Janice writes at Mommy’s Lounge, about homeschooling, poetry, and digiscrapping, along with her three gorgeous kids and husband. (How do you have time for it all??)

She does a poetry workshop, which I think is just AWESOME. She’s also very present on Instagram; she’s a “trigger happy mama”, just like I am. She wrote a post about nap time that I can SO relate to: Go To Sleep or Else. I’m just glad somebody’s getting all of her kids to take a nap, because it certainly isn’t me. She also wrote a beautiful post and poem on being a mother. She’s an inspiring (and inspired) writer and mama.

Last week, Jess talked about becoming a homeschooling mama, and this week, Janice is going to tall us about being a veteran homeschooler.

Welcome, Janice!

First, I want to thank Greta for inviting me to be a guest in her awesome blog!  I was beside myself when she asked me to guest post.  I’ll admit, I might’ve silently squee’d in my head too.  🙂

Great expectations….hmmmm….

I can’t remember the last time I had to think this deeply about anything!  This was a toughie, but I’m glad I had this opportunity to sit down and reflect a little on the bigger things in life.

As most of you know, I am a SAHM.  Before that, I was a Vice Principal for an elementary school AND a full-time teacher for 4 years.  I wasn’t an old fogie, but I wasn’t a newbie in the teaching arena either.

The first two years, I taught 2^nd grade.  Then I moved on to 4^th grade.  After which, I got real confident and taught 6^th, 7^th, 8^th grade Math & Science.  Teaching got easier for me every year!

Meanwhile, my first child went to daycare, then preschool, and eventually pre-k at local learning centers that we could afford.

Everything was like clockwork.  We had a schedule for most our days, and there weren’t too many variations in what we did.

But then, one month after school started in my 4^th year of teaching, I became pregnant.  THE BIG QUESTION ARRIVED.

Should we put the baby in daycare too so I can keep working?

My husband and I prayed and talked, and prayed some more….  After many months of thinking and discussing, we decided that the best thing for our children was for me to stay home with them.

In comes THE GREAT EXPECTATIONS:

1.  Our oldest daughter would be in Kindergarten, but I CAN homeschool her easily enough because, after all, I had many years of experience!  If I could teach a classroom full of kids, then ONE KID should be super easy!
2. We would save so much money by not paying for daycare and “regular” school.
3. It would be easier to do house chores because I’d be home all day.
4. I wouldn’t be as tired because I don’t have to do that whole “9 to 5” thing ever again.

So….can you already see where this is going?  Um, yah.  I was totally clueless!

Here is what REALITY actually dished out on me:

1.  Teaching my oldest was easy only in so far as my 2^nd child stayed a non-mobile infant.  After, the infant became a crawling and cruising baby, my Kindergartner turned 1^st grader had less time to spend with me.  AND NOW, I have an infant, a toddler, and a 2^nd grader!  With my second child in full toddler phase and my 3^rd is crawling and putting everything in his mouth phase, my poor Eldest has to get used to sporadic lessons and unstructured days.  Between the toddler and the baby, sitting down to give my 2^nd grader my undivided attention is just not possible.
2. The money we saved from daycare and “regular” school still went to paying for a homeschool program/curriculum.  I don’t know how many times I’ve bought stuff at the store that I thought I would NEED in my homeschooling tasks.  Plus, since my eldest doesn’t have classmates, we had to enroll her in extracurricular activities every quarter.  She is currently in Piano, Ballet, and Taekwondo.  Those darn class fees can add up!  Not to mention all the gas I spend driving all over the place to get her there.
3. Being home all day means someone is always around to make a mess!  It’s so hard to get any house chores done during the day.  The kids seem to destroy any room faster than I can clean up.  Then I have to feed them breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, and dinner.  Every. Freaking. Day.  I mean really, am I a maid here?  I never knew I had to do this much cooking and cleaning just because I decided to be a SAHM!!!
4. I would love to have a “9 to 5” day!  That would be so easy!  As a SAHM, I have a 24/7 day.  No holidays, sick days, vacations, or overtime.  Wait.  Overtime.  Everyday feels like overtime.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m very thankful that my husband has a wonderful job that provides enough for all my family’s needs and wants.  AND he does help me when he can with the kids, the chores, and sometimes even my fashion needs ( you know, by scheduling a surprise hair salon appointment or a mani/pedi day for me).  BUT, I never really expected this stay-at-home-mom thing to be this hard.  This demanding.

Physically and emotionally, being a SAHM can be so draining.  I didn’t really expect that.  As far as I know, I am the first in my family and friends to be a SAHM.  There is no support system for me, besides my husband.

That’s why I was thrilled when I found out that there was this whole blogosphere full of moms who had been where I am.  Moms who are still in the same place as me.  And moms who just…get it.

These “mom bloggers” (no offense) are constantly shaping my expectations as a stay-at-home, homeschooling mother.  Their stories teach me what to expect and how to be prepared.  I learn how to be show my children love even in our busy day.  My Google Reader is full of motherhood “lessons” that, thankfully, I might never have to go through because I can learn from other people’s mistakes and be a good  mother.

So now, I know better.  Sort of.  Well, at least my expectations as a SAHM, as a homeschooler, are more reasonable.  Thanks to all the moms out in blogland who care enough to share their battle stories, embarrassing moments, heartaches, joys, and their own expectations for me to read and learn.

Thank you my bloggy friends.  Thank you.

w

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Thanks, Janice!