Balancing the Workload of the Homeschool Mom with Sarah

this is our time and as much as we get done >> is what we get done and just being flexible that that means some days we don't get everything done that I wanted to get done having a weekly plan like as much as I can not have to reinvent the wheel every week is so helpful the less I have to think about the practical bits of my life the more you know brain power and love and patience and peace I can give to my kids >> welcome to our life homeschooling my name is Sherry Christian, wife to my high school sweetheart Nelson, and thankful mom to 10 incredible kids. I'm the author of the blog and YouTube channel Our Life Homeschooling, where I share homeschooling encouragement for everyday moms. I believe that motherhood is ministry and homeschooling is simply an extension of parenting. My passion is to cheer on other moms who are at home doing the most important work of all, raising the next generation for the glory of God. Hi, and welcome to the Rife Homeschooling podcast. Today's guest is Sarah from homeschool glue and we're going to be talking about balancing the workload. As a mom, we all are carrying so much from laundry and meals to homeschooling. Some of us have in-home businesses or online businesses. There's so much when you're a mom, when you have infants, toddlers, and so we're going to be talking about how to manage it all. Well, I really loved this conversation with Sarah, and I know you will, too. Let's go ahead and jump in. Hi, Sarah. >> Hi. >> Thank you so much for joining me. Thank you so much for having me. This is exciting. >> Yeah, we uh we met through a brave 2025 online homeschool conference. We were both in a live Q&A on elementary. So that was the first time I was introduced to you. And I thought it was kind of interesting when we were on the panel that it seems like our conversation kept drifting towards Charlotte Mason ideas because I think there were a couple of us on the panel that really leaned that way. Um so that was the first time I got to meet you and just really um felt like we had some things in common and that you have a lot that you can share with my viewers and listeners. So, I'm going to let you introduce yourself, tell about your family, where people can find you, the resources that you have. >> Yeah. So, hi, I'm Sarah. I am mom of now four kids. I had three daughters and then just had our little boy in January. So, he's nine months. So, I have a nine-month-old, 5-year-old. We just had birthdays. Eight-year-old, 10-year-old. There we go. So, fifth grader, second grader, kindergarten, preschooler. She's right on the edge there. and then our little baby. So busy busy. I run homeschool glue. Going into year, it'll be almost two years since I started that. I've been in the online space for a long time. I've loved talking about motherhood and time management and all of the things. And I used to run an inhome daycare. So I used to have a lot of or I still have a lot of videos on YouTube about that. But um that kind of morphed uh into homeschooling in 2020, which is I think very a lot of people's story these days. Uh my oldest did public school for kindergarten. I had just had our third daughter like a week before she started kindergarten. So I didn't really have time to wrap my head around potentially homeschooling then, even though it was something I had always had on my heart, but I just didn't know financially how that would work. But then with 2020, I ended up closing my daycare. Um, and the Lord has provided through that. But I've always worked in some way alongside homeschooling. And so what was called work life glue became homeschool glue as my business. And so it was two almost two years ago now. I was very big into Charlotte Mason from the beginning. I used to actually be an English teacher before I became a daycare provider. So I love literature and I love learning through books and so Charlotte Mason was right up my alley. And I was just trying to find in my mind like if I if I can't find something, I feel like if I just keep looking, I'll find it. This perfect idea in my head. And I was trying to find >> some kind of science curriculum that was family style that both of my older girls could do and was based on living books and Charlotte Mason. And I was running into either it was super expensive and you had to buy tons of things for it or it wasn't family style or it wasn't Charlotte Mason. And so I just had this, you know, little nudge like you should just make your own. And I didn't listen to that for a long time until finally I was like, okay, maybe that's the direction I should go. And it just kind of started flying out of me. I made my first resource called Seashore Science. And then I've just kept going basically making resources for my family because I figure if it's helpful for me, it might be helpful for somebody else. So I have >> Exactly. >> resources where we fit in the riches. It's called daily riches. So we can easily fit in like picture study, composer study, copy work, Bible, hymns, folk songs, all of those things really easily because that was something I was having a hard time doing. I've made another science since then about botany. >> I have what else? I've have a Thanksgiving one and now I'm working on a Christmas one. So just kind of stuff that I want for my family. I'm just like, well, I might as well make it pretty and share it with others and sell it. And then I'm also blessing our family. So, it's a win-win across the board, >> right? Oh, wow. That's so practical. And I've had a few things like that myself that I've >> I saw there was a void and there was nothing out there that I could find that would meet this need. So, I kind of created for my kids. And then it was this same thing, light bulb moment. Why don't I just >> create this for other people and share it and we're already using it in our home. And if I'm finding it useful, surely someone else is going to find this useful as well, >> right? Yeah. And even like things that there might be something similar, but maybe the way your family works, this would work better, you know? I feel like there's room for everybody, >> right? >> Especially as more homeschooling families join the community. Like there's there's always room for everybody. So, I think that's really cool. >> Yeah. And so the topic we're going to be gearing towards today is balancing the workload of the homeschool mom. And I think this is something that has always been a challenge for me is just across the board. This is something everyone deals with. How do you manage it all? And so how do you balance especially with having an online business? How do you manage the workload of working and all the responsibilities at home? homeschooling, homemaking, making the meals, doing the laundry, all of that. >> Yeah. Um, I will just start by saying I don't, you know, I think that's really important to say. I think it's so hard online, and this is something I really work very hard to portray, but it's still very hard online, is to not portray like the perfect >> everything. I am not definitely not. I'm a flawed, fallen human, and I I am human. I can only do so much. And so I do want to preface all my ideas and tips with the fact that I'm not doing everything. And I I have that's a big thing is my first tip is just to say no to a lot because you can't do everything. Especially if you're trying to work and homeschool, there's going to be things that you just can't do because you only have so much energy and obviously your family needs to come first. You know, your husband, God, all of those things. and work is important, especially if you need that income to help support your family, but so some things have to go. Um, I just thought it'd be helpful to share some of the things I've done to make money. >> Mhm. >> Just cuz it might be helpful. So, at the beginning of our homeschool journey, I I had closed my daycare, but I kept one child on, so I was still making money and he was just he was I think three at the time. So, I had >> four kids in our house and who was not mine. so that I was homeschooling alongside him and then I ended up taking he went on to kindergarten and then I had a friend's three kids. So I had I don't know how you know five kids, three, four, six kids um at the time, >> five of which were under five. So it was pretty hectic. I had them three full days a week to make some money and to help out my friend at the time. Um, I've always had an online business of some sort and so fitting that into the nook and crannies of my day. Um, and I also now run social media for a friend's business part-time >> and I'm doing a few hours of like delivery stuff on the side right now. So, it's it's just kind of over the board kind of >> whatever works. But, you know, it helps our family especially now with the economy. Like my husband's income kind of doesn't go as far as it used to and so >> Oh, yeah. having some flexible ways to make money. But I I know of so many people. I have personal friends. I've heard from so many people online who have jobs to various degrees >> who make it work. So yeah, so saying no is one of my tips. Time blocking for me is super duper helpful. I don't have like at this time we do this and this time we do this, but I have like, you know, I have my I get up at 4:00 a.m. That's one thing I do. Not everybody needs to do, but it's >> I'm introverted. And so having that quiet time at the start of the day where I'm pretty much almost always guaranteed it is so helpful. And so having certain things I'm going to do then that are very important like getting some of my business work done so that if I don't get anything done later in the day at least I got something done. >> Spending time in the word, prayer, exercise, stuff like that I try to do then. >> Having a time blocked for our dedicated homeschool time is incredibly important for us. And I know some people are able to be more flexible, but with all of the hats I wear, I just can't. So it's like this is our time and as much as we get done >> is what we get done and just being flexible that that means some days we don't get everything done that I wanted to get done. Having a weekly plan like as much as I can not have to reinvent the wheel every week is so helpful. Meaning >> if I can know on Mondays we're doing these subjects and Tuesdays we do these and Wednesdays we do these and I don't have to sit down at the start of yes because I find the less I have to think about the practical bits of my life the more you know brain power and love and patience and peace I can give to my kids but when I'm feel like I'm carrying all of that all the time because I don't have a place for it that's when I tend to get overwhelmed and >> you know resentful or you know bitter at my kids or whatever like that's when the negativity comes out that I don't want. So >> having a a plan that I can just stick to. Same with like meal planning. Just having a plan like I rotate our lunches on a monthly basis so I don't have to think about it. Breakfast too. Suppers we have theme nights based on what's going on. So it's just very >> simple. Um, and then lastly for that, like having a quiet time every day, and I know my oldest is 10, so she's kind of old for that, but we have just found for all of us, especially cuz some of my kids are more introverted, some not so much, but some are. And so having having that quiet time for those of us who are is very helpful. And then my older ones will do their like independent reading, >> practice piano. We actually have a electronic or digital piano. So it's still a piano, but it >> Yeah. It's weighted keys, but they can use headphones, which helps so much. >> They can do it when the baby's sleeping and it's not disrupting him. >> We have a ton of kids that play the piano. And we have a mute. It's a It's an actual piano, but we have a mute pedal. >> Okay. >> Which is really nice. It's better than what we had before when we didn't have a mute pedal, but it's still not quite that level. And >> right, >> sometimes, especially because we have wood floors, it is just so loud and so constant. Sometimes I think maybe we really need to switch because >> yeah it's hard to concentrate when someone's always playing and it sounds great. I mean we have some older kids now so some of them can play well and you know it sounds nice >> but um just the constant noise is kind of challenging. >> Yeah. And I have found like I don't know if I have some kind of sensory but just the sensory overload sometimes is very triggering. Just the noise like they're not even doing anything wrong. It's just I get it gets to be too much. And so before we signed up for piano lessons, I was like, we have to have something that will reduce the noise. >> Well, I'm really impressed that you're getting up at 4:00 a.m. That's inspiring to me. I've recently started to set my alarm for 6:00 a.m. to make sure I'm up at that time every day because I'm trying to get a little bit more done in the mornings before our 2-year-old and everybody else wakes up. Um, but I I'm the same way. I love having that time to myself and some things um like some of my online work that I have, I just enjoy doing it. So, for me, I'm willing to wake up early or fit it into the nooks and crannies. If there's things that you really that are important to you, you find ways to fit them in because you just really want to do it and it's fun. So, but that's 400 a.m. That is really early. >> I was proud of myself with the whole 6 a.m. thing. I mean, I have early to bed, early to rise kids. So, and my husband works, like he's gone by the time I get up. So, >> it just works for our family. And when I did daycare, like I had >> 10 kids here at 700 a.m. So, it was I've been doing that since my second was b like well, not born, but like a few months old when she started sleeping really well. And like you said, like I absolutely love working on my business. I love quiet time with the Lord. And I have just found I'm not one of those people who will remember to fit it in any other time. And so it gets me up. And the coffee, the coffee gets me up. And I love hot coffee that I actually get to drink while it's hot. Like it's very motivating to me. So >> right, without anyone interrupting it, you can actually just sit there and sip and enjoy and not have to stop and do 10 things before your next sip. It's it is it's great. It's a wonderful pleasure that you can just enjoy that by yourself in the early mornings. So, this um getting up early is one way that you are fitting in some of those things that are really important to you. Do you have any other suggestions for how you fit in things like Bible reading, like your hobbies, exercise, things like that? >> Yeah, I mean, getting up early, I think, and that's not for everybody. I've had so many people I've been sharing about waking up at 4:00 a.m. for years and years, and people are like, "How do you do that?" And I'm like, "I just do." Like, that's not true. Like, it took time. It was slow. like 15 minutes, you just bring it back and bring it back. And obviously, I want to say when I'm newly pregnant or when I have a newborn, I'm not getting up at 4 a.m. Like, I'm am human. And uh giving myself grace for those times when I really need more sleep. But I think the biggest thing is just having a plan. If it's not going to be at 4:00 a.m., maybe you're a better you work better at night or you have a quiet time or if you do those things well with your kids around, that's totally great. I just I find I am not that person. >> And so, but just having a plan. I'm going to do it at this time until it becomes a habit. I think once it becomes a habit, you don't have to plan it so much. But when you're starting off, like >> if you don't have a plan, you're planning to fail. And so having some kind of plan for if Bible is important to you, when are you going to get it done? Are you going to set an alarm on your phone? Are you going to tie it to a certain activity you do in the day? Maybe sit down for breakfast or whatever it is. Mhm. >> I just think that's really important. And hobbies, too. Like I haven't been super good about hobbies as a mom because we're doing all the things already, but I >> um we went through kind of a family crisis two years ago. My dad had this horrible accident. He was in the hospital for months. And >> I was carrying even more than trying to visit him in the hospital all the time. And I found I love planning. But then I just found bullet journaling, which I had done many years ago. Wow. >> Just as like a way of scrapbooking kind of um and I'm not very artistic, but I I love doing crafty artsy things even though I'm not very good at it. Um and so that became extremely therapeutic for me just to have this creative outlet during a really stressful time. And I stopped doing it for about a year and now I'm back into it. And I just find having even though it's a hobby and I love it, I still schedule it because I will easily just give that up. Um something that's good for me, I'll just give it up. Just like exercise, just like the Bible, like these are all amazing things for us, but they're also the things that can quickly go if we don't have a plan. >> Yeah. >> Because we want we think, you know, the kids are important and we got to eat and we got to the things that are absolutely necessary are the things that come first. even though these other things are also very necessary but easier to skip. So I like hobbies I try to plan for like Friday and Saturday nights after the kids are in bed if we're home >> even though I'm usually dead to the world. But if it's something I love to do I'll just you know if I'm not on the couch I'll be okay. I won't fall asleep. So >> yeah. >> Yeah. Just stuff like that. >> Having a hobby. Yeah. Having a hobby I've learned really really is important. or having something that you can do that you really enjoy doing. And I I learned this personally the hard way. I we were like seven or eight years into homeschooling and the demands were just constant. We had I think at that time seven or eight kids and it was just I was going from one meal to clean up to homeschooling to the next meal. And then in the afternoons we finally finished school and it was like, "Oh, okay. I have an hour until I have to start thinking about dinner." And it's like, I'm not going to get anything done in that time. So, I just slowly stopped doing things I loved doing. And I did it until I realized that I was having a hard time enjoying anything because I had just let go of all the things that were fun for me. And so, yeah, I I had to pivot and change and just really start, like you said, making time for the things that I wanted to do. Otherwise, you can kind of get into this um I don't want to say depression in the technical sense of the term, but like just where you just don't do anything for fun for yourself anymore. And I think that's really important because your enjoyment of your life and your homeschool really transfers to your kids. >> And so that's why you need to still be doing things that you love because your kids want you to be happy. They want to see that part of you. And I've noticed too that when my kids see me in some kind of role outside of mom and outside of homeschooling, >> they're really interested and they're it's almost like they're proud of me to see like, "Oh, you do that, too. I didn't know you had that skill. >> I didn't know you were a person and you like things." Yeah. It's so true, though. It's so true. >> Yeah. So, I'm sure you have times when you're overwhelmed. I can think of so many times throughout our years of homeschooling and babies and toddlers and just keeping up with all the things all the uh weight that we have just as moms in general, let alone homeschooling. What do you do when you have moments of overwhelm? >> Yeah. Yeah. Um this is an area that I definitely and a lot of it's myself induced. I just love doing things and I love being productive, but then at some point I have said yes to too many things and I kind of have to back off. Um I I find, you know, especially during transition times like the start of the school year or Christmas or going from one holiday to the other um can be really overwhelming. All good things. You know, it's usually good things. Sometimes it's tragic things that that bring about overwhelm, but sometimes it's really good things. Um, and I just find I've overcommitted our myself or, you know, we're we something unexpected happens or a bunch of unexpected things happen, a bunch of appliances break or whatever at one time, which is how it always seems to happen. Um, and you just you have to kind of stop yourself. I think some of my tips, things I do, I mean, I don't have I should have like when overwhelm strikes, this is the list you follow. like that might be a good printable or something, but I haven't thought of that. >> That's a great idea. >> Yeah, maybe that's that's the new thing. But I think, you know, obviously prayer, just getting yourself >> centered on what's really important, who's really important, and trying to respond in the right way. I'm not I'm going to be honest, I'm not great about remembering to do that, but the advice I would give to other people and trying to give to myself is prayer first when you when you think of it. And then having, for me anyway, I think it's okay to be overwhelmed and just kind of sit in it for a second. >> And instead of trying to like fix it right away, but just like getting it out of your body, like if that's calling a friend, if that's talking to your husband, um, whatever you have to do, going for a walk and just like getting the feeling out because if you don't, sometimes it will come out in other ways that you don't want, >> right? And then I usually during that talk or if I'm on my own trying to figure it out, just sitting back looking at the planner, whether it's tragedy struck and you're having to refigure out this season of your life or if you've just realized you've overcommitted yourself, asking what you can cut out or where you can fit certain things. That's where I really love time blocking because some things just slip really well into time blocks I already have and some things I look and I go, actually, I have no room for that. And so I'm actually gonna have to say no. I'm sorry. Whatever it is, >> even if it's sorry to myself because I wanted to do something for our homeschooler or for our family and it's just not going to work right now. >> And that's okay. And just that's something that's something really humbling I've had to learn as a mom is that I can't do >> the version of motherhood I thought I could do before I became a mom. And um >> and so >> you have all these great ideals and then real life hits and it's just a little different, >> right? And so that's when I think about grandmotherhood and I get very excited for when I can actually do all the things that I wanted to do. And who knows? But and just I think also during those times, it's so easy to be like, "Okay, I'll cut out all of my personal time. I'll cut out the bullet journal. I'll I'll get up early, but I'll work on whatever it is, and I'll skip the Bible. I'll skip exercise." And that's something, especially exercise, that I haven't been good about fitting in until recently because I try to fit so much in. And I found that downtime or that personal time is what helps you through the overwhelm time. You may have to cut other things to keep those things in and that's still okay and probably good. >> Mhm. >> And just also making some time to get away. I love my family so much, don't get me wrong. But I think for me anyway, having a dinner with a friend every once in a while or going on a date with my husband or just going to drive for an hour by myself, like little things like that where you're not needed for a little bit of time, I think can clear away a lot of the overwhelm just on its own because we're >> that being needed is is is a beautiful thing we carry, but also can be very heavy sometimes. And so sometimes you just need that break and then you can come back and be like, "Okay, >> this is the solution. It's right here. I just couldn't see it because I was drowning at the moment." >> Um, >> yeah, I remember that so many times when I had young kids, just being in a moment of overwhelm >> and then my husband would come home and sometimes he would just say, "You know what? Why don't you just go go for a walk or whatever you want to do, just go." And all it took was an hour. just like you said, just getting away for an hour, seeing some different things, having some space where no one needs me and I would come back >> um totally full of love again for my kids and just a renewed perspective and just more at peace. Um it just takes little and that's why >> you mentioned a quiet time. So we have I have kids all the way up to well he's turning 18 this year and so he's mostly on his own. He's not a part of a lot of that, a lot of what we do. But we still have quiet time every day because um I need it, the kids need it, and it looks differently like when they were younger, they were usually in their rooms um >> quiet or um in different areas of the house, whereas now >> there's just so many older kids and so they are all out there, but they all have to be doing something quiet. And it's just kind of this understanding. Occasionally it'll get out of hand. It'll be too loud and I'll have to go and, you know, remind them. But for the most part, everybody knows and I think everybody appreciates that quiet time because we all need >> just a little bit of space where it's not so loud and there's demands everywhere all the time. So, >> so true. >> Yeah. How do you handle homeschooling then with multiple ages? You have a 10-year-old, a 9-month-old, and two in between. So, especially like with babies and toddlers, I know that was a season I've always almost always been in having a baby and a toddler and I can completely relate to that challenge. >> Yeah, I think you know I will I'm totally honest about this online, but I really struggled. So, when my dad was in the hospital, I'm trying to remember if it was our second or third year of homeschooling, and I had a 2-year-old at the time and then a four-year-old. So, I had two that weren't school age yet. And then I was watching the three extra. So it was like a lot. And then I was, you know, I was devastated and, you know, our whole world was struck and and so trying and I could have definitely taken a pause then. I could have just said we're not going to homeschool, but I found for us when we had our our last baby in January, I've just found that routine >> is actually very helpful for us because otherwise we're just driving each other nuts when there's no structure. And so I have found us, and that's not for everybody, but for us, >> not taking a break all the time when it seems like maybe that would be the best option. And I did take a little break, but I was like, "Okay, we need some kind of structure." But I I have just found and especially doing daycare, like I would teach preschool in my daycare, and I had 10 kids under five, so it was always kind of chaotic. I'm kind of just used to the chaos to some degree. But I I have found I was really struggling there for a while with my youngest daughter at the time. I think because she was really struggling with, you know, mom's gone all the time and now she wants me to be quiet when she's reading aloud all these books that Charlotte Mason wants her to be reading and, you know, and I um and that got to be really hard and she was really, you know, would act up mostly only when I was reading aloud, which was basically our whole homechool time because Charlotte Mason. And so I was instead of like going back to my all the things I've learned about kids, I we would just have this like butdding of heads because I was spent and I just, you know, couldn't cope well at that time. >> However, a few months into it, I was like, "Okay, this is not going well. She's struggling. I'm struggling. This isn't working. What could I do differently?" And so that's when I really started going back to the basics. Okay, she needs personal time with mom at the start of homeschool, which takes 5 10 minutes, reading some books with her on the couch, just her and I, cuddling, telling her I love her, >> all that stuff. And, you know, going back to remembering to greet my kids with kisses and telling them how important they are to me at the start of the day. It seems simple, but it goes so such a long way. >> Um, and it's easy to forget, which is sad. M >> so just having that time with her really working on myself of getting up early again cuz I think I stopped for a while because I was tired and and sad. And so getting back to that so that I could start my day in a peaceful place for my kids and not getting up, you know, getting up angry to them which is not good. Um, and you know, sometimes kids get up grumpy and then I would be grumpy at their grumpiness. And so having that time to like, okay, I'm going to choose peace regardless of what my kids choose, that helps so much. And then allowing her, you know, I would let her sit on my lap, but just inviting her in more instead of the feeling of pushing her out. She would be at the table with us, but I it was so much of like, okay, go sit down, go do this. and said it's like come bring it to my lap and you can play while I read like such simple things but sometimes when you're like I just have to get this done and you're making it very hard for me when you have that mindset >> that's not helpful and kids will get attention however they can get it sometimes and so >> recognizing that I tried to invite her in more um and I started that helped so much all of those things and then um I started making these activity bins because when I was doing daycare I would sensory bins all the time. And so I was like, >> what if she had some special things that were just for homeschool time that I pull out, make it really special, change them up every month. And so I started doing that and >> it was like the final thing that totally changed for us. And obviously every kid's different. >> It's never perfect. There's always interruptions and things, but it >> it just went from a fighting against her to like, let's work on this together. How can I make this fun for you that you have a fun thing to do during homeschool too and you're not getting pushed aside and now homeschool is fun for all of us, >> right? >> And so I ended up creating I put all of the that together, all my advice and things like that for mindset and 60 different activity ideas into a guide called lessons with littles that's on in my shop because I this that was the number one question I was getting for people. How do you handle the littles um when snacks doesn't work? because I would Google and it be like just give them snacks and I was like there's only so many snacks I can give her. Um and so just really working on my own mindset more than anything >> helped tremendously and then having some kind of activities that were special just was like the cherry on top for her. >> Yeah. Yeah. So what practical tips would you give a mom who is just juggling all the things like we all are? just some practical tips that she can start with today to make things a little bit easier for her. >> Yeah. Um, great question. Yeah, because sometimes it's like we just need a quick fix right now, something small. I think if I, you know, were in the thick of it and just feeling very overwhelmed right now, I think I would just really look at the basics in my life that I could streamline because I think like I said earlier, anything you can take off like think of or maybe we have backpacks and everything that we have to remember is like another stone in your backpack. So if we can like take the stone out and just make it a routine. That's not a good analogy, but you know, just take something out so it's not weighing you down and it's just becomes a routine you don't really have to think about. It lightens your load. And so things like meal rotation, >> I love that analogy. That's really good because it I completely relate to that. It's just you don't realize how weighty something is until it's not there. >> Right. Exactly. >> Yeah. >> It's one less thing I have to do. >> Right. Yeah. So I'm big on just routine. So meal rotations if I don't know. I hate meal planning. I don't know why I hate it so much. which I think it's like cleaning. It just you keep having to do it all the time. And so I I'm grateful that I get to meal plan and we have money to buy food, but sometimes I'm like again, didn't I just do this? And so having, you know, a rotation, so like we have a skylight calendar and so going beyond just the rotation, like I had it populate the first Monday of every month is this meal. And so I don't even have to go in and like write that. So if you have some kind of system even like that where it's just I just write down the ingredients but I don't have to do any thinking for that just a few dinners I think of >> the rest like the least the less you have to think the better sometimes. >> Same with like laundry because I don't know why laundry is such a pain sometimes and you know if you have kids who aren't quite at the ages to do it on their own. My older two are getting to that point. My oldest does it completely on her own, but my 8-year-old like can't reach into the type of washer we have. So, I still have to help. But just having like this day is this, you know, and making sure that adds up by the end of the week. You've gotten through everything. And um and like I said, I assign certain homeschool tasks to certain days, but also just life tasks. So, like Wednesday is meal plan day. >> I hate doing it. So that way I'm like Wednesday I do it and then I don't have to think about it again, >> right? >> Bill paying is on this day, groceries this day, cleaning tasks, like the recurring weekly cleaning tasks. If you can assign those to a day and then you don't ever have to really think of like when am I going to do that? You already know. And then sometimes obviously life happens and you can shift, but it's way easier than having to completely reinvent the wheel. Another thing that may be kind of stupid is having a line leader. Because for our family, I don't know if it's having three girls in a row or what, or if it's just the way the kids are, my husband was an only child and my brother and I are 14 years apart. So, we had no idea what we were in for when we had all these kids because the fighting and the bickering like we just we have no model of how to deal with that. And so, >> yeah, >> I took from my daycare. I was like, "Okay, I had a line leader at daycare and that really helped." So, I'm going to do a line leader in our home because things like getting into the car, I never knew that was going to be a struggle every day. I'm like getting out the door is hard enough, but then getting in the car is like a whole other thing. And so, we do a line leader every day and whoever's line leader gets to do first for everything gets to pick the baby's clothes because that's a thing when you have girls apparently. and it's fun for them and they get to pick his jammies and they get so excited. Uh, and if I need help with something, I'll ask the line leader. So, like little things like that >> go a long way. Um, and if you can >> like if there's certain stressors in your mothering that are getting to you, sitting down like after the kids are in bed or something and thinking, okay, what is a positive solution I can come up with? Because I just kept finding we were bickering about being first all the time. And so I was like, "Okay, line leader it is." And anytime I've tried to not do it, >> it ends up happening again. So I just go back to it. >> Yeah. We've done something similar like just like a mommy's helper cuz I always have kids that want to help me in the kitchen. >> Yes. >> And so initially anytime someone would say they wanted to help, of course it's so hard to say yes. I'm like, if I just do this, I can get it done in like five minutes. But they all want to help. And anytime someone asks me if they can help, I just I don't have the heart to say no. I just don't. And I know they just want to be a part of it and they really do learn. >> But um yeah, over time whenever people would say yes, I ended up just saying yes to everyone. And then I'm trying to make a meal and there's like three or four kids helping me and no one has I don't have enough jobs, right? So I learned that I can only have one helper. Like yes, you can help me, but you can't help me every day. You can help me today and then tomorrow someone else is going to be my helper. So just having that put in place like beforehand is really good when you have issues like that. >> Yeah. And that's part of the line leader too. Like they get to make breakfast because my kids can pretty much make breakfast on their own. And so they get to make breakfast, they get to make lunch if they want, which >> I never anticipated. My kids would be like fighting over who gets to make food. I'm like at a new phase of motherhood that that started when I was pregnant this last time because I get so sick that I literally just couldn't open the fridge. So that helped having older kids now. So, yes, having that's something that was so hard for me too is like just being online and you see all these accounts where all these kids are helping their mom in the kitchen and I was like I get really overwhelmed and mean like just because it's I'm trying to think about the recipe and then something's burning and you're going to burn yourself and now we're into the night or like whatever it is. And so, yes, having and I've realized like >> then they're all actually helping. They're learning you're having a positive experience versus like getting angry at everybody during this thing you're is supposed to be beautiful and it's definitely not >> right. >> So, and also just I've learned through that like it's okay to not do it how everybody else you know everybody else does it. >> I didn't help my mom at all till I was much older anyway. So, it's okay. >> Right. And I think the longer you're a mom and the more experience you have with your kids, you kind of learn that. You learn that, >> you know what, this just isn't me. And it may be all my friends or it may be this other person that I think does it so well, but it's okay if I don't do that because I'm just I'm not good at it. I don't like it and I do other things. So, Right. And nice when you get to that point and you have that piece about that. >> Yes. Yes. For sure. Yeah. Yeah. And just some other tips for us. I have found if possible and if you want to, I really love family style learning. Like I am surrounded by my local homeschool community who does do Charlotte Mason and pretty much all of them use Ambleside online which I love for them. I think it's amazing and I've taken a lot of the books from there. I have just found I absolutely love family style learning with my kids and so however I can fit that in. Sometimes it's my own resources. We're using Simply Charlotte Mason this year because of that family style element for like Bible and geography and history. So for that for us has helped so much during those times of overwhelm because there's less to do. >> You're bonding. I just find when we're learning something together like we have these shared ideas, we learn from each other. We go down rabbit trails that one is interested in and then the other is suddenly interested in it. And it's just such a bonding experience and it saves time which is always awesome for me anyway and it just it's fun for me and I know everybody has a different style but >> I love family style learning if we can fit it in in some way. >> Yeah, we do Ambleside and initially I kind of did everyone individually but then as we had more kids I found a way to make it work family style for the most part. There's still some things that I assign my kids on their own, but >> a lot of the books we do together for the same reason. I just enjoy it. And so because of that, we don't do a we do a very select choice of their books. Like there's a lot more we could do that we just don't. I do the ones that are my favorites. >> Yeah. >> Um but yeah, we just like doing it together. It's fun. You learn so much. And we've had the same experience. like there'll just be conversations that come up that are so interesting. And that's one thing I love about homeschooling. Even today, we just had so many interesting conversations. I only read to my kids today for 15 minutes in the afternoon, which is short for us. Usually, it's quite a bit longer, but I had some other things on my plate. And um just in that short period of time, we were talking about jousting and tournaments and lists. What is a list? It's like a plane where the medieval knights would fight on and like we were just it was just very very interesting. >> Yeah, I love that. >> Yeah. Well, Sarah, thank you so much for sharing all of this with us. I think there were so many practical takeaways that I know are going to be really encouraging for moms. Before we close out, can you just tell everyone again where they can find you and then just share one or two of your favorite resources? Yeah. So, I'm on Instagram at homeschoolglue or my website is homeschoolglue.com. I'm also hit or miss on YouTube at homeschoolglue. I've been in and out. It's just hard to balance everything. But definitely on Instagram is like my main focus. So, you can find me there. I would say my number one favorite resource that our family has loved are my daily riches family style riches curriculum. just fitting in all of, you know, poetry and hymns and folk songs, art, composer study, and then adding in copy work and stuff like that. We have absolutely loved it and made so many connections. I never loved art until I started doing this. And learning about it because I had never learned it before in that way. And so, just having that in a really easy way to incorporate has been something we love and I'll keep making it whether people buy it or not because we just love it. >> Yeah. And then also last year I put together a Thanksgiving curriculum called The Voyage to Thanksgiving because the first living book for history that I ever read with my then first grader was about the pilgrim's journey to America. And it was the first time I thought, "Wow, I really love history." And I didn't know because I went to public school and we read textbooks and >> memorized dates. And so I was really inspired to take that book and kind of build upon it, adding the riches, adding in the Bible, adding in geography and things like that to really give kids a sense of what the Thanksgiving story actually is all about and why we celebrate it. Because I think in the sea of like let's >> put on feathers and learn about turkeys, like that's fun, but that's not really teaching them why we celebrate this. And so I've really loved that resource as well as just like a short four-week uh resource for the whole family all the way through high school. I think if I was in my 30s getting something out of it, high schoolers could too. And it's it's fun to do as a whole family in November. >> Well, I will make sure to link those below. That Thanksgiving study sounds so interesting. We love taking the week before Thanksgiving to read some of our favorite Thanksgiving books. So, yeah, that's something that's always been fun for us. Well, Sarah, thank you so much. I've really enjoyed talking with you. Thanks for joining me today. >> Thank you so much for having me. >> Thank you so much for listening to today's conversation. I hope you walk away with a lot of practical tips and encouragement that you can use in your home with your family today. The work that you're doing at home as a mom, as a homeschooler, it's all so important. and it has eternal implications and you are raising the next generation. So, be encouraged, keep steady, stay the course, and keep homeschooling to the glory of God. Have a great day. I'll see you next week on the Rife Homeschooling podcast. [Music]