A Big Career Decision

The wonderful thing about being thirty nine is that I know myself. I know what I need, what makes me happy, what ignites my passions, and I'm comfortable with all of it. Sometimes I surprise myself, but for the most part, I know myself well. At many points in my life I would apologize when my passion would scare or offend people. Now I know to surround myself with individuals who support and encourage me. As a mother, I've figured out how to either include my children in my passions and make them a part of it, or when I needed to do things on my own.

A highlight for me was figuring out how to be the mom I wanted to be and run a business by making my children a focal point of my business model, thus my daycare business boomed. For twelve years I drew inspiration from my career.  That inspiration spawned other career highlights for me such as this very blog, freelance writing, and becoming an author. However, as children do, my own kids grew. Their needs changed, my mom role evolved, and I was suddenly taking off just as many days as I worked. Around this time, I was inspired by new challenges that arose.

For the last six years, I've been an active board member at the Des Moines Children's Museum (which is also a career highlight for me). The unique thing about this role is that we have been a working board. For six years I planned every event, attempted to hit fundraising goals, and failed marvelously at networking. I was thrilled to have a space that also shared my passion to have children learn through play. At this time last year I sat at a board meeting where we discussed how the Museum was growing and what was needed. I had an idea; I knew this idea to be a large undertaking for myself, but I figured, 'why not?' This idea was in the form of a monthly, Friday night program where we would try new and different things. One month was Games From Around The World, while another was a dance, and another was all about flowers. I knew I could do it because these are literally things I would do with my daycare. I loved when I could intertwine the two with my ideas reaching more children in our community. 

I will note at this time, that one year later, our Try Days will be no longer because they didn't bring in as many people as we had hoped. However, these Days did more for me personally than I realized until I sat down to write this. You see, while I showed up and shared these ideas with whoever else showed up, as the months went on, I grew increasingly frustrated because I couldn't network or get fundraising or whatever because of my full time job. By the beginning of this year, I realized my focus was changing. I was, and still am, passionate about daycare; stellar, affordable daycare where children learn through play. I am equally as passionate about following my passions, letting my ideas take the lead.

As I sat in the quiet on a January morning, I put finishing touches on another children's book and sent texts about more ideas I had for my other ventures, my mind began to wander. I knew a change was needed. For myself, for my growing children, for my sanity because there was no way in hell I could spend another school year wondering how my children were getting to and from school. If I'm perfectly honest, my initial plans (years and years ago) were to close daycare when my youngest started kindergarten. Of course, life is fun and throws curveballs. Here I was, that youngest child in her last year in elementary school and heading into middle school. I was still in a career I loved and I don't think I'll ever stop loving it. But on that quiet January morning, I updated my resume. I had no clue what I was going to do with it though. A quick skim of job searches left me thinking, 'oh hell no.'

Later that same day, I broke out my computer to send an email for the Children's Museum, thinking about how I could have gotten this done a week ago if this was my job....wait, what if this was my job? Two weeks later, some research, and basically creating a job I knew would check all my boxes, I submitted a job proposal to the Board of Directors, excusing myself from the board discussions of it all (obviously, because clearly I would hire myself). Two months and some job description changes later, I accepted the position of Programs and Events Director at the Des Moines Children's Museum, beginning at the end of August of this year.

Cue all of the emotions. I was a ball of nerves breaking the news to my daycare families, many of whom have been with me for all twelve years I've been open. Some days I'm elated and feel like I could have began the job yesterday. Other days, I stop and think how much I'll miss these daycare days. Sometimes I'm nervous and uneasy, what if I misread myself this time and life is throwing another curve ball? In this precise moment, I'm enjoying the last few days/weeks of my business before life changes. I'm taking in all of the moments, the good, bad, and crazy, and locking each moment away in my brain for when I need them.

I can't say I would have made this move at this time if my children's needs weren't changing, but I do know change is good. I enjoy challenges, learning new things, and letting my ideas fly. All of the emotions are with me as I head into my final days as a daycare provider of my own daycare business. I feel as though I'm reinventing myself when I step into my new career. Who knows where this next road will lead me, but I am ready to find out.

Knock The Goals Outta The Park

 

Being self employed and someone who is working towards growth by bettering myself, I like lists. I enjoy creating my ongoing, never complete Bucket List. It seems as soon as I cross one thing off, I instantly find five more things to add to it. I have To Do Lists coming out of my ears: there's the monthly to do list, weekly to do lists, daily to do lists, seasonal to do lists, and yearly to do lists. I treat these To Do Lists as goals, trying to get everything crossed off, so I can move onto the next. It's exhausting, but it's who I am. I'm never joking when I say, "it's exhausting being me; try being inside my mind."

My brain is constantly thinking, coming up with ideas. Even as I drift off to sleep, if I fall asleep with an idea on the tip of my brain, I dream about it all night long. 2021 has been a year of huge growth and development for me. That's required me to make big goals for myself. I started the year with the goal to give myself a little more me time by completing a writing a day. It hasn't been perfect. I've skipped an entire week here and there due to travels or crazy days. However, with this post, I am completely caught up. I have written 328 blog posts of my thoughts, our life, daycare, little ramblings.

October was travel month for us. I completed my goal of solo traveling with kids, seeing whales in the wild, climbing mountains (that's not new, but it's something we love to do), and seeing places that have been on my bucket list. I needed something for November. On the morning of November 1st, I decided to participate in NaNoWriMo. By November 18, I had 50,000+ words and a rough draft of a book. A book I've had in my head for awhile, but never made the time to get it all out. 

I have no idea what I'll do with this book or what writing goals I'll make into 2022; I know I'll make some because that's just who I am. But for now, I'm proud for sticking with it and hitting the goals I've made for myself this year.

Being A Small Business Owner In A Pandemic Is Hard

Accidental selfie in the car waiting for a to-go order. After a year and a half of dealing with a pandemic and owning a business, I can't quite muster up the energy to deal with the public.

Owning a business right now plainly....sucks. Right now meaning in a pandemic. A pandemic that has not been deemed as over, we're still in it, experiencing surges. We're a year and half into this and I still spend time looking over the newest and ever-chaning recommendations and guidelines. Unlike other businesses, I don't have a choice of doing nothing. 

As with many small business owners during this pandemic, I've had to stop and think about every avenue. Every avenue that could lead to a permanent business closure. They're scary thoughts considering this is my livelihood, it's what I've built for over 10 years. The possibility of having it ripped away is heartbreaking. 

I'm not going to go into detail about how or why I would be forced to close the doors of my business. If I ignore all guidance and guidelines, my doors can close forever. That's not a choice I'm willing to make, so my business still abides by all Covid "rules" that were in a place a year ago. I'm lucky because I haven't had a single person question my Covid rules. I tend not to share my luck with others because many business owners are less fortunate. When I choose to check into social media, I'm disgusted at how people are treating business owners.

Many of them have experienced push back from costumers on all things: masks, new hours, lack of staff, etc. Businesses are overwhelmed right now. If you choose to ignore the pandemic, people come out of the woodwork to tell you you're doing it wrong. If you choose to "follow the rules," people come out of the woodwork to tell you you're doing it wrong. There is a rarely a happy medium. People are impossible to please and businesses are suffering. I know many people who chose to walk away from their businesses instead of conform to what people are demanding right now.

Owning a business of any kind is hard. Owning and operating a business during a pandemic is hard, if not nearly impossible. Please be nice, kill owners and workers with kindness. The pandemic is rough in all the ways. Some are barely getting through it all. Remember that the next time your order isn't correct at your favorite restaurant, a business has to close early or have an extended closure due to Covid, hours change, or the services a business offers changes. 

I can't believe I have to use an entire blog post to remind people to think of business owners and how the pandemic has affected businesses, but here we are. I have used that line for everything in the last year and a half. Here we are. Do better. Be considerate. Life is hard for a lot of people still, including small business owners. I can guarantee you they don't want to spend their day off thinking of and reviewing new policies and guidelines. Yet they don't have a choice. 

Current Trend: 2 Cups Of Coffee A Day

 

I'm a one cup of coffee a day gal. Sometimes, on longer days, I treat myself to Starbucks or one of the fun drinks from a coffee shop. Coffee gets me through a lot. It's comfort, confidence, and energy all in one cup. Smelling my cup brewing each morning calms me. For the last year, as a pandemic raged on, that one cup of coffee kept me going. Occasionally, I snuck in cup number two (especially on those busy homeschool days!) to keep me going. 

Now that daily life has picked up again, my one cup has easily become two each day. Three busy weekends in a row have kicked my ass. By Sunday, I felt like a brick that shouldn't people anymore. I'm telling myself that it's how I'm building my stamina back up. The stamina that keeps me going from here to there and back again. That lets me take crazy road trips and day trips, fitting more into a day than anyone thought possible. Apparently the pandemic took that away from me as well because my two cups of coffee a day is what's truly getting me through!

A+ Procrastinator

 

I'll admit, I do my best work under pressure. I am more creative, work harder, faster, and all around better when I procrastinate. The planner in me HATES it. The planner that has lists of activities to do each season, the planner that makes weekly meal plans and lesson plans for daycare and homeschool, the planner that has timers set on the calendar so nothing is missed. That part of me despises the procrastinator part of me. Admittedly, the creative side of me is the procrastinator, which means that part of me is much more prominent than my planner side. 

As an adult, I know how to deal with the procrastinator part of me. I manage it well (while still driving others insane, I'm sure). However, as a kid it was frustrating. Not one person in my life, teacher, counselor, adult, gave me tips (or better yet, taught me) how to deal with being a procrastinator. As I've grown older, I recognize things that work for me. Not necessarily to keep me from procrastinating, but that have helped me live with it in a more organized fashion.

• Make lists. To Do Lists are your friend. I make To Do Lists in separate areas of my life: daycare, homeschool, projects, home improvement projects, vacations, etc. 
• Break the Lists down. I have monthly overviews of what needs done that month, followed by breaking it down into weeks, and finally broken down into days.
• Put dates of when things will be done (NOT when they're due). If I pay attention to the due date rather than the done date, I'll just put it off more and more. I've taught myself to not pay attention to the due date, but to the date I'll work on things. For example, I am working on an event for a nonprofit I'm on the Board of Directors of. On my weekly To Do List, I specifically listed my work on this project on the days I was to work on it. I try really hard (and somewhat succeed) not to overschedule myself with work stuff because then I'm apt to put things off.
• Figure out if you do better doing hard or easy tasks first and when. I know I work better late morning, late evening, and at night. I also know I work best when I'm able to do a lot at once, with music or the TV on. Weird, I know. An example: I worked on the project mentioned above Sunday afternoon with I watched Mad Men, while I was also doing laundry. I prioritize many tasks by what I can do and walk away from (such as laundry, dishwasher, etc.) and larger tasks I can do during that time too. 
• What type of environment do you work best in? When I'm trying to memorize things, I need to read something over and over again. When I'm writing or working, I need background noise. I remember as a kid, silence while studying was prioritized because that's what was taught in school. As an adult, I realize that's bullshit. I do not learn well in that environment. I need the stimulation of background noise.
• Set goals. This sounds silly, but set goals and rewards for yourself. 

I'm forever grateful to my children's teachers, who recognize how they learn, how they work best, and have given them the tools they need to get things done (and for teaching me how they do this as well, because without them, homeschooling would not be possible!). I often read memes or jokes about procrastinating. I mean, I have lots of fun and hilarious stories about procrastinating. I know to keep coffee stocked when I have a project due soon, but I'm also acutely aware that I could have been given tools at a much younger age that could have helped me immensely. I am now a strong advocate for all procrastinators and helping them as much as I can...while still being an A+ procrastinator.

Welcome Back To Reality

It's not exactly easy to go from sledding down sand dunes to policies and guidelines.

Nothing like being slapped back into reality. Slapped hard at that. We spent the last ten days with no WiFi and limited accessibility to internet. When we did have the internet, I can assure everyone we were not checking the latest news or gossip on social media. We had no idea what local, national, or worldwide news was bringing. This is highly unusual for me and us as a family. It was refreshing though.

Of course, when we finally were able to catch up on a week's worth of news today, imagine my surprise when we learned of people putting gas in plastic bags (I don't even want to know what international news stations are saying about America right now), new CDC guidelines, and...oh, yeah, new Iowa Department of Health guidelines that go directly against CDC guidelines.

And just like that my vacation came to an end. I now get to spend my last day and a half of "vacation" working and securing my own business policies. That is NOT how I wanted to spend my last day of vacation. Sometimes being a business owner sucks. It's especially sucked bad during the pandemic. A lot of perks, like taking vacations whenever I want (and can afford them). But then there's that welcome back to reality afterwards that isn't always great.

Will Zooms Stick Around?

 

Picture from another meeting (one I actually dressed for) in the homeschool room because it has better lighting.

Another night, another Zoom call. In person meetings are a thing of the past. I love it and I hate it. I love the extra time. There's no drive time, only half of me needs to look presentable, I can get more done right up until a meeting begins, I can do a meeting on the go if needed, and my meetings tend to be shorter virtually than in person.

But there's so much that is lost in a virtual meeting. I can't make a random note on my pad of paper and have the person sitting next to me glance at it. Conversations happen much more fluidly in person rather than virtually. Half of the time someone freezers or forgets to turn their microphone on to talk (or turn is off at all) or two people start talking at the same time so no one hears anything. I've experienced all three (or four, depending on how you count it). I miss the camaraderie of holding meetings face to face. 

Although, as I sit in my pajamas, in my office, amongst my mess as we attempt at packing, the good far outweighs the bad for me. Extra time is never a bad thing and my extra time is never misused. I booked it like a bat out of hell after daycare closing time. I showered, cleaned the house, did two loads of laundry, and prepped for the next day. As soon as my meeting ended, I was able to put my minis to bed and enjoy a couple of hours of time to myself. 

I wonder if the coolness of Zoom meetings will stick around after the pandemic, making in-person meetings a thing of the past? Or will in-person meetings make a come back like the 90's on today's youth? With my calendar filled with virtual meetings in May, in-person meetings aren't quite cool again. Which means I have extra time and awkward pauses to look forward to.

Writing A Curriculum: The Basics

Part of last week's school work: a snack box from Spain, review of Spanish terms before proceeding to new lessons, the skeletal system, Harry Potter books (and a report on the differences of the book and movie).The Universal Yums boxes initially wasn't part of the week's lesson plans, but we wound up doing the box for Friday social studies. It's always important to remain flexible and make sure your lesson plans can be manuevered around.

 I've been asked several times this week how I write curriculum for my children. My first answer is always, "I determine what they want to study and learn and then I decide how to teach it to them." While that's pretty much how it goes, it is a little bit more involved than that. In between finding out what they want to learn and teaching, I must determine the how, why, and everything else. As I've learned throughout this school year, it's a lot. Even when I'm handed a curriculum already done, I still have to determine how I'm going to teach it. 

Lesson planning comes easily for me since I have done it for over ten years with daycare. It's a bit more involved now with homeschooling (obviously), but for the most part, it's easy. It was only when questioned about it that I thought about my process. In previous years, I've attempted "proper" curriculum or lesson planning, but I definitely do better when I'm doing my own thing. Here's a breakdown of what I do to make our homeschool curriculum for these last couple of months of our school year:

1.) Choose the subject. Not as in a class subject, but what in that particular class is the subject matter? What exactly am I teaching? If it's math, am I teaching fractions? Decimals? At this stage, I don't need to know how I'm going to teach it, but simply what I'm teaching.

2.) What do I want my student(s)/child(ren) to get out of the the teaching? What exactly do I hope they learn when it's all said and done? Maybe it's to be familiar with the terms. Maybe it's to fully understand a certain topic or subject. Maybe it's to help teach a bigger concept at a later time, simply by laying the foundation. This school year I have put a focus on how my children can apply what they're learning to every day life. 

3.) I take my subject and objective, then break it down. What do my kids need to learn first? I take a look at the steps that will be needed in order to teach the objective. Take for example: Spanish. We're working on properly writing sentences such as "I like triangles," "I want to go to the park," "I eat sandwiches for lunch." I wouldn't start by teaching my kids just those phrases. We spent months on learning foods, animals, shapes, colors, etc. followed by the phrases, "I want," "to go," "eat," etc. From there, it's quite easy for them to put phrases and sentences together on their own. 

4.) Lesson plan. This is where I take what I'm teaching, what I want students to learn, I've broken down steps, and put it into plans. I do planning by the day, with room to manuever if there's something that's not understood or if the way I'm teaching it just isn't working or if something else comes up. 

I subscribe to Education.com and use many of their resoures, particularly the worksheets. It's a great way to practice and check to make sure they've understood what was taught. While there are lesson plans on the site, I tend to prefer making my own. I use my children's preferred style of learning (hands on and interactive) for creating my teaching plans, from how they learn the material right now to their "tests" and assessments.

An important piece of lesson planning is carefully looking at my #3. If I'm teaching something that has been built upon a certain concept, occasionally we'll go back and do a review. All of that is taken into account in the lesson planning phase.

What Shall I Write?

 

Pictured: sleeping child; oblivious to my loud typing and the music playing in the background.

That's the question at the moment.

I'm not really sure what to write this evening....which has now become morning. I sat at an empty computer screen most of the night. I had a lot of thoughts, but nothing that could get past two sentences. Whenever I'm at a writing impasse, I tend to website hop. My dog's birthday presents are now on their way and I wrote next week's lesson plans/curriculum for the minis. Finishing up the regular curriculum and doing my own is next level. It takes even more planning and researching on my part. I totally had to relearn the capitals of the Canadian provinces, which just got me wanting to travel. Then I wound up on Airbnb looking at cabins all around the world. Which then got me looking at airline prices or how long it would take to drive to Alaska. Not being able to think of something to write is exhausting.

Sometimes the words flow easily and the topics come off the top of my head. I'll sit down to write and five minutes later I've got 1,000+ words on a random topic. Or there's evenings and mornings such as this. I can't think of a viable topic so I just write. Something, anything, and nothing all at once. That's kind of how my week has been.

I'm doing a lot and nothing at the same time. I've woken up exhausted yet couldn't fall asleep the night before. I got the okay to begin planning (outdoor) events again and yet I can't make it too big. How does one who likes to go big or go home do such a thing? I also failed to call a friend back (yet again). I remember I need to well after my kids are in bed and just as I'm falling asleep at night. She's in bed too, so I don't dare disrupt the precious sleep. I'll likely remember again at an inopportune time for both of us. This is why being a mom and having friends is one of the hardest things in the world.

What should I watch while I write? I can't write in silence. I usually have music playing, a movie or television show on, and maybe a podcast or some other type of video. It's funny that I'm most creative in the dead of night, when the world is at its quietest. That reminds me I need to order new ear buds. Those come in handy as the only sound that can be heard at this hour is the humming of my laptop and the taps of the keys. 

I avoid checking news sources. It's all too much. How do you explain to your children how little progress this world has truly made? Make all the memes you want, but does that truly show who someone truly is? Actions speak much louder than words. Hashtags only go so far. Wearing a shirt with different colors of hands all over only goes so far. Are there others truly trying to make a difference and not simply standing for justice with memes, reshares, and hashtags? I feel so very alone in my desires to make this life better, but without posting all over social media about it. Or do all of those reshares and opinions on social networks truly raise awareness and change minds? I think not, but I am always willing to listen on the subject.

Am I an influencer? I'm answering an email. Ummm....no? But I do give others ideas and share my opinions, so maybe? But I refuse to be one of those influencers. I doubt I need to tell you the type. 

Well, now I have officially written nothing and everything. Every single thought that has been in my head in the last five minutes. My eyes are drowsy, my brain a jumble...although that's how I usually find it. Did I mention my dog's eye goobers? Those are gross. That's probably my least favorite part of dog ownership. My least favorite part of writing is not thinking of anything to write. Then you get a whole lot of this.

11 Thoughts As I Do My Taxes

Not doing taxes, hiking through the woods. This makes me much happier than sorting through receipts.

 1.) I should buy stock in Ranch dressing. I bought a bottle every week from May - December.

2.) Do you need a Lego set? Don't bother with Target, we've got them all here.

3.) I can't wait until it's okay to use reusuable hand towels. I spent THOUSANDS of dollars just on paper towels for daycare. ** Using anything reusable currently is very frowned upon at the moment. That can be a mark against me if there happens to be a Covid outbreak at daycare.

4.) I wonder if I'll ever be questioned about the amount of glue I bought? ** for slime, just for the record.

5.) I bought 254 markers in April and May 2020. How were NONE of those working by October 2020?

6.) My water bill in the summer months 😒😓😝😲

7.) The cost of food, toys, art supplies, and office supplies have definitely risen since April 2020. 

8.) I worked shorter hours in 2020 than previous years, but I worked MORE hours in total because we couldn't take vacations, so I didn't take time off. ** Those shorter hours helped me keep my sanity and let me homeschool my children. I have THE BEST families for being understanding and making the school year work for me.

9.) I cannot remember what activity I bought 13 boxes of pudding for, but I KNOW it wasn't eaten (because no one in our house loves pudding that much). 

10.) Salt and shaving cream are filed under Arts and Crafts, just so you know. "You're told this every year Ashlen." And I forget every year. 

11.) I had three different hours operation hours in 2020. This makes calculating the time I spent on daycare/business outside of daycare hours nearly impossible. Along those same lines, why are we not allowed to write off homeschool things??!!? I essentially homeschooled AND daycared during May 2020 and September - December. I spent an absurd amount on office and art supplies FOR the kids.

Working Full Time AND Homeschooling

 

[Maxwell Sheaffer, age 12 1/2, working on a painting on a day off from school. Choosing to do schoolwork on a day off is a common scene these days.]

This is not a joke. It can be done. We're doing it. But it's not easy in the least! Wow, is it not easy. This homeschool journey has been unique. Unlike so many others, it's not a path we willingly chose. It's one that we decided on after much debate. After homeschooling the last two and a half months of last school year, I declared that I could NEVER homeschool, run my daycare business, write, and be me. Oddly enough, that's exactly what I'm doing now. 

I'm incredibly lucky because I work at home and my work IS kids. I've had to work on daycare schedules and getting the littles into a routine, but I am now able to homeschool mostly during our daycare day. I am very much aware that this wouldn't be possible without the daycare kids I do have: kids who are older and who have been with me for years. Overall, homeschooling my three minis has been an incredibly positive experience for everyone in our family.

However, as with anything, there's pros and cons to working full time and homeschooling. It's not for everyone and it's not something that we'll continue long term (although, we are planning to homeschool for one more year).

Con: You're exhausted. Mentally and physically exhausted from going from work mode to school mode to parent mode. I clearly don't remember or understand seventh grade science the way I once did and our days are long. Really long. My husband wakes up for work at 3 a.m. daily, works a twelve hour day (usually), and then comes home to help with schoolwork, household chores, and cooking. We're in bed, asleep by 10:00 p.m. nearly every night.

Pro: You're re-learning important material and have a greater appreciation for it. At least I do. This week we learned about fungi in science class. Last night, I pulled flowers from a vase and found a fungus growing on them. We studied that fungus for an hour and determined what it would be classified under. Pre-homeschool me wouldn't have done that, let alone known the classifications of fungi.

Pro: You can homeschool at any time. You, and only you, and your children/family determine the schedule and what is being learned. Have a really busy day and can't fit in homeschooling? Great, do it later that day, on the weekend, in the evening. You make it fit your schedule. 

Con: Because we can homeschool at any time, and often do homeschool lessons in the evenings or on the weekend, it can feel like we never get a break. I feel like I'm ALWAYS doing something related to school work or lesson planning. That then runs over into my daycare things, because I often lesson plan both at same time. At the end of the day, I really hadn't had any sort of a break. One or two nights a week, we tend to have a lesson that needs done. One that I wanted to spend extra time on or didn't want any distractions while teaching it (this week, that was WW1 - WW2). My husband and I have to figure out how to end our work days, get dinner on the table, teach the kids, and get everyone into bed at a decent hour, including ourselves. It's a delicate balancing act. One we haven't mastered yet. 

Con: We don't get the advantage of homeschool groups and socialization. Due to our full time work scheudles, we don't get to meet with a homeschool group for a mid-day hike. All "field trips" are taken on the weekends or our days off. It's definitely not the typical homeschool experience that many other homeschool kids receive.

Pro: It's Covid times, so they're aren't many homeschool groups meeting in person. The minis have been able to attend a few online homeschool groups where they take a specialized class once a week. The youngest finished up a five week long creative writing class she took with other kids in her age group. This school year wasn't going to be a typical homeschool year to begin with, so I don't feel like they've missed out on much. Also, because of daycare and virtual learning, my minis have been able to socialize with kids their own ages safely. 

Pro: Going back to schedules, I can do homeschool at any time of the day as my schedule allows due to working from home. This is a pro for me, but I'm well aware not everyone has this option. 

Con: Not everyone has the flexibility to work AND homeschool at the same time during the day. In order to homeschool while working full time, homeschooling families would potentially have to find a caregiver during the day and be okay with having very little extra time on their days off.

Con: Homeschool is an added expense. Pre-pandemic we sent our children to a great public school. It was one where costs were covered, lunches were free, and snacks were provided. Our grocery bills went down significantly during the school year. Not to mention, our children had free access to websites, curriculums, and many other learning resources. When we chose to homeschool, we lost a good amount of that. Our grocery bills are crazy high since the minis are home morning, noon, and night. We've also had to invest in new Chromebooks, laptops, school supplies, and websites for learning. Quickly doing the math, we've spent over $3,000 since April 2020 in supplies for homeschooling alone.

Pro: We chose to homeschool through our school district with their Homeschool Assistance Program. We have access to a teache, who is able to help us, give, and share ideas, makes sure our homeschoolers are "on track," and gives our children grades on their transcripts. Yes, our children will  have transcripts just as if they were in an actual school. We also have access to the same curriculum our district uses and a few others, as well as access to extra learning resources. All at no extra cost to us. We still have added expenses and costs due to homeschooling, but being a part of this program greatly reduces it. For example, I pay to have access to worksheets, lesson plans, and online learning games to a few different learning sites. Through our program, I'm eligable to receive codes to reduce the costs of such sites.

Pro: My children are able to choose what they learn, how they learn, and have excitedly taken the reigns of their own education. This has worked beautifully for my creative, energetic minis. I have kept them "on track" per the curriculum we're using through our school district, but they have much more time to pursue their interests and other avenues of learning. For example: the minis have used every snowfall to learn how to snowboard, the youngest has learned yoga, all three are cooking and baking on a regular basis, the third grader decided she wanted to learn fifth grade social studies along her with brother, and all three are using May as a "choose what you learn month." The chosen topics so far: the Harlem Renaissance, being able to label every country on a world map (without looking at another map), the bombing of Hiroshima, amphibians and reptiles, planting/growing a garden, and poetry.

Con: Is there a con to the pro above? Not really, other than it creates more work and planning for me (the teacher).

Con: There's always going to be those people who have thoughts about how someone chooses to raise their children. There are many negative thoughts about homeschooling, I honestly used to have some, but those can't be turned into cons unless you choose to let them.

Homeschooling has been all the things: wonderful, hard, eye-opening, liberating, easily the greatest endeavor of our lives. As with everything in life, there's pros and cons to it all. I will not be the one to try to convince someone they should homeschool nor will I be the person to speak negatively about homeschooling. I fully realize we are not the typical homeschool family and I also realize there are many families like us, either already homeschooling or who have many questions about it. The working full time thing gets parents and makes them feel like it can't be done. It can. It's hard, but it can be done.