An Open Letter to Homeschooling Hubbies
Monday, October 16th, 2006by Mimi Rothschild
Dear husbands,
First of all, thank you for all your hard work and support. Without you, it would be a lot tougher for us to stay home and educate our children. We appreciate you bringing home the bacon, and totally understand that you just want to kick up your feet after a long work day. We understand that sometimes it might be easy to forget how much work homeschooling is, and we’re trying to be as patient as possible. That being said, here are some quick tips for ensuring that we homeschool moms remain happy, satisfied, and sane!
1. Talk to us
Nothing is more demoralizing than waiting an entire day for adult interaction than rushing to the front door to find a grump who just wants to be left alone. We understand that your job is stressful, but please come on! We’ve been teaching toddlers about ABC’s and pounding fractions into middle schooler’s heads for the last six hours. We need some adult conversation. Politics, current events, philosophy…heck just tell us how your day went. Moms need socialization too. If you neglect that need we’ll go nuts!
2. Ask what you can do
If you regularly ask what you can do to help out, we promise not to take advantage of your willingness. We might ask you to fold clothes or take a look at a clogged sink, but the gratitude we’ll send your way will more than compensate. There’s just some things that we homeschool moms can’t do or don’t have time to do. It’s tough to juggle the roles of both mom and teacher. The simple act of asking how you can do to help will do wonders for our sense of self-worth.
3. Be the “Principle” of our homeschool
We moms have our hands full with the teaching side. It’d be great to have some help with administration. Getting involved in our kids’ curriculum will assure me that you are interested in the wellbeing of our homeschoolers. If you could make some phone calls to evaluators, co-op leaders, or guidance counselors, that would be a dream come true. Also, if you could handle the discipline end of things, that would be great too. If we can delegate discipline to you, we won’t make mistakes by reacting emotionally.
4. Lead a family Bible study
God’s Word calls husbands to be the spiritual leaders of their families. Showing an interest in the spiritual development of our children will fill me with love and gratitude. We’re not saying you have to develop a daily sermon, just walk us through the Scriptures and help our kids apply what they’ve learned to their daily lives. Our homeschool will be a spiritual fortress for the Lord’s army if we could spend some time each day devoted to exploring His perfect will.