What if you’re the mom, you’re the parent who is homeschooling your children and you have a mental health concern? Does this disqualify you from homeschooling well? Is homeschooling only for those who aren’t always worrying about things, or moms who get out of bed easily each day? No, absolutely not.
However, mothering is intense work and you may be tempted to sacrifice your well being for the supposed good of your child’s emotional or educational needs. You could just plow through every lesson in your curriculum guide, stay up all hours preparing materials for key lesson. You could sacrifice your personal care on the altar of your child’s education. That would be a mistake.
I know, trust me because I’ve done it.
Anxiety is insidious, in fact I suffered from anxiety for five years before realizing I experienced anxiety. I’d tell myself, “You’ve never had any panic attacks, you’ve never had to breathe into a bag, You’ve never felt like your body was dying.” I didn’t experience any of those things and I assumed that anxiety was like panic attacks.
You’ve never had any panic attacks, you’ve never had to breathe into a bag, You’ve never felt like your body was dying. You can’t have anxiety
I didn’t feel depressed, and I knew that experience well. I felt frustrated, I felt like everything was hard. I still felt in love with my husband, I loved my kids, I even enjoyed my work. Yet, I didn’t feel like me. I didn’t feel right.
I remember after my second baby was released from a 7 day stay in hospital for a urinary tract infection, we had a follow up with our doctor and she asked how I was doing. I was honest, she asked me if I wanted to try talk therapy. I told her it was a nice idea, but I honestly felt like if I had to coordinate one more thing, everything was at risk of falling apart. I left with a hug, reminders to take care of myself and a prescription.
I spent so many years feeling like I couldn’t keep my house clean. I spent so many ashamed because I couldn’t relax and enjoy time with my kids. I spent so many years feeling like I couldn’t go out and take my kids to the park or to the zoo because it felt too difficult.
I felt like I couldn’t be a good mom.
My next logical thought was “If I cant be a good mom, how could I become a good homeschooling mom?” I was totally enamored with the idea of homeschooling. So this thought was really discouraging.
If I cant be a good mom, how could I become a good homeschooling mom?
Writing this makes me cringe. To think of my sparkly, funny, easy-going personality being basically absent in my children’s formative years, I feel sad.
This happened mainly because I thought that by putting myself last, I was serving everyone well.
I was literally taught to do this as a child. Putting yourself last is how you become a good mom. It’s such an old and strong belief that sometimes I still fight with these thoughts.
If you are reading this because you homeschool and you are battling guilt over not being good enough, I want you to hear this: you are capable of this important work.
If you are reading this because you struggle with anxiety or depression or another mental health diagnosis and you want more options, I want you to hear this: there is hope for you.
You are looking for solutions. Maybe you haven’t found any good options yet. Perhaps you are open to to alternatives but don’t know where to start. It’s possible you are using lots of options but you haven’t quite turned the corner of coping gracefully.
There is a path that works with or without medication.
There is a path that works without essential oils and powerfully with essential oils.
There is a path that doesn’t require changing your diet and that path clears up faster when you do.
There is a path that gets clearer and brighter and feels safer the longer you walk it
Is this the path you want to be on? A path to inner peace, better health and a better life for you mama?
If that’s you, my friend Ashley and I have some thing really exciting planned for you this month.
Ashley is well acquainted with this work as a entrepreneur, wife, and mom of 3 who has walked through post-partum depression, you’ll gain so much from her expertise.
I’m going to be announcing the special offering next week, if you want to be the first to know about this incredible opportunity you need to join Better Mama Life. This is going to help you take a step closer to the mom and the woman you actually want to be. I can’t wait to see you in there.
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