Your Time Will Come

Posted on February 6, 2014 by Barb

If you’re a mom in the homeschool trenches, you may often wonder (when you get a moment to yourself) when you’ll ever have time to do the things you used to enjoy doing. I used to feel that way a lot.

Now my kids are grown and I have more time to myself. I can finally do things just for fun. Here are a few of my recent projects. I pieced the bed quilt and began hand-quilting it in the 1980s. Tried machine quilting some of it in the 1990s but burned out the pedal on my vintage sewing machine. Recently I bought a new machine intended for free-motion quilting and decided to turn the bed quilt into my practice piece. What fun!

I bought the smaller quilt as a kit at a quilt show last year. It was fun to make, too.

What do I like best about these quilts? That I was finally able to finish them! 🙂

I’m Making Your New Year’s Resolutions (Just Thought I’d Help!)

Posted on December 28, 2012 by Barb

I know how busy you are right now, so please let me make your New Year’s Resolutions for you. In 2013, you will:

Set aside a day to meet a friend for lunch without kids around. It doesn’t matter if she’s a homeschool mom or not, just make sure it’s someone you like. And have fun!
Set aside a day to read a book you’ve been wanting to read. Let the house go, let the kids fix cheese sandwiches when they get hungry, and let them see you laying around reading intently. What better advertisement can reading have than a mom with her nose in a book?
Set aside a night (or better yet, a weekend) to spend with your husband. It doesn’t matter what you do as long as you spend it alone and together. And if you have no one to watch your children (been there, done that!), set your alarm for 4 am and spend some time cuddling (got that idea from Mary Pride many years ago).
Set aside a day to take a field trip that YOU want to take. If that means your kids have to walk through a quilt show or participate in a Zumba class, so be it. Showing them that their mom has her own interests is good for them.
Call a good homeschooling friend and arrange two play dates: one where she takes all your kids while you spend the day at home alone, and one where you do the same for her. It’s called sanity, and you have to pursue it; it won’t come to you!
Resolve to pick a day a week to abstain from social media and the Internet (ideally Sunday). You won’t believe how peaceful you’ll feel and how much time there will be for other things.

There…all done! Now go and have a Happy 2013!

Nobody Told Me That I Would Meet So Many Great People Through Homeschooling

Posted on May 9, 2010 by Barbara Frank

When I was homeschooling, one of my goals was for my kids to find really nice friends. I’d had the experience of dealing with mean kids at school, and didn’t want my kids to have to go through it. And while we did have some great neighbors, I wanted my kids to have good friends in addition to their neighborhood friends.

They did make some really nice friends, which was great. But what I didn’t realize was that these kids would have nice moms, too. What a pleasure it was to hang out with people who understood exactly what my life was like! When we started homeschooling, many people thought it was weird. Some of my mom friends thought I’d lost my marbles because I wanted to have my kids home all day. But the homeschool moms understood completely.

Over the years, I’ve met many more homeschool moms through support group meetings, convention booths and workshops, and the Internet (especially my blogs). I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you all! I think homeschool moms are the smartest, nicest and just plain coolest moms there are 🙂

I want to wish all of you a blessed Mother’s Day and also tell you how much I appreciate your friendship. I do think socialization is one of the best things about homeschooling, for kids and their moms. Don’t you? 😉