How do I teach and still fulfill my role as wife and mother?

Hello and welcome to the first day of this EXCITING new blog series "How do I Teach..." a collaborative work of love by several of the popular homeschooling bloggers you know!

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When I first found out about this series and decided to join, I had to come up with a theme to write about...Let me tell you--I racked my brain trying to figure out what I could blog about for five days.  As I jotted down different ideas in my notes, I kept hearing recent discussions that I've had with fellow homeschooling friends playing over and over in my head.  I have prayed and thought hard about this and believe that God wants me to share some encouragement with my readers on the subject...

Let me start by telling you that...

 I get overwhelmed. 

Being a wife, mother, school teacher, cook, laundress, maid, taxi...yes...it IS overwhelming at times. I know many of you have a houseful of children needing and asking demanding so much of your time and attention. I only have two and THEY overwhelm ME at times--so I can't even begin to imagine what YOUR days are like. Sometimes it seems hard to balance the demands on your time--the responsibilities you have as a wife, the responsibilities you have as a mother...THOSE ALONE are hard enough to juggle. But when you throw in the responsibilities of being responsible for your children's education--it can cause any grown woman to cry...LITERALLY!!! 

How many of us have declared a day to be a success because all the children were fed and no one died? 

Yes, I am being sarcastic, but you KNOW there ARE days!!!

When a good portion of your day is dedicated to homeschooling, how do you juggle everything else into your schedule--a "mere" 24 hour day? 

How do you keep with all the other housework, when you are doing good to just stay on top of the meals and keeping the kids clean? 

(um...clean-ish?)

What do you do when YOU just need a break that is more than just shutting yourself in the bathroom to pee alone? 

(Oh wait. Does that even happen??)

How do you devote enough time to your husband so that he isn't just getting the "leftovers" of your time at the end of the day?

(Just being in our "presence" isn't quite enough I'm afraid.)

And I will go so far as to ask--

How do you give God time in your chaotic day so HE'S not getting the "leftovers"?

(Or maybe He's just getting hasty prayers of apology for not spending more time with Him moments before you fall asleep? Yes-I've been there too!)

Now let me add a disclaimer----

As you read my series this week, understand that I am not saying that what I do is the end all answer. Or that it will even work for you. I am just going to be as honest as I can about my own successes and shortcomings and how I am trying to make it work in MY household...and hope that it will at the VERY least encourage you to take a deep breath and know someone else just might understand!

Here is the run-down on the aspects of this topic that I'm going to tackle this week...

(Links will be added as they go LIVE)

Tuesday: Check your Priorities (aka. Make God #1)

Wednesday: The Power of Two (Making Your Marriage Vibrant)

Thursday: Share the Wealth (aka. Don't make yourself into a house slave)

Friday: The Necessity of Me-Time and blog series Wrap-Up

In my journey this week, I am also going to include links to posts from some of my favorite bloggers who have addressed these issues too--I believe in the Proverbs principle of a "multitude of counselors" and know that they might be able to give you even more ideas beyond anything I offer! 

I admit...I am nervous about this blog series, but since I ALWAYS get asked "How DO you do it all?" I feel like it's time to share the truth...The Good, Bad and the Ugly! So I hope you will decide to join me this week and that maybe something I share can be "just" what you need to help you stop feeling overwhelmed and able to breathe again!

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How Do I Teach … 5 Day Blog Series is brought to you by the following blogs:

Enchanted Homeschooling Mom ~ Homeschool Gameschool ~ Are We There Yet? ~ Life with Moore Babies ~ No Doubt Learning ~ Mrs. Redd’s Classroom Blog ~ Proverbial Homemaker ~ My Joy Filled Life ~ Preschool Powol Packets ~ Adventures in Mommydom ~ Vicki Arnold ~ Only Passionate Curiosity ~ Living Life and Learning ~ Farm Fresh Adventures ~ 3 Dinosaurs

You can CLICK HERE to see a complete list of the themes being covered this week

Linking up with: Better Mom Monday