The Days Feel Long… Until They Don’t

When Homeschooling Feels Hard, Remember This...

There are days in homeschooling when the math tears fall fast, the attitudes are loud, and the coffee gets cold for the third time before noon.

There are seasons when the work feels heavy.
When the questions never stop.
When the house is loud and the to-do list is louder.

And if we are being honest… there are moments when we quietly count the years and think, how long have I been doing this again?

I have had those moments. More than once.

But today feels different.

Today, my youngest daughter turns sixteen.

And suddenly I am staring straight at a reality that both humbles me and aches a little in my chest…

Our time with them is finite.

The Window Is Smaller Than We Think

When we begin this homeschool journey, the years stretch out in front of us like an open highway. Endless. Wide. Comfortable.

Kindergarten feels far away from graduation.
Elementary feels far away from high school.
Sixteen feels like something that happens to other families.

Until one day… it is your house.

Your child.

Your calendar.

And you realize:

They only stay little for so long.
They only live under our roof for a handful of years.
They only ask our opinions for a season.

And then, slowly and beautifully, they begin building lives of their own.

Yes… There Have Been Hard Days

I want to say this part out loud, because someone reading this needs permission to feel it.

Have there been days when I have looked at the calendar and groaned at how many years I have been homeschooling?

Absolutely.

Have there been moments of frustration, exhaustion, and wondering if I was doing any of this right?

Without question.

Homeschooling is beautiful, but it is not always easy. It stretches us. It humbles us. It exposes every weak spot in our patience.

And yet…

Even on the hardest days, something sacred is happening in the middle of the mess.

The Shift I Was Not Expecting

What I did not fully anticipate was this quiet shift that sneaks in during the later years.

Somewhere along the way, the days stop feeling endless… and start feeling numbered.

You begin to notice the “lasts.”

The last time they need help tying something together.
The last time they plop down next to you without hesitation.
The last time they automatically look to you for what comes next.

Today, with only two more years of homeschooling ahead for my youngest daughter, I can feel that shift in my bones.

And if I am being completely honest…

There is a little sadness there.

Not regret...
Not burnout...

Just the tender awareness that this chapter, the one that has shaped so much of our family life, is slowly beginning to turn the page.

For the Parent in the Thick of It

If you are in a hard season right now…

If the lessons feel heavy.
If the attitudes are strong.
If you are counting the years and wondering how much longer…

Take a gentle breath.

This season, the loud one, the messy one, the exhausting one… it does not last forever.

One day the house will be quieter.
One day the questions will come less often.
One day you will realize you would give almost anything to relive one ordinary Tuesday with them home again.

Not because you did anything wrong.

But because this season is precious precisely because it is temporary.

What I Am Holding Close Right Now

As I watch my sixteen year old step more boldly toward adulthood, here is what I am reminding myself today:

We do not have to homeschool perfectly.
We just have to be present.

The worksheets will fade.
The curriculum will change.
The messy kitchen table days will blur together.

But the relationship we build with our kids during these years… that is what lasts.

So if today feels hard in your homeschool…

Pause.

Look up.

Notice the child across from you.

Because these days that sometimes feel so very long…

Are also incredibly, breathtakingly short.

And I, for one, am holding them a little closer today. 💙