Posted in Homeschooling
Southwest Airlines has a very successful ad campaign these days that you can mostly catch during football games and other sporting events. The catch-phrase is “Wanna get away?” and it features situations people get themselves into that are, at best, awkward, such as a woman whose contact lens slipped and she walks into the restroom to fix it, only to find she's in the mens room.
A lot of moms “wanna get away” from homeschooling about this time of year. They feel like they’re failing. They’re tired, and Christmas vacation didn’t last nearly long enough for them. The stress of the holidays likely put a lot on them. They feel like they’ve gotten themselves into a bad situation and they don’t want to be where they’re at right now. Is your wife among them?
It could be they feel like Geico’s caveman, feeling put down and insulted. It seems that every day they face another picture or billboard of themselves magnifying their self-perceived inadequacies. It seems that there’s an organized campaign telling them that they’re stupid, incompetent and not living up to their full potential as a woman who should be in the workplace, not at home with the kids. These are nagging thoughts that most women face, but few actually confront them and speak the truth to them.
As the husband and father of a homeschooling family, I have a great opportunity to bless my wife and children and January is a great time to take advantage of it. I can take time away from the work I do to take them for the day or even just a few hours. Giving my wife a day to recharge and do whatever she feels she needs to do is a terrific way to bless her.
Another way is to sit down and give her my undivided attention. Sometimes she just needs to unload. I may come up with ideas to help or even want to intervene personally, but the most important part is for me to just sit there, listening and understanding her thoughts and feelings. Guys like me want to fix situations, but my wife doesn’t really need advice or solutions. She can figure those out all by herself. She’s not coming to me for that. She needs me to be there for her and simply be heard and understood, not fixed.
Finally, reaffirming my commitment to her and her objectives helps her know I believe her work is crucial to our children and very important to me. It can be simply a note or an offer to help evaluate a child’s work. Doing so has opened my eyes to the details and minutiae she deals in with each child. I’m proud of her. I believe she’s doing the best she can and I want to help her any way I can.
I need to mention that I fail just as often as I succeed, if not more, as we homeschool. I’m not even close to being the best homeschool dad for my family, but I pray I improve. Please pray for me too.
A lot of moms “wanna get away” from homeschooling about this time of year. They feel like they’re failing. They’re tired, and Christmas vacation didn’t last nearly long enough for them. The stress of the holidays likely put a lot on them. They feel like they’ve gotten themselves into a bad situation and they don’t want to be where they’re at right now. Is your wife among them?
It could be they feel like Geico’s caveman, feeling put down and insulted. It seems that every day they face another picture or billboard of themselves magnifying their self-perceived inadequacies. It seems that there’s an organized campaign telling them that they’re stupid, incompetent and not living up to their full potential as a woman who should be in the workplace, not at home with the kids. These are nagging thoughts that most women face, but few actually confront them and speak the truth to them.
As the husband and father of a homeschooling family, I have a great opportunity to bless my wife and children and January is a great time to take advantage of it. I can take time away from the work I do to take them for the day or even just a few hours. Giving my wife a day to recharge and do whatever she feels she needs to do is a terrific way to bless her.
Another way is to sit down and give her my undivided attention. Sometimes she just needs to unload. I may come up with ideas to help or even want to intervene personally, but the most important part is for me to just sit there, listening and understanding her thoughts and feelings. Guys like me want to fix situations, but my wife doesn’t really need advice or solutions. She can figure those out all by herself. She’s not coming to me for that. She needs me to be there for her and simply be heard and understood, not fixed.
Finally, reaffirming my commitment to her and her objectives helps her know I believe her work is crucial to our children and very important to me. It can be simply a note or an offer to help evaluate a child’s work. Doing so has opened my eyes to the details and minutiae she deals in with each child. I’m proud of her. I believe she’s doing the best she can and I want to help her any way I can.
I need to mention that I fail just as often as I succeed, if not more, as we homeschool. I’m not even close to being the best homeschool dad for my family, but I pray I improve. Please pray for me too.
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