Find your oxygen mask

Guess what? Homeschooling is a challenge. It’s hard and it feels like torture some days. Other days, it’s tedious, slow and painful as the clock seems to tick by one second at a time. There are days when homeschooling reminds me of those hours we called The Witching Hour when the kid was about 4 months old. Those hours between afternoon nap and when dad gets home from work? Yeah, sometimes homeschooling feels like that. How can it only be 9:02am? Seriously, it feels like we’ve been at this for hours.

Despite what you may read on some posts and blogs, homeschooling is not all sunshine, rainbows and unicorns. Sometimes it’s broccoli and brussel sprouts. You know it’s good for you. You know it’s right for the family, but it sure tastes bitter going down. Your homeschooling friends can help you dump ranch dressing all over that broccoli, but you know underneath, it’s still broccoli. Your critical friends will remind you that you CHOSE broccoli and that you could choose something else if you wanted.

So what’s a homeschooling parent on a broccoli day to do? You must find your oxygen mask first. It’s the rules- just like being on an airplane- if you’re going to survive the day/week/month you have to take care of *you* first. Taking care of yourself is the key to being a good homeschooler, but it has to come in far smaller doses than parents who have kids in school from 8am to 3pm. Your oxygen mask comes in 5 minute doses. It is crucial to your success, your sanity and being able to maintain balance between parent, teacher, spouse and human.

Everyone’s oxygen mask comes in a different shape and size. This is what works for me. On your broccoli days, I hope it helps you as well

Take a walk

Drop everything. Tell the kids to put shoes on. Who cares if they’re in PJS, the neighbors already think you’re weird anyway. Get out. Get air and sun. Breathe deeply. Do not teach, observe, point stuff out to the kids or do anything but walk and breathe.

Lay on the floor

No dishes. No lesson planning, no making a grocery list. Just lay on the floor. Pretend for five minutes that the chaos swirling around you is a bubbling spa. Ignore everything- it’ll still be there in five minutes. When the dog licks your face and the kids jump on you, just laugh and go with it.

Make bread or something with kneadable dough

Get the kids to help and make a mess and do not care about it. The slow, old-fashioned feeling of kneading dough by hand brings me a huge sense of relief, peace and calmness. I feel productive and satisfied when that dough doubles in size. We make pretzels a lot. I’m pretty sure my oxygen mask is golden brown, salty and shaped like a pretzel.

Play with the kids

We always forget this part as parents, homeschoolers and teachers. They’re playing happily? You should JOIN them! Don’t use this time to do chores. Smush playdoh, color a picture, build something out of Lego. Unleash your inner creativity. My favorite thing? To swing on the swings at the park!

Escape when you can

Make Friday night plans with a friend and keep them. Yes, you’re exhausted and tired and can’t even imagine putting on your nice jeans. Do it anyway. You’ll be glad you did. If money is a concern, don’t go out- just make a cup of tea and go for a walk, visit the library or wander the bookstore together making lists of books to order from the library. If you don’t have a team helping you homeschool, find another mom you can swap kids with occasionally.

Read and read some more

Pre-homeschooling I read a lot of books. It was common for me to finish two or three in a week, even when I was working full time. Now, my reading diet is primarily blogs, Facebook and magazines with a sprinkle of YA fiction here and there. It doesn’t matter- all that reading is also time just for me. Keep a magazine in your purse and a book in your car. You never know when a five minute escape will pop up. Yes, I’ve absolutely bought a cookie and a coffee at the grocery store and made my trip last a little longer than my list required.

Have just one piece
What's your vice? Mine happens to be really fancy dark chocolate. Preferably one with sea salt or chilis or cocoa nibs- something exotic and adventurous. I hide it in the house and it's just for me. One tiny piece, melting in my mouth is like pure decadence and it reminds me of happy thoughts and the best days.

No matter what shape or size your oxygen mask comes in, you must find one. Know that just a few minutes can bring back that warm fuzzy feeling and remind you why on Earth you thought this was a good idea in the first place.