Homeschool Surprises

a fun math lesson (and a carpet in need of vacuuming)

I am not a big fan of surprises.

I would rather know what's coming. I would rather prepare for what's coming. I would rather not be caught off guard.

(Unfortunately, the closest I probably get to a "Would you rather?" in homeschooling is more likely to look something like, "Would you rather help a frustrated kid with math or clean up the box of cheerios that the toddler emptied on the floor?")

At first, the unpredictability was quite intense. Now that we're a few years into this homeschooling adventure, we've settled into a rhythm of sorts, and there aren't quite so many surprises.

Yet, there are a few things about homeschooling that continue to surprise me:

1. There is ALWAYS more cleaning to do. I have lost count of the number of times the garbage needs to be emptied, the hand towels need to be changed, the dishes need to be washed and the toilet paper runs out...in a day. It turns out that four people in a house all day create a pretty big mess. Now, if I could only figure out how to get to all of it in a day, that would be great.
2. It is so easy to overschedule. I had this idea that being at home would mean lots of free time and lazy days. Somehow, I am still surprised when our weeks fill up with lessons, field trips, appointments, visits and play dates. Even now, in the middle of a lockdown, we’re not exactly cuddling on the couch, sipping tea and reading books together all day. The couch is more likely to have been stripped of cushions and covered in random toys (that I have been forbidden from moving) for some elaborate imaginative game while I microwave my tea AGAIN and consider whether it's ok to serve peanut butter toast and fruit for a third day in a row for lunch. (The answer is yes.)
3. Many people assume that I am magically patient. If I had a dollar for every time someone told me that I must be “so patient” or that they could never homeschool because they’re not as patient as I am, I could probably purchase next year’s science curriculum (and it’s reasonably expensive). I’m fairly certain this is not true. I’ll spare you the gory details but you can ask my kids sometime if you’d like.
4. I don’t think I’ve ever met two homeschooling families that are alike. We stay up late and sleep in, use a mix of curriculum, schedule our day very loosely and spend as much time as we can in nature. I am not very good at involving my kids in chores, cleaning the floor or including art in our week. But I know of families who are amazing at art. I know of some who clean the floor every day, some who follow very little curriculum at all and some who schedule their day down to the minute.
5. It is not unusual for me to meet someone who, in some way or another, criticizes my child’s education and my career choice in the first 30 seconds of finding out we’re homeschoolers. Apparently, when you are homeschooling this kind of criticism is not off limits. I usually feign ignorance and cheerfully smash the stereotypes. I am also working on a comeback that goes something like this: “My kids aren’t weird yet but I’m working on it.”
6. It’s not always fun and creative. Yes, our lessons are sometimes fun and hands on and full of games. Many times, though, we are struggling through math worksheets and early readers and I grit my teeth and (mostly) smile through the broken record of, “I’m never doing school again.”
7. Somehow we are still doing this. I really never imagined I’d be working on a plan for a fourth grader for next year but here we are!

How is homeschooling surprising for you?