Julie Soul: [00:00:00] So, it's November, but... I encourage you to pronounce it a little bit differently. Let's call it No vember. So today I want to share with you five things that I think you should consider saying no to this November. I know these are five things I'm going to be saying no to myself. Are you ready? Wondering what they are?
Number one, over committing to extracurricular activities. Why? Why do we do this to ourselves? We sign our kids up for seven, eight extracurricular activities, and then we are tired. Our kids don't have time to sleep. see, , their friends as much or to have that downtime. We have them running constantly because deep down we have this feeling that they need to try all the things and that we are on this limited amount of time with them.
It's okay to say no. [00:01:00] to an extra extracurricular. It's okay to say no to that one class that sounds nice but you just feel like you can't take it on anymore. It's okay to have one extracurricular activity so you have more time. So don't feel like when you're looking at the next year, especially at this time of year when things start coming up for January, you start wondering if you should take on any more.
It's okay to say no to those extra, extracurricular activities. Okay, number two, Perfectionism in lesson planning. How many times have you written down a lesson plan? Only to have it completely derailed by something. And then, you're like, do I do two math lessons the next day? Do I do... I don't know what to do!
You get stuck, don't you? It's like when you go to the grocery [00:02:00] store, and you buy all of these groceries, and then you meal plan, and then you have, like, grilled cheese. And you're stuck with all these ingredients, because you meal plan, so now what do you do? Do you eat all those things on a single day?
That's impossible. And lesson planning can work like that too. So it's okay to go for a hike one day. It's okay to go to a special museum exhibit to say yes to those things because those things help supplement your current curriculum. Going on a hike and looking for mushrooms is only going to help your science curriculum.
Going to see a really cool fractal exhibit at a museum. You can do that instead of doing math in your workbook that day. It is okay to Not have your lesson plan go the way that you'd like and for those who are watching this on video These are my favorite thing. [00:03:00] These are Frixion. These are erasable pens So I do my lesson planning in these pens I have different colors, they come in all different colors.
I have one color for my stuff, one color for my kid's stuff, I used to be even. Really cool. And I used to have a different color for each child and a color for both of them and a color for the, so you can, if you're one of those, you can put as many colors as you want, but the best thing is they erase. So when you have a day that it doesn't go exactly the way that you wanted it to go, it is okay to erase.
It's okay to say no to that perfectionism and lesson planning and understand that the perfect, It's different and it's different every single week. Okay. Number three, say no to comparing your homeschool to others. I know you look online, you look on social, you see all these cool things, especially people who are really good at photography [00:04:00] because that's really what they're good at.
They're good at photography. They're good at. photographing those moments, those snapshots, those perfect booklists. They show you the photo of the books with, you know, the candles laid out. And what you don't see is the laundry on the floor next to it because that's not in the photo. And one of the things that if anyone's watching this on video, and if you're not, and you're listening to this on the podcast, make sure you head over to YouTube because we, , starting last week, we're going to have these videos up here so you can see.
And you can see in the back, I have the art cabinet, I have my deck behind me. There's, , whoops, wrong way, there's the bathroom, homeschooling, the, you know, it doesn't have to look perfect. And a year ago, there was a moment where my, you know, it's around Halloween time right now. There was a moment where my youngest decided to stick a cauldron over her head and to Bang on [00:05:00] it with some skeleton bones and sing loudly while her older sister was trying to concentrate and do math.
Now, as funny as that sounds, you can imagine that kind of thing. It happens all the time, but people don't photograph it. Well, okay, I kind of did. But you're not going to post it. Because then it makes you feel a little less perfect. And the problem with that is everyone out there ends up looking at not real homeschool instead of what real homeschool is like.
And when you have to, you know, feel like you're getting on your horns to tell your kids, You're going to the zoo! And you're gonna like it! We're leaving in five minutes! But instead, you know, you want to have that Mary Poppins look. Okay children, we're going to the zoo now. I've packed our lunches.
Everything's perfect. We're all going to have a beautiful day. So [00:06:00] remember, say no to comparing your homeschool to others. Number four, say no to neglecting your own self care. Now self care looks different for everyone, so I want to encourage you to figure out what works for you. This does not mean. That your self care has to be a weekend away.
This can be 10 Minutes in another room to read to do Pilates This can mean asking your spouse or significant other to cook so you can just breathe and just you know Think, , just for a minute, right? This can be a hike with your kids. Self care does not need to be without people. It does not need to be on your own.
It needs to be remembering what fuels you. It needs to be stopping for that cup of coffee at your favorite coffee shop and remembering you. So say no to neglecting self care. Number [00:07:00] five. This is definitely not an exhaustive list, everyone, but say no to trying to do it all alone. Homeschooling is so much better when you know other homeschoolers and you can share the journey with them.
Now, you might not know anyone in your local area. You can take advantage of many of the homeschool communities online. Now, make sure when you're looking for a homeschool community online, if you don't have a local one in your area, or even if you do, that you're looking for one that's welcoming, one that encourages you to post, one that doesn't make you feel scared to post your questions.
This is so important. And if you don't have one, come find us. We have a Free Facebook community called the creative homeschool. Just like this podcast. Come find us. We are a Homeschool community designed for you to homeschool the way that you'd like to We are secular inclusive and [00:08:00] that just means that we are secular, but you know, if you are using a curriculum that has something else in it, you can talk about these things and ask questions and not be afraid to ask those questions.
But whatever community works for you, whether you want one that's religious or secular, go and find that community. If it doesn't exist locally, you can create one. Join a co op, a partnership, a social group, something online, but don't try to do it alone. It is so much more fun when you have someone to commiserate and to share resources and to ask those questions.
So let's recap. Number one. Say no to over committing to extracurriculars. Number two, say no to perfection and lesson planning. Number three, say no to comparing your homeschool to others. Number four, say no to neglecting your self care. And number [00:09:00] Five, say no to doing it all on your own. You just can't.
And at the very least, you shouldn't. Okay, everyone, love to hear from you. Send us a message, leave us a comment, send me a DM at soul sparklets art, and I would love to chat with you more about any of these. If you don't have a community. Come find us at the creative homeschool Check the show notes We'll put a link in there for you so that you can just click on that and you'll be on your way Okay, everyone till next time
