7 P’s in a Pod

Introduction

Working with Reality in a Pinterest-Perfect World

Many of us carry on a love-hate relationship with the social media site Pinterest. The ideas and creativity showcased on the site can be mind-boggling. The concepts are described as so “quick,” “easy,” “fail-proof,” “inexpensive,” “Do it yourself” perfection! There are promises for “impress your mother-in-law” food, braids that make your hair look “10 inches longer in five minutes,” 3 year old birthday parties that rival my wedding, and the cutest outfit ever—if you are a wealthy Barbie™ who has never nursed (ever)! Pinterest can leave us feeling pressured, underqualified, messy, and poor. Don’t get me wrong—really awesome ideas abound and the creativity is over the top. However, it seems to offer more fanciful projects than truly achievable goals, and honestly, reality is real. Reality is tight budgets and tighter waistbands. It is snotty noses, dirty laundry, painful relationships, orthodontist appointments, groceries to buy, cook, and clean up after. It is jeans and a T-shirt with the littles all around listening to you read. It is warm muffins, mid-morning, the least one’s first steps, first word, or first bowl of cereal as the others cheer their baby sibling on. It is really listening and hearing your teens. It is practicing parallel parking in the driveway after lunch. It is a high school graduate, a college graduate, a working baby boy-turned man receiving his first salaried paycheck in his own rented space. It is for real and it is perfectly beautiful in a spontaneous, unmatched-sock kind of way.

So how do you paint your reality? How do you DIY when it comes to self-perception and personal development? What does the picture look like when you are done? Does it leave you feeling like a “Pinterest fail?” Perhaps your reality came out close to the picture in your mind but at a great cost relationally. Maybe you just fly by the seat of your pants and hope for the best. You wouldn’t be reading this book unless you were homeschooling or pondering homeschooling. The pivotal question is, how can we homeschool successfully?

I have read countless books about homeschooling over twenty-five years and have gathered information from experience all that while. I was homeschooled during my high school years. I worked with homeschooling families all over the world for several years as a consultant and have homeschooled our eight children for the past twenty years. Over time, through trial and error and many hours of research, an idea was born. I began to test my idea in our home. I shared it with a few moms. Over time, a system was developed. I have used my system for years. Our grown children used it in college and continue to benefit from the discipline and structure it provides in everyday living. When the system is in place, reality can happen, and we don’t get thrown for a (homeschool) loop! Realities like death, sickness, moving, or new babies can come and go in the ebb and flow of life without de-railing our homeschool goals. I have seen moms press on, pick up, and see true success when this system is in place. I have been that mom. I have also witnessed these same realities completely rip apart a homeschool year, with no system in place, mom is looking back six months into the school year—eyes glazed, head shaking in disbelief. One of my strongest motivations is seeing a family use the system, face reality and its disruptions, and still come out on the other side stronger, encouraged, and successful.

I should stop right here and define success. Success is not straight As, perfectly groomed children, or the absence of pain, worry, or fear. It is not a formula that if followed will produce exact perfect results. Success is not smart kids or skinny moms. Success may not look like Pinterest material. Success does mean praying for wisdom and trusting God to provide it. It is setting realistic goals and reaching purposefully for those goals even if you fall short. Success is loving well your punks, your husband, your Lord. It is trusting what God directed you to do even when your world gets dark and scary. Success is more trust than worry. It is time invested today to give hope for tomorrow. This success is Pinterest worthy.