I Will Not Let February Get to Me

Home educators often get discouraged in the middle of winter.

• We are very aware of how much there is left to cover for the year and some of us even wonder if the first half of the school year meant anything.   
• The weather is less than ideal and so we are Vitamin D deficient, our events get postponed on icy days which creates disappointment, and the children can't easily go outside (tomorrow's high is going to be 12 degrees and we have 4inches to a foot of snow on the ground depending on where you stand).  
• Besides all of that, taxes need to be filed, summer vacation reservations need to be made and we might still need to get Christmas boxed up and put away.

I neared the end of January and felt like I was in a good place to meet February this year.  I was feeling confident.  Then we had some terribly cold weather and school was cancelled for two days. (For those of you who don't know, my oldest is in a charter school while I home educate my two younger boys.)  This meant that my oldest was home and it created some tension.  When he's off and his brothers aren't I give him study time to complete homework or to work ahead on his school work.  But he's continually coming to ask questions and it's disruptive to our flow.  I'm still figuring out a balance so he doesn't feel like a disruption.  Needless to say, my expectations weren't being met and I needed to lower them a bit.  But by Friday I was still feeling that February feeling.  Rats.  I thought I had it beat this year.

So, I'm determined to stare the month in the face.  To look at each day with the blessings it holds and be thankful for the moments that mean the most.  I am determined to not get sucked in by the discouragement and just know that in the thick of things is when most of the change is happening.  

Bring on the changes, February.  I'm ready to learn.