Motherhood didn’t come naturally to me. But because it seemed like it came naturally to so many other moms around me, I was crushed when I found it to be hard and overwhelming. I’ve never once had someone tell me “You’re such a natural at mothering.” Nope. Not me. I work every day against my own selfish desires to parent and love my children. The work is hard, but the work is good.

Lunch time

However, when we started exploring homeschooling, I figured that teaching at least would come naturally. I naturally like learning and exploring. I naturally like teaching my children new ideas. I naturally like the concept of home learning.

But three weeks into our school year and I’m realizing I am going to have to work at homeschooling, just as much as I work at parenting.

And the learning curve is steep.

I’m figuring out how to mother and teach. I’m figuring out when Julia focuses best and when I’m most patient. I’m figuring out what this new role looks like for our family.

P.E. at Zilker

So, homeschooling doesn’t come as naturally as I hoped. But, I’m willing to fight for it. I’m willing to put in the time and energy it takes to learn how to teach my children. Just like I have fought for learning to parent over the past {nearly} six years.

And for me, fighting for something makes me value it even more than if it were to come “naturally”. So here’s to a cause worth fighting for!