Does Grace for the overwhelmed homeschooling mom sound like what you need?

It’s December, and the start of the new school year has long since zoomed by. The holidays are in full swing, and you’re wondering how to get it all done without getting completely overwhelmed. The homeschooling, the housework, the Christmas preparation, the working (whether you work in or out of the home- or both). It can be a real challenge!

Here are five things to remember when you feel like you’re not getting things done!

1. Hold tight to your Anchor

Yes, life gets busy. Life gets stressful. But in all of that, hold tight to Jesus! Read your Bible. Pray (even if it’s just a short prayer said while you’re washing the dishes). Do your best to get up in the morning and read even a few verses of Scripture. Don’t stop even if you don’t feel anything happening. Even if you just read a chapter of 2 Samuel and you don’t know what in the world just happened. God’s Word does not return void.

2. Balance is a myth

Balance is a myth. The “perfect” Pinterest homeschool might look like there is time to get everything done, if you can just balance it all. I’m here to tell you that homeschool life (at least in my experience- and what I hear from others) is more like the ebb and flow of the ocean than it is the balance of a scale. For me, it’s never been easy to expose my children to just the right amount of each subject, the right balance of physical activity, and the right amount of recreation. It just doesn’t tend to happen in the same day or even the same week. Maybe you live in a place that has extreme weather like I do, and it’s impractical for the kids to go outside for any length of time during certain times of the year. Go outside when you can! Maybe the children are fighting you over reading. Read to them when they are receptive to it (bedtime is a great time to get in that reading-even if that doesn’t seem “schoolish”). Some days or weeks will be heavier on the more formal learning, some heavier on the character building (AKA discipline), some days or weeks are for resting. It will all even out over time!

3. Children Can Help

Boy can they! It may take a little more time upfront to teach them how to help, but you can certainly delegate kid-friendly tasks to them. We called them chores when I was growing up. You may want to call it something else, but the concept is the same. Children can contribute to the family. Mom doesn’t have to do everything! You are teaching them lifelong habits that will serve them and their family in the future. Go, you! Another thing here, is as they get older, they can help you stay on track with school topics you need to cover. Make them their own checklist to check off the boxes before they can have screen time or some other activity they might look forward to.

4. It won’t be like this forever

Remember that ebb and flow I mentioned? Think about the ocean again. Sometimes it’s stormy, but sometimes it’s calm, sunny, and smooth-sailing. Maybe you have a new baby in the house, or maybe you are not feeling 100% for whatever reason, or maybe there was a tummy bug in the house. It will pass! It will get easier. Babies aren’t babies forever. You will get stronger and healthier. Everyone will start to feel better and that mountain of laundry will shrink! It will. (If mine did, yours will too!) When there is calm, just get back on it and make the most of it. Harness that energy.

5. Nobody gets it all done all the time

It may seem like that from the outside looking in. When you see pictures your friends share on social media, it certainly appears that way. But look: nobody can do everything well all the time. I have to cover a few major areas in my home throughout my day or week. I can tackle maybe two or three at a time, and do a great job. Others might have the energy and the capacity for more, and that’s great. For them. Do not beat yourself up because you aren’t adding up to your perception of anyone else. Let God show you what He has for you to do, and HOW He wants you to do it. (And then revisit #1!)

Have you been through an overwhelming season of motherhood and homeschooling? What has made a difference for you in the midst of it all?

Becky is a wife of nine years and stay at home mom to four young children. She aspires to encourage women in Biblical truth on her blog, Happy Christian Home