobe? Well, I think I wear this t-shirt at least twice/week. It’s a 5K participant t-shirt from 2012. Only I certainly haven’t been running any 5Ks lately…

I was telling my friends at Bible study this week, it’s time for me to become more self-disciplined about going to bed earlier, so that I can wake up earlier. Waking up at 7:15 doesn’t cut it around here.

I don’t completely apologize for letting myself become the grungy homeschool Mom.

For the past few months, I NEEDED to focus on getting my school and my house in order. I only arrived here two weeks before I started our school, and I was not able to spend the summer preparing due to shipping issues. I did what I had to do.

Ecclesiastes 3 King James Version (KJV)

3 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

² A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

³ A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

⁴ A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

⁵ A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

⁶ A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

⁷ A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

⁸ A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

⁹ What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth?

¹⁰ I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.

¹¹ He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.

¹² I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life.

¹³ And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.

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So I’m not going to beat myself up about my current “down to earth”, “laid back” look. However, now that the garage is completely organized, and the school and house are becoming more routine, it’s time to turn my attention to what I’ve been neglecting: me.

I’ve discussed before that when I don’t exercise and rest properly, I have serious back issues. More specifically, I have chronic joint pain. My flare ups started again in 2012, after another phase of self-neglect (Alan’s deployment). A combination of exercise and going to a good chiropractor, helped me to get the joint pain under control. I’ve mentioned that before.

Last week, my shoulder and hip really threw a fit, and I decided it was time to figure out what is causing all this. I got online and made a list of every single one of my symptoms: joint pain on only one side of my body, psoriasis of the fingernails, occasional fevers, and fatigue. It popped up a short list, and I read through until I came across one that sounded EXACTLY like a match. I’d never heard of it before: psoriatic arthritis.

I read a few different web articles on this autoimmune disorder, and it fit my condition perfectly.

Here’s a website reference for the curious:

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/psoriatic-arthritis/basics/definition/con-20015006

Thankfully, I do not have psoriasis on my skin, just on a few of my fingernails. My poor fingernails didn’t have a chance because I get really cold, and when I do I get no circulation to my nails because I also have Raynaud’s disease, another autoimmune disorder. Apparently, if you have one autoimmune issue, it’s common to have more than one. Bleh.

Are you wondering what psoriasis of the fingernails looks like on a 33-year-old? Well, here you go:

nail psoriasis

Don’t say,”ew.” Then I might feel really sad.

Groan. And all this stuff says that if you don’t get the psoriatic arthritis under control, it will cause permanent damage to your joints. And yet, it’s incurable. Lovely.

So what’s my action plan? You know I enjoy setting goals:

1. On Monday, call the infamous appointment line to see if I can get a real person to answer my call and make me an appointment. Military clinics. Oh my goodness, those poor, poor people who thought they wanted the government to run their health care…I’ve tried twice already and failed to get anyone to call me back and make me an appointment.

2. Go to bed by 11pm at the latest so I can wake up by 6:30 and go walking in the morning.

3. Wake up by 6:30, and go walk.

4. Make a spa appointment. Yes, spa. It’s been 6 months since I had eyebrows fixed, pedicure, or a hair cut, so I think that’s fair. I may even spring for the massage.

5. Make a chiropractor appointment.

6. Make a dental appointment. Ugh.

Okay, that’s a lot. I probably won’t get all of that done this week, but it’s something to aim for.

Update: I am so thankful I started this back in 2016.

I was wrong about the psoriatic arthritis I had diagnosed myself with. A cardiologist helped me alter my diet and find out the problems were related, but they were not what I thought they were.

I found out that it was eating gluten causing my nails to look that gross. Now that I do not eat gluten, my nails are clear. PLUS, I no longer need a chiropractor or physical therapy. My body does not hurt anymore.

Of course, I’m not carrying around heavy babies anymore either. I wish you could see how much healthier I am now. It is amazing. So yes!! Take care of yourself! Investigate when something seems wrong.

For more on the celiac battle and realizations, see this post.

If you have the gene for celiac, you can develop it at any point in your life. A stressful life phase can switch that gene on, which is what happened to me. People are.meant to do EVERYTHING themselves.

The time to take care of yourself again is now!

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