School or Not? You Have to Do What's Best for Your Family

Two years ago when we were in public school

Let’s just open this post up with something that I think we can all agree on…life is just weird right now. Life is always full of seasons, some personal to each family and some unique to society in general. Yet here we are living in an odd, unprecedented season that I don’t believe any of us ever thought we would face. It’s almost like a never ending game of Jumanji. But while hard seasons can often be unique to each family, all families and parents with school aged children are facing one giant hardship right now. The decision to send children to school this year or not is perhaps one of the most talked about headlines right now.

We are nearing the end of summer time for many states and approaching the school days. Some mothers are excited to send their children off because they just want a sense of normalcy; some mothers are excited because they know their children need routine; some mothers are fearful; some mothers are apprehensive; some mothers are embarking on a new homeschool journey, and well…some mothers just don’t know how to feel. Yet somehow we’ve taken it to social media to try and figure out just what is right or wrong. Or perhaps we are trying to figure out how it appears that we should be feeling. Maybe we are still trying to figure out where we stand on these issues and topics so we turn to social media for insight (even I do this sometimes).

There’s a war of words on school vs no school, and yet strangely enough there’s parents left and right deciding to homeschool, when not so long ago there could have easily been a war of words on that topic too. There’s mothers apprehensive to buy new uniforms and school supplies and there’s other mothers buying all the masks because they.just.need.their.kids.back.in.school. And there’s the new school moms, the mothers sending their first child off to school this year to begin their academic journey and the journey won’t start off quite like we imagined. I really feel for those mamas.

What will the year look like? What will the future of schooling be like? Will this ever go away? Is my child safe? Will this affect my child psychologically? Are people judging my decision? Will she thrive? He will be fine, so why is Karen throwing a fit about sending her child? Should I be more concerned? These are all questions that many are asking themselves right now. Am I able to teach my own child? Can I juggle this with work?

And again, there’s the mothers who really just don’t know how to feel.

Here’s the thing…and I really need you to listen to this one thing. I need you to drop what you’re doing right now because this is going to be the truth like you’ve never heard. Are you ready?

There is NO right or wrong decision here — the only right decision is the one that is right for YOUR family. BOOM.

Moms, we are all here for one goal - and that is to love, support and nurture our children. We genuinely want what is best for our children and our family; and that can look totally different for us all. I hope you know that no decision you have made regarding your child’s education this year is the wrong one. I hope you know that no matter which way you would have turned or no matter which option you would have chosen, that you would still question it over and over again. You would still sit back and wonder if you made the right choice because no matter what, there’s always someone else out there with a different opinion and a different choice.

Motherhood is hard to begin with. There’s already this invisible ring of mom wars that often times entraps us and can leave us feeling depleted or less than others. The last thing we need in a season as emotional and anxious as this pandemic, is to feel the war of school vs no school. Sometimes we just don’t need to sit and feel as in depth as we think we need to; we just have to follow our first instinct, that gut feeling that tells us what is right (AKA the Holy Spirit).

What I sincerely hope we learn from this “season,” is that our child’s education is always and has always been a decision of what is best for each family. Whether we choose to homeschool or send our children off to public school, or choose Charlotte Mason learning in a forest, what works for one family will not work for all families. THIS IS ALWAYS THE CASE. I hope we remember this as the seasons change and as life returns to normal, that what works for one family doesn’t always work for another. As it turns out, we are all heading towards the same goal for our children and with the same love and hope for our child’s future, we are just all taking a different scenic route to get there.

I hope that you feel at peace with where you are right now. I know you are likely a little anxious and possibly full of emotions, but I hope you know that you’re not alone. We may all look a little different, vote a little different, think a little different and desire different things, but we are just trying to live our best life in a hard time right now and we are trying to give our children the best normal they can have.

I hope you realize that while homeschooling can be and will be hard, you can do hard things. I hope you know that there’s mothers all over this world homeschooling children in kitchens with a baby on their hip and soup simmering on the stove. I hope you know there’s mothers learning the ropes of virtual schooling and assisting their children daily while holding down jobs. I hope you know that you can do hard things and God will not give you a challenge that you can’t handle.

May you find nothing but health and peace this school year whether it’s at the kitchen table, at the computer or in the classroom.

May you feel at peace sweet mother…