I'm Just Not Patient Enough to Homeschool

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard moms say, “I could never homeschool my children. I’m just not that patient.” Or “I’m a better mom when I’m away from my kids during the day.”

Maybe this is where you are right now, wondering if you can actually homeschool your children. Maybe you're already homeschooling, and you just don't know if it'll ever get easier.

If so, I need you need to know something. We have all had to work on patience to some extent or another. All of us have struggled in some shape or form, and the reality is that no one has ever gotten better at anything by doing it less.

Yes, you may “feel” more patient when your patience isn’t “tried” all. day. long. But the only way to grow in patience is to practice it. The only way to get better at it is to be intentional about it when the challenges come. And the only way for it to become a natural response is to walk in the Spirit.

Patience is a Fruit

Patience is a fruit of the Holy Spirit that grows as we abide in God. The more we seek Him and the more we spend time in His Truth and Word, the more love and patience and self-control we will have (Galatians 5:22).

We must renew our minds, Friends, and we must see our impatience for what it really is. It should never be an excuse to turn away from our responsibility as mothers. It should never be something we justify as a “part of life.”

It should be something we seek to overcome through prayer and additional support if necessary.

Children Need Our Love

In my Masterclass: Nurturing Connections in Your Homeschool, I talked about how homeschooling is an extension of our motherhood. We are mothers first, and our children need our love and encouragement and affection above all. They need a safe environment where they can take risks and know that it will be okay no matter what.

Learning will never happen in an atmosphere of strife and fear and stress. The brain isn’t built that way.

You need to know that your children will never care about what you have to say (or teach) until they know that you care. If your relationship with one of your children is hurting, I want to encourage you to take some time to restore it. Put away the books and the curricula and focus on what is most important. It is in love that even the most challenged of children can thrive.

Motherhood is Hard

I’ve been there, Mama, and I understand how hard it can be sometimes. I have children with learning differences, and I’ve had toddlers in the midst of it all, and I can tell you that my patience has been tried time and time again. And sadly, there were many, many times that I didn't get it right.

Motherhood is hard, whether or not you homeschool.

And the reality is that none of us are perfect. None of us have gotten it right every single time. We all have used tones or said things that we wish we could take back. We have all been stretched and pulled and stressed beyond our limits.

Overcoming in Christ

What matters most is how we respond.

Do we walk in humility and say, “I’m sorry” to our children when we say something hurtful? Do we ask for forgiveness when we get it wrong? Do we share our struggles and pray through them together . . . pointing our precious children to the One who loves us all so very much?

Or do we justify our impatience? Minimize it? Or succumb to it?

Ultimately, it will be in our weakness that God is made strong. It will be in our weakness where we cling to God, and our children will learn what it means to walk in faith.

It will be the challenges that we overcome that will teach our children far more than any textbook could ever explain. And it will be the ups and downs that will grow us as a family and make us stronger than ever before. . . if we rise above.

Redeeming the Time

Your children do not need a perfect mother. They do not need you to get it right every single time for this homeschool thing to work. The reality is that a perfect mother can never truly show them what it means to need a Savior.

Only a humble and loving mother can do that.

What your children need is your love. They need to see what it means to overcome. And they need to see you abide in the One who will grow you in ways you didn't know were possible.

You can be patient, Sweet Mama. It can get easier.

And you can homeschool your children, for greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.

Let us always remember to press in, Friends. Let us abide. Let us redeem this precious time we have with our children. . .

And may our homes bear much fruit for His glory.

Blessings!