But some days it sure feels like you need to, especially when you’re a homeschooling mom and a pastor’s wife!
In case you’re new here, let me throw a quick introduction at you:
I’m Kristy, a thirty-three year old wife and mom. I’ve been married to my preacher boy for twelve years; ten of those years Jeremy has served as a full time pastor.
I homeschool our five children, who range in ages from ten years down to eighteen months old.
We still have a whole lot to learn, but over the years Jeremy and I have found a few ways to balance ministry and homeschooling.
Here are a few things that work for us:
I’m intentional about being at home during the week.
I wouldn’t really call myself a “home body”, but you might get that impression if you took a peek at my weekly routines right now.
I’m at home pretty much every weekday, except for the drive to church for Wednesday night service. (Weekends are busier, of course, because that’s when I grocery shop, enjoy a date night with Jeremy, take the kids to the library, or, occasionally go shopping with my sister and girls just for fun.)
Why stay at home so much? Well, it’s kind of hard to homeschool when you’re not at home. Right?
I know moms who homeschool on the go because they travel a lot (like missionaries or evangelists), but I’m a girl with roots. So I stay put.
I’m not saying every mom needs to do this. We all have different personalities and preferences, and whatever works for you is what you should do.
I’m not saying I will always do this. I have a feeling that homeschooling five teenagers will look a whole lot different than homeschooling five kids ages ten and under.
But, at this season of my life, I make it a point to be at home with my kids during the week so we can stay on track with homeschooling.
I don’t mind saying “no”.
This is sort of fundamental to preserving my sanity as a homeschooling-mom-in-ministry.
Just because I’m home nearly every day of the week doesn’t mean I’m available to attend every meeting, organize every project, or host a Bible study on a regular basis.
Right now, my young children are my first ministry. They are my “Sunday School class”, my mission field, and my biggest project.
Homeschooling, consistent character training, and establishing a healthy family culture with young children takes loads of time and emotional energy.
I also need to fit “sleep” into my daily schedule somewhere. 😉
Whatever keeps me from being a hands-on, full time, mostly sane mother is on my “no” list. That includes occasional ministry-related activities , lots of my personal projects and blogging goals, and whatever else threatens to gobble up my time and energy.
I try to make the most of the flexibility home education provides.
Thankfully, my kids can sleep in on Monday morning if we’re up late on Sunday night.
We can take a week off from school during revival, church camp, or camp meeting.
If we need to, my kids can double up on their lessons in order to free up a day for a trip to the nursing home, a monthly ladies meeting, or a trip with Jeremy to visit a church member.
We can do just fine with a four-day school week, which gives us a little wiggle room over the weekend for family time, cleaning my house, and getting ready for Sunday.
Homeschooling is super flexible.
My goal is to keep our year-round homeschooling on track with monthly goals and lessons plans, but the overall spirit of home education is to serve our family’s needs. As a pastor’s family, flexibility is a pretty large need!
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These are just a few ideas that Jeremy and I implement to keep our lives from dissolving into chaos. 🙂 It has taken us a few years to find a comfortable balance, and I’m sure we’ll continue tweaking things as the seasons of our lives change.