Every single mom every where has had this thing to keep up with….it really does not matter what type of schooling you do, what type of home you live in, what type of clothes you where, or even what body type you have….if you are a conservative home educator, or a public schooler, there is an image to maintain.
We as mom’s, especially homeschool moms, tend to feel good about ourselves by our children’s achievement. After all, we spend our days and nights sometimes, teaching them everything. If they fail, we fail, or so we think.
But what of the successes? Are those our successes? I look at many moms this time of year who are working so hard already, planning the school year, starting school, stressing about things. I feel slightly lazy for not already starting school and having everything all put together. I did not teach my child to read at the age of three, even though, I believe he probably could have. But I think there is something to say for maturity development to learn how to use a skill and sometimes, it is just better to wait.
I think as a mom, I encourage you not to think of your children as extensions of yourselves. Sometimes, they can be and our worth is tied up in them, when they fail, disobey or all the normal things children do, we take it personally. They wounded us and our image.
When you plan for school, really sit and think about what would be best for your child, not what will look best on paper.
Try to think what things you can do so they can enjoy it and there is not a pressure to preform.
Excellent points! I definitely struggle with this.
Well said. My first born has been my most challenging student since day one. He took his sweet time learning a lot of things and it was very difficult (with a lot of critics looking over my shoulder) to just back off. But, I did. And I’m glad he had the opportunity to learn at his pace without added pressure from me – when it clicked, it clicked and you’d never know he was “behind” (which I don’t believe anyway – he was where he needed to be at that time). Blessings…
This is a great reminder for other areas of mothering too. Even disciplining and training sometimes end up being about image. We live in an area with lots of young families which is really great for so many things but it’s hard not to play the continual comparing EVERYTHING game!