The guilt of homeschooling

The guilt of homeschooling. Even if you think you don't feel guilt right now I'm fairly certain almost every homeschooler has felt a tinge of it once ion their homeschooling adventure.

I have struggled with guilt over homeschooling our two special needs children. I have struggled EVEN MORE over the guilt of putting my children IN public school. Pulling them back out, I did not struggle with but I did struggle with if I gave them the best education I could. Having one child already graduating and one to graduate next June, I STILL struggle with guilt.

Guilt over what? I am doing the right thing, of course. We all go through it, we all have those moments of feeling like a failure; as a parent and as an educator. (You are ALWAYS educating your children, even if you do not homeschool. You are the primary person your children look to for guidance and for learning. Monkey see monkey do, you ever hear that phrase? It's true. You swear? Your child will end up spouting the F bomb or the S word a time or two. You pray daily and read Scripture? You know your child will notice and they will mimic.) Guilt over the life long impact I am imparting on my children. Did I do well enough? Could I have done better? No matter what I do or didn't do the guilt remains. I know I did the best I could and have tried my best to follow god's direction for our family. I know I tried my hardest to pick up on the cues my sons were giving me as to what they needed in all areas of life, eduction being only part of that.

Why is it then that homeschoolers get this overwhelming feeling of failure when they look back at their child's education; the education they put into place.
Everyone wants to keep up with the Jones. Everyone wants that smarter then average children. Everyone wants to be noticed for doing a great job. Face it, when you educate your children at home you are being scrutinized on all sides for how well your children turn out; even by yourself. Everyone wants to be found doing a phenomenal job.

Guilt. Guilt. Guilt. Notice I did not say guilty? I am not guilty but at times I am filled with guilt. Unwarranted most of the time but there nonetheless. Step back, take a breath, stop to think - rationally think. You will see that if you are doing the best you can and you are following the homeschooling laws set forth in your local area then you are guilty of only one thing. You are guilty of loving your child enough to help educated them in the best way you know how.

Take that step back and remember that God did not call the qualified. He qualifies the called. If you have children then you have been called to raise them. Don't let the guilt overwhelm you. Don't let the kids down the block cloud your judgement as to how to raise your own child. Go before God himself and ask for guidance; He will surely answer.

My feelings of guilt come and go but I know that I have done the best I could for my children; righting wrongs as we go. I know I will continue to do the best I can for them too. I don't know everything, I am still learning. What I do know is that my children have far exceeded my expectations in life and I know they will continue to do so if I continue to expect their best and teach them to expect their best too.

Keep the big picture in mind when you see little things not going so well. It's the big picture in the end that makes the difference. The little things, with the long term perspective, will fall into place. In our house, the big picture is ultimately to raise our kids with a love for the Lord most of all but also to be productive people in society and to never stop learning