Time, Part 2

In the previous blog, I suggested that if you homeschool your children will have plenty of extra time to work on new projects or interesting sidelines and they might become more authentic versions of themselves and this, we all may agree, would be a good thing. Now let's speak of the downside of homeschooling:


YOUR time.


The parent at home is going to be counting out Me Time in sand grains. Or shot glasses. These wonderful offspring, they're always around. Even if they aren't sitting next to you as you two figure out phonics, fractions or philosophy, even if they are in their room or the garage, using all this lovely extra time to start their business or write their book, you still aren't alone and there's a pretty good chance that child is going to need to make a quick trip to Best Buy, or Michael's, or the library to get something in the next few minutes. Some days I find myself envying people with long commutes; all that gorgeous time spent going 2.3 miles an hour on the 405, finishing a thought in their heads.

(People who actually travel on the 405 every day, feel free to find me and beat me with a mallet for trivializing your pain.)

Have more than one child? Have a child with special needs? Double what I just said. If you're an introvert, you certainly can homeschool, but know that if your children aren't introverts, this is going to drain you. And then they get older, and they sleep less and you get a house like mine, where the kid only goes to bed 90 minutes before I do and there are days where I feel as if I've been doing a radio call-in show for twelve hours straight. I've come to appreciate my insomnia because while I look like Skeletor, it's the only time of the day I can truly call my own. Well, plus the cats.

This utter lack of self time  shouldn't scare you off of homeschooling if every other part seems to make sense for your child and your life, but it's something to consider. You're going to have to consciously look for places in every day where the kid is here and you are over there; those sports teams and after-school activities are a Godsend for many reasons. And if the extracurricular activity asks you to volunteer, be smarter than I am and offer to do fundraising or helping to sell ads. Yes, it's awful to beg for money but it beats being the already drained introvert who becomes the assistant coach who shuns help taking down the goals just for a few minutes by herself.

Not that I've done that.

Want more secrets about what homeschooling is REALLY like? Go to learning dangerously.com and see my videos about what to consider before you homeschool. Even if you could never imagine homeschooling, maybe the statistics about homeschoolers being, on average, happier and getting higher test scores intrigues you. Leave your email under WORKSHOPS and I'll let you know when my new webinar Secrets of Successful Homeschooling Families: What they know that you can use, is up.