When I was asked to write about the one reason I love homeschooling, it was so hard, yet at the same time so easy, to narrow it down to just one reason! My mind instantly flooded with all the wonderful things I love about homeschooling, but this one reason just jumped out to me!

This wasn’t the main reason I started homeschooling, but it quickly became one of the most important reasons I continue to homeschool!

3

Why I Love Homeschooling

I get the best of my kids and they get the best of me! – Kelly Milligan

I get the best of my kids:

Let me take a moment to explain what I mean. When I say I get the best of my kids, I mean I get them at their best! I get to see them, spend time with them, be around them while they are well rested, fed, and full of energy.

Getting the best of my kids gives us the opportunity to do things like this, and this and even this. It opens up a wonderful atmosphere for learning, developing and growing.

They get the best of me:

Not only do I get the best of my kids, they also get the best of me! They get me when I am well rested, fed, and full of energy (and most importantly: patient!)

We often do things like take impromptu trips to the nature centre, or the Zoo or even our local National Parks, because I am not too tired or have a million other things I need to do. My job is educating my kids! I have nothing better or more important to do! I love it that way!

Adeline and Mommy
Photography Courtesy of treelinesphotography.com

The Alternative:

I am sure you can imagine this scenario: You are rudely awoken from your warm slumber by the alarm monster. You roll out of bed, and hop into the shower because you have somewhere you need to be! You finish showering, still exhausted from the day before. You head to the kids’ rooms and wake them up, telling them to get ready for their day of learning at school, then you head to the kitchen to get COFFEE… because, coffee! Of course you need to feed the little people too, so you make breakfast. Wake the kids yet again, remind them (yet again) to get dressed, brush their hair and teeth before they come down to eat.  Finally, everyone is at the kitchen table and you’ve just finished your first coffee of the day and are now feeling awake enough to have 10 minutes of rushed connection with your kiddos.  That’s it! You throw their lunches at them as they grab their backpacks and run out the door “Bye kids, I love you!!!!” you yell down the street after them.

The Result?:

All that rushing, and all you got was ten minutes of connection with your kids. Ten tired, rushed, and often nagging filled minutes!!

Then, of course, you are off and running to your job as well! A job that exhausts you and leaves you empty at the end of the day, still unable to give your kids the best of you.

2

That’s not for me!:

No thanks! I don’t rush connection! But let’s be honest, I still nag 😛 !

My best time is the morning, you know, after I am coffeed and fed, the time when I am most patient, most calm, most kind, most mothering, most fun and most refreshed… that is when I am the best version of me, and my kids get me during this time.  All of me! Not just 10 minutes of me! I love that I can give them that! It feels like a gift! I love that I get the best part of my kids too, I get to see them at their best (and worst) all day long, through the ups and downs, everyday.

I would be remiss if I did not also mention, that along with getting the best of my children, I get the worst too! I get all the tantrums and all the tears, but I love to think of those times as opportunities to comfort and teach them! To treat them with love and kindness.

And in the same my kids get the worst of me too! Those times when I am frustrated and impatient and downright ugly, but I hope I turn those times into opportunities to show love and to teach them. Teach them how to be humble and apologize and how to overcome difficult times.

 

…drink coffee, love your kids ♥

4