8 Ways I Relax in the Midst of a Chaotic Homeschool

As homeschooling moms, we are constantly in the thick of things.  We give of ourselves 24/7 to those beautiful human beings who are our children.  But if we don’t take the time to relax and renew our spirits, then we become drained and unable to do this incredible job of being a mama.

In doing the research for this post, I started out with my own list of how I like to relax, expecting that it was a general list that will help everybody.  But in my research, I realized that some of the ways that I prefer to relax might not be relaxing to you.  I know that when I asked my friends about what they do to relax, some of them mentioned things that to me seem more like work.  So I will start my post with my relaxation practices, but then I will go on to what others have said.  At the end of this post, I will link to a page where you can put in some of the ways that you relax.  After receiving your feedback, I will write another post with all of your ideas included.  

         Devotions and crochet in the morning

As I have written in previous posts, I always spend some time with the Lord, reading His Word and in prayer. This time is essential for my peace of mind and how I gain strength for the coming day.  The first part of my devotion time I spend just reading and studying the Bible.  I also use that time to write in my prayer journal.  The second part of my devotion time I spend listening to my favorite pastor online.  Since his sermons last for about an hour, I use that time to work on my latest crochet project.  Learning more about the Lord and creating something with my hands renews my spirit in a way that nothing else does.  

         I Choose one night a week to stay up and do whatever I want

Since we are all morning people in our family, we all go to bed relatively early.  I’m usually in bed by 9:30 at the latest.  On Friday nights my kids and I have our campout.  Our campout consists of pulling our camper mattresses downstairs into the living room and watching movies late into the night.  (We can’t forget the box of Kraft macaroni and cheese)  🙂  On Saturday night, the kids and I cuddle upstairs for awhile before they go to bed.  

But Sunday night is my night.  It is my night to stay up late to do what I like.  What I usually do is watch a chick flick and crochet in my comfy chair.  I cherish that time because it gives me an opportunity to just play and be me.  I have no obligations calling for my attention and no tasks that need to be completed.  I can just enjoy my quiet time.

          Meet a friend for coffee and chatting once a month

I am not a big coffee drinker, but I have learned to love the latte in my local coffee shop.  I meet with my mentor mom, my homeschooling Yoda, every so often in the coffee shop.  She has homeschooled six kids, and she is my hero.  Every time we meet, I learn new ideas for homeschooling my own kids, and I leave our few hours of chatting with renewed hope.  She reminds me that I can do this thing.  Chatting with her gives me a new motivation to go home and bat it out of the park.  Sometimes I feel guilty after meeting with her, though, because she gives me so much and I don’t feel like I give that much back.  I think that in order to repay her I need to pay it forward and give back to another mom who comes after me in this homeschooling journey.

         Read with my kids – independently and out loud

This is easily one of my favorite ways to relax.  Every school day we take 30 minutes and spend time reading.  We read independently but we are together.  Most days either Bear Bear or Super Stuffy will comment on something that they are reading.  Both of them complain about reading pretty much every day, but once we are all together reading, they seem to enjoy it.  I also love reading out loud to my kids.  I don’t do it as much now that they can read on their own, but I still love it.  I need to make more of an effort to find that time to read out loud to them.  The connection made between us while we cuddle together and read cannot be duplicated.  That connection that I make with my children restores my spirit.

          I take a power nap

I am an intense morning person.  I wake up early and get right to work.  My best thoughts, reflections, ideas and energy happen in the morning.  My energy flags in the early afternoon.  Reading silently after lunch magnifies my drowsiness.  So usually in the middle of my 30 minutes of reading I doze off.  I don’t sleep for very long, at the most 30 minutes, but it recharges my batteries enough to carry me through the rest of the day.

          Clean

This one does not necessarily cause relaxation, but when I am motivated, it does relax my spirit.  Especially when I am frustrated, cleaning allows me to get my overwhelming thoughts straight.  I like to turn on my piano music CD and load the dishwasher or sweep the floor.  On the day that I wrote this, I cleaned out all of my cupboards.  I think that my refreshment comes from looking back over what I have accomplished with intense satisfaction.

Spend time outside in the sun

I experience my hardest days during the winter because I do not like the cold, and the opportunity to soak in the sunshine happens very infrequently.  Now the days of March promise that spring is not far away.  (Even though we are looking at another snowstorm when I write this.)  March opens up new possibilities, and I can’t wait to pull out my lawn chair and my crochet and soak in the sunshine.  There’s something about the green grass, the blue sky, the birds singing, and the warm sunshine that invigorates me.    

Take a day off

On some days I just tell my kids that we aren’t going to worry about our schoolwork.  If it’s a nice day outside we might go for a bike ride or spend time with our friends.  During the winter we sometimes take a day off to watch a Jurassic Park marathon or play some Mario Kart together.  These days refresh all three of us.  They strengthen our relationships and make us appreciate each other.  Not only this, but they allow us to laugh together.  There is nothing that I like better than having fun with my kids.

I found out…you need to relax according to your personality

My personality tends to be introverted.  That means that most of my focus is on my internal life and I need quiet, uninterrupted alone time to recharge my batteries.  All of the things that I do to relax fit my personality well.  But I discovered that different people have different ways to relax.

When I put the question out to my friends about what they do to relax, I felt surprise by what they responded.  Some of my friends said that they loved to go for a run.  Others said that they liked to spend time on Facebook.  Both of these things to me seem like more work.  Running is not my idea of relaxing.  I think that I would like to clean my bathroom before I went for a run.  As for Facebook, every once in a while I check out my Facebook page, but spending hours on Facebook drains my energy rather quickly.  So at first I did not understand how either one of these two things can be relaxing.

Once I realized that each person’s personality also affects what they do to relax, I understood a little bit better.  Now I realize that some of my ideas of relaxing may inspire the same feelings in someone else as running does for me.  I know that not all of these ideas may work for you, but if any of them do sound relaxing to you, then try them out!

If, however, you have any other ideas that you are fond of, please click the link below and let me know!  I will use your ideas in a follow up post.  Have a relaxing week!

Ways I relax