Ever Think Homeschooling Might Make You MORE Patient?

Do you think you can’t homeschool because you’re not patient enough? Have you ever thought that homeschooling might actually increase your patience?

This morning I had plans to reintroduce our morning basket time, right after breakfast and the super-simple chore of emptying the dishwasher.

As you might be familiar with, breakfast and a super-simple chore is not always a super-simple morning.

These two things have so far taken 2 hours. Now, as I sit here slightly frustrated that my morning has been wound up in oddly time consuming tasks, the kids are just finally now getting dressed.

Think you can't homeschool because you're not patient enough? Have you ever thought that homeschooling would make you MORE patient?

So, what makes me NOT patient?

Both my husband and I agree, we are at our least patient when we have other plans for how we are going to use our time. This morning for instance, if we had to get my Kindergartener out the door for school, I’m sure the continued requests for more breakfast, spills from spill-proof sippy cups, and strewn Cheerios would have sent me screaming across the house about how we have to go NOW.

But, today the only thing we missed when they dragged their feet through three helpings of Cheerios and three outfits was extra stories.

There are lessons in our morning basket stories, so don’t get me wrong, it is something I want to get done. It’s definitely a routine I want to build into our homeschool, but I get to decide that it won’t break our morning.

I get to decide that I’m not going to lose my patience over it.

My kids are little (okay, Aamina is not super little anymore, but we still skew to the youngest range of childhood in our home most days). These are the times that are the most frustrating, to me, because there’s little logic and reason to explain how I use my day and energy. This lack of logic is a perfect storm for me to completely lose it on a daily basis.

But I don’t. Most days I do okay at navigating the fits and spills and messes. The days I don’t? Well, I take some extra breaks, which the kids have learned is beneficial for them also.

How would our evenings look if I had homework to manage on top of dinner, baths, and bedtime routines? Would we have the family time that I desire? How much time would I have to get to know them on a deeper level so I can effectively help them navigate strong emotions without it turning into fits?

Since I’m with my kids all day, I’ve learned better how to manage little annoyances that build up into big issues. I learned to be patient, just like my kids are learning that they have to listen and work with me otherwise things don’t go well for any of us.

So, I encourage you to think about it: how often are you losing your patience because of a schedule imposed upon you (or you imposed on yourself)? How much more patience do you think you might have if that didn’t exist?