Forgetful Momma

Secular Homeschooling in Canada

Healthy Lifestyle

Ditching Homeschool Mom Guilt

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I don’t think we are doing enough in our homeschool. I think we are doing too much. I think we need to skip taking a week off. Do any of those sound familiar? Homeschool mom guilt is strong, it is overwhelming at times.

It can also sound like: my child isn’t read yet, or writing cursive, or play piano, etc. Maybe your homeschool mom guilt isn’t focused on homeschooling but are about your child being potty-trained, sleeping through the night, etc. The guilt is always there in the back of your mind.

Ditching Homeschool Mom Guilt

Ditching Homeschool Mom Guilt

This post contains affiliate links, see my disclosure policy for more information.

I am deep in the homeschool mom guilt rut. We aren’t going crazy with lessons, they are learning, and I’m not afraid of them falling behind, but the guilt is still there. Why? Because we aren’t doing more, we’re not doing a lot of hands-on learning right now. Because I have a lot on my plate right now, and we’re just living life and then adding school.

Homeschool mom guilt is often caused by a feeling of failure. As though we are failing our children. Comparison can be a large factor as well. Whether you are comparing to homeschool families you know, or those you see online. Please don’t compare yourself to others, especially those online.

How to Resolve Mom Guilt

There are many ways to that you can bring yourself back to feeling like the great mom that you are. You will most likely know what works best for you more than anyone else. But just to refresh your list and maybe give you some new ideas, please refer to the fun ideas below:

Ways to get a little TLC:

  • watch either some TV or a movie, something light funny perhaps
  • talk to someone – your partner, a friend or family member
  • Read a book
  • Take a nap or go to bed early
  • Take a relaxing bath
  • Listen to music, dance around
  • Have a cup of tea or a glass of wine

Self care isn’t about just taking a bath, it’s about caring about yourself. But maybe that bath is what it takes to relax you for a bit, for your stress level to come down, and for you to see the whole picture. The whole of your homeschool not just the moment that you are living right now, this day, this week, or this month.

Take a Step Back

I find it helpful to keep a periodic log of what we do in our homeschool each month. This gives me something tangible to look at when I feel like we aren’t doing enough. I also take a look through my Instagram to see what we have been doing. You might not think of a trip to the Zoo as doing homeschool, but that trip leads to them picking up different animal books from the library, which has them learning even more. Or the documentary on XYZ that you watched together.

Ditching Homeschool Mom Guilt

It’s ok, great even, to take a break from formal lessons, especially if your homeschool lessons are what is causing you to feel guilt, whether you are fighting to get through them, or to just get started. It could be a sign that these are not for you and/or your kids.

Have a homeschool movie day and watch documentaries on the topics your learning about or your kids are interested in. We have been watching a lot of YouTube videos on what it is like to work in a zoo and what you can use a degree in zoology for.

Eco-Friendly Alternatives for Your Home

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We often don’t take the time to think about where our products come from and the impact they have on our planet. Things like everyday kitchen gadgets, cleaning supplies, and health care tools all have eco-friendly alternatives that can help reduce or eliminate waste in your daily life.

Eco-Friendly Alternatives for Your Home

Eco-Friendly Alternatives for Your Home

This post contains affiliate links, see my disclosure policy for more information.

I have been thinking more about reusable and more eco-friendly products for in our home. I want to share the things that we have been using, and the ways that we have been saving money by being more eco-friendly.

In the Kitchen

These are things we do, with the exception of the coffee filters. I would love to try the reusable coffee filters but at least here they are compostable.

Cleaning

I have been using dryer balls for too many years to count. I got my first set of wool dryer balls as a giveaway that I won if my memory is correct.

Bathroom

I love my make up remover pads. I crocheted mine a few years ago, and I always feel like my make up actually came off compared to commercial make-up remover clothes.

Eco-Friendly Alternatives for Your Home

Baby Stuff

I used and loved these with my last two babies. Fluffy (cloth diaper) bums are just so cute, plus there are as many awesome prints.

Be Eco-Friendly On the Go

I use all of these. I love my multiple coffee mugs. I love the coffee cozies that I have crocheted as well though I don’t use them that often anymore.

My rule when grocery shopping is that if I forgot my bags in the vehicle then we carry them out. I am good at returning my bags to the truck so 90% of the time I have bags.

Eco-Friendly Alternatives for Your Home

Fun Herbs for Kids to Grow in Their Garden

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This year, we’re planting a fun herb garden together that I know my kids will love. Because they love pizza. When we bought our house, my girls were so excited to be able to have a garden to grow our own food. While the excitement didn’t translate too well to weeding our garden last summer, for any of us, we still got a bit of food out of it, lots of green onion which we love.

 

Fun Herbs for Kids to Grow in Their Garden

Fun Herbs for Kids to Grow in Their Garden

Fun Herbs for Kids to Grow in Their Garden

*This post contains affiliate links, see my disclosure policy for more information.*

My biggest and best idea if I do say so myself is to plant a pizza garden. In a family of pizza lovers, you know this is going to be a hit.

I have been growing herbs in pots for a few years now, and they are, in reality, really easy to grow. They just need to be water regularly, like everyday. A little water everyday, and you get beautiful, flavorful herbs.

Different Way to Plant

We usually start ours from seeds inside, but you can also pick them up at your local garden centre.

You could choose to grow each of your herbs in different small pots. These could be moved inside once fall comes to continue your growing season.

You could grow them all together in a larger pot.

Or.

You could grow them in the ground in a circle garden. Grow your pizza herb garden in the shape of a pizza. Divide your herbs into sections, or slices of pizza, making them fun herbs to grow for your pizza.

Different Fun Herbs to Grow

Basil – for the fullest flavor, add fresh basil to dishes within the last 5 or 10 minutes of cooking time. Use fresh basil in tomato dishes, soups, salads, sauces, and pasta.

Oregano – the leaves of oregano are the most commonly used part of the plant, but strangely, the aroma and flavor of the leaves is far greater when the herb is dried than when the leaves are fresh.

Parsley – I like having this one growing all year long, it makes a beautiful garnish.

Thyme – an evergreen herb with culinary, medicinal, and ornamental uses.

Chives – These are growing wild in my yard, can’t kill it off by mowing it, and my kids grab pieces of it while out playing just to “snack”. We also dug up two flower pots worth and have it on our walkway. It is beautiful with the green of the chives and the purple flowers.

Rosemary – perennial herb with fragrant, evergreen, needle

Bonus

Grow some tomatoes. With your own tomatoes and herbs you have everything to make your own homemade pizza sauce.

Plus when they flower, your children can pick them off, which helps to produce more leaves.

Similar posts that you may interested in:

Growing A bee garden

Growing a Bee Garden

Greenhouse Gardening with Kids

Greenhouse Gardening with Kids

Introducing Gardening in our homeschool

Introducing Gardening in Our Homeschool

Fun Herbs for Kids to Grow in Their Garden

Little Girls Hair Elastic Roped

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While we are a homeschooling family now, I still worry about lice (ewww!) especially in my oldest, her hair is so thick, thicker than mine or anyone else’s in our home. Girls hair tend to end up in their face, flying every which way, and all of that.

Now instead of school hair we have gymnastic hair, more of a keeping it out of their face rather than avoiding lice.

Little Girls Hair Styles - Roped

Little Girls Hair Elastic Roped

*This post contains affiliate links, see my disclosure policy for more information.*

Start by getting you hair elastics ready… don’t wait until you have hair in one hand and you are trying to get elastics out of a container or bag.

The one type of elastics I use are the rubber ones, they work for both girls and I’m not worried about them breaking or getting lost, in fact, I’ll cut them sometimes if the girls have gone to bed with them in their hair.

It is always easier to work with wet or damp hair, so we spray it down with plain ol’tap water in a spray bottle and brush through.

Divide hair down the middle and start sectioning off hair.

Little Girls Hair Styles - Roped

The sections of hair can be smaller than we have here, she chose how many she wanted, and she isn’t a huge fan of Momm doing her hair.

Little Girls Hair Styles - Roped

Do one side completely before moving to do the other. Simply try to match the other side to your first.

Little Girls Hair Styles - Roped

This can be done with medium length hair Austin’s is just to her shoulders but would easily be able to be done with longer hair. Trying to do this on shorter hair might be more challenging.

Clutter: 130+ Things to Toss Out Now

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New year, new you, right? Get started by cleaning up, and gather together these things to toss out now, have less clutter in your home, feel great about making some donations, and maybe have a little extra cash in your pocket from things you might sell.

Think you can keep your home this tidy all year long? Or will the clutter build up again. It always builds up around here.

Clutter: 130+ Things to Toss Out Now

Clutter: 130+ Things to Toss Out Now

*This post may contain affiliate links, see my disclosure policy for more information.*

  1. Receipts you no longer need
  2. Puzzles with missing pieces
  3. Old nail files
  4. Broken jewelry
  5. Dictionaries – when was the last time you looked at a dictionary?
  6. Phone books – if you have them, we don’t get them here
  7. Bridesmaid dresses
  8. Cookbooks you’ve never used
  9. Vacuum cleaner attachments that you don’t even know what purpose they serve
  10. Wire hangers and/or bags from the dry cleaner
  11. Hair ties that are too stretched out to use
  12. Worn out flip flops
  13. Old sunglasses that you don’t wear or are scratched
  14. Old remote controls that you don’t think control anything in your house anymore
  15. Prescription eyeglasses that are no longer your prescription
  16. Incomplete decks of playing cards
  17. Allen wrenches from assembling furniture
  18. Take out menus (these are all online now)
  19. Free promotional items you’ll never use (tshirts, pens, random knick knacks)
  20. Unmatched gloves
  21. Chargers for old electronics
  22. Old business cards
  23. Magnets (unless you currently use them)
  24. Broken Christmas lights
  25. Chopsticks and sauce packets from take out food
  26. Clothes that haven’t fit you in years
  27. Carpet remnants
  28. Filled coloring books
  29. Unmatched socks
  30. Scratched nonstick pans
  31. Dried up nail polish
  32. Duplicate or bad photos
  33. Umbrellas that are bent or broken
  34. Cosmetic bags you got for free but don’t use
  35. Old textbooks from school
  36. Old papers or notebooks that you won’t need again
  37. Anything you hate to wear
  38. Books you’ll never read again – consider donating to a library!
  39. Musical instruments you no longer play
  40. Flower vases you never use
  41. Anything your kids have outgrown that you don’t intend to save for your grand kids
  42. Junk mail
  43. Expired coupons
  44. Old computers – wipe the data first
  45. Old cell phones and their accessories
  46. Random knick knacks
  47. Old party supplies you won’t use again
  48. Old bills or paperwork that you no longer need
  49. Old makeup – you should only use one mascara for 6 months I believe
  50. Expired sunscreen
  51. Key chains you don’t use
  52. Old name tags or badges
  53. Excess pens and pencils – if they are are low on ink, toss them!
  54. Pieces of chalk that are so small you can barely use them
  55. Hair products you never use – old hair sprays or products you bought to try once but never liked
  56. Old cleaning supplies
  57. Extra shoe laces
  58. Combination locks that you can’t remember the combo to
  59. Travel mugs that leak or you never use
  60. Extra buttons when you don’t even know how to sew
  61. Broken ear buds or headphones
  62. Ticket stubs from movies or concerts
  63. Markers that are dried out or no longer have caps
  64. Old phone covers or screen protectors
  65. Bookmarks – the paper ones that often come in books and never use them
  66. Cookie cutters that you haven’t used in 3+ years
  67. Extra organizers that you don’t use
  68. Unexpired food you don’t intend to eat – consider donating non-expired pantry items to your local food pantry
  69. CDs you’ll never listen to again – consider donating to your local library
  70. Expired medication
  71. Old sneakers
  72. Board games with missing pieces that make it impossible to play
  73. Anything that no longer works
  74. Unloved stuffed animals – consider donating
  75. Worn out underwear and bras
  76. Old teeth whitening trays or strips
  77. DVDs you’ll never watch again – consider donating to your local library
  78. Curling irons or hair straighteners that you don’t use
  79. Old lip balm
  80. Belts that are worn out or no longer fit
  81. Extra measuring tapes
  82. Plastic cutlery
  83. Recalled baby items
  84. Miscellaneous ribbons or strings
  85. Old hard candy (if you don’t even know where it came from, it probably won’t be that yummy anymore)
  86. Video games you’ll never play again – consider donating to your library
  87. Stretched out bobby pins
  88. Wall posters you’ll never display again
  89. Old greeting cards
  90. Frayed or stained towels and washcloths – consider donating to a local animal shelter
  91. Old magazines
  92. Gift cards with a $0 balance
  93. Extra cups or mugs when your cabinets are always busting full with them
  94. Empty boxes
  95. Old perfume
  96. Duplicate kitchen utensils
  97. Wrapping paper scraps that have been sitting with your gift wrapping supplies for years now
  98. Used candles or new candles that you won’t burn
  99. Accessories you never wear
  100. Old stereos or boom boxes
  101. Old lotions and moisturizers
  102. Any decorative item you don’t love
  103. Store reward cards you don’t use
  104. Old sheets that are past their prime – consider donating to a local animal shelter
  105. Old blankets that haven’t been removed from your linen closet in 5 years – consider donating to a local animal shelter
  106. Broken hangers
  107. Hotel soap you brought home from a trip 5 years ago
  108. Tupperware with lost lids
  109. Anything that you are keeping because you feel guilty about spending money on it
  110. Crafting supplies you haven’t used in a year or more – consider donating to daycare or school
  111. Old and flattened pillows
  112. Flashlights that don’t properly work anymore
  113. Any kind of craft project you’ve never finished – sewing, scrap booking, etc.
  114. Memorabilia items that don’t really mean much to you
  115. Old information packets you no longer need
  116. Suitcases you haven’t used in 10 years
  117. Expired food
  118. Broken or unused kids’ toys
  119. Candle holders you don’t love or use
  120. Broken appliances
  121. Product samples you won’t use
  122. Exercise equipment you don’t use
  123. Furniture you never use
  124. Broken or unused pet toys
  125. Hats, scarves, or gloves you don’t wear – consider donating
  126. Gifts you don’t want or need
  127. Stockings with runs in them
  128. Old batteries
  129. An orphan earring that you can’t find the mate to
  130. Outdated electronics
  131. Dried up glue
  132. Used ink cartridges
  133. Old calendars and personal planners
  134. Fabric scraps you haven’t used
  135. Extra twisty ties in your kitchen drawers
  136. Anything broken that you don’t intend to fix

What is the one thing you need to get rid of to reduce the clutter?

Remember, one persons clutter can be another treasure, such as non-profit organizations.

Similar posts that you may be interested in:

Cutting the Toy Clutter Toy Organization