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    • Homeschooling 101: What to Teach and When to Teach It
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On setting (& adjusting) your summer expectations

June 23, 2014 //  by Jamie C. Martin//  3 Comments

On setting and adjusting your summer expectations
Jamie Martin, editor of Simple Homeschool, also blogs about motherhood at Steady Mom

I‘m finishing this post off in a Midwestern hotel, right before the start of a journey we’ve planned all year (and that I’ve looked forward to for decades!)

We are preparing to kick off our Little House site tour–it’s like the ultimate field trip, visiting some of the sites that Laura called home.

All year long the kids and I have been studying the Little House books, in anticipation of actually seeing and experiencing some of what the Ingalls did long ago. I cannot wait!

But we are also a family of five heading out on a road trip, and I’m no fool. I’ve traveled with our family before and I know it’s not all peaches and cream.

Besides the inspiration, we will have other things to experience as well: 

  • hours as a family each day in the car
  • lack of sleep compared to our usual routine
  • different food than what we’re used to
  • sibling bickering and/or nose picking at inopportune times
  • the weather–which may or may not cooperate each day
  • someone in the family having a bad attitude at what should be a special moment (and just so you know, that someone could be me. Just sayin’.)

expectations3

The good and the bad, the yin and the yang, the ups and the downs–they always go together in these lives of ours, don’t they? The ocean is only beautiful because the waves go up and down again–if a wave only went up, we’d call that a disaster. 

As Steve and I drive around this week and I glance behind us in the car’s side mirrors, I’ll see a statement printed there:

“Objects in mirror are closer than they appear.”

Screen Shot 2014-06-19 at 7.02.12 AM

Sometimes it’s when we look back that we see what was closest–what was dearest. At times our lives make way more sense in reverse than they do going forward.

I notice this when I think back to our time in the Philippines last summer. That was a heck of a lot of work–hours and hours of endless flying, an airsick child (on multiple flights, oh my), and even dealing with racism.

But was it worth it?

My goodness yes. Looking back now, our family will cherish so many of those memories forever.

Did it always feel worth it at the time? No way.

summer expectations2

Whether you know it or not, you’re also carrying summer expectations. Maybe it’s to take your kids berry picking for the first time or get your toddler potty trained.

Maybe it’s for something big–like a new house, a budding new reader in your family, or a new job.

Keep your expectations–it’s good to have them! And also good to recognize that they are there.

So that whatever package summer ends up sending you this year, you can open it with a full heart–because this is your life, precious even on the hottest of days.

“As you read my stories of long ago I hope you will remember that things truly worthwhile and that will give you happiness are the same now as they were then. It is not the things you have that make you happy. It is love and kindness and helping each other and just plain being good. ”
~ Laura Ingalls Wilder 

Category: a mom's education

About Jamie C. Martin

Jamie is an introverted mom of three, who loves books, tea, and people (not always in that order), and avoids answering the phone when possible. She co-founded SimpleHomeschool.net in 2010 and began IntrovertedMoms.com in 2020.

Jamie is the author of four books, including Give Your Child the World (reached #9 on Amazon's Top 100 Best Sellers list), and her latest release, Introverted Mom (an ECPA bestseller). Her work has been featured by LeVar Burton of Reading Rainbow, the Washington Post, Parents, Today Parenting, and Psychology Today.

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Comments

  1. Anne

    June 24, 2014 at 9:28 am

    This is perfect. I am just getting ready to write a post about how our summer plans had to change due to circumstances we didn’t expect. We’re not getting the summer I wanted, but I think we’re getting the summer we needed.
    Anne’s latest post: Me vs The Student Whisperer–Round 2

    Reply
  2. Charlotte Quevedo

    June 25, 2014 at 8:01 pm

    Ha I do not feel so bad. Our last summer vacation my husband and I had an argument toward the end. Yet we are going to go at it again this year. It will be stressful…AGAIN, because we have two young children, one with autism. I learned last year to be sure my son gets plenty of evening walks to avoid the chance of him being up all night.

    Reply
  3. Hannah

    June 26, 2014 at 5:38 am

    Yes to this! I’m happier with my kids when I’ve adjusted my expectations, in the summer or any other times!

    Reply

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