Things That Ought Not Be -- Part 1

Now that a new school year is starting, it's time to get back into blogging mode. Now this blog is primarily for dads, but moms are occasionally welcome to listen in. Mostly it's me running my mouth, or posting notes for classes I teach. This fall it'll be Creative Writing, Story of the World Part 3, SAT/ACT prep, and Microeconomics.

But before we get to what is and what will be, I feel compelled to mention some things that exist, but shouldn't.

1. Home school scrapbooks. Memo to home school mom -- You have enough to do. Between teaching, planning lessons, grading papers, and -- especially is you have high school kids -- learning the stuff you have to turn around and teach, just the academic stuff is a 20+-hour per week job by itself. And that's not including all the activities kids tend to be involved in that demand Mom's time behind the wheel of a car. Then throw in your local home school group (and yes, you need them and they need you), and pretty soon a schedule gets so full it will explode.

Yet in many home schooling magazines, I see articles about scrap booking.

Seriously.

Stop it. Just stop it. If you're going to survive as a home school parent -- let alone thrive -- the first and most important thing you have to know is your own limits. Know what you can do, do what needs to be done, then start telling things no.

I know you can do this. Good home school moms tell their kids "No" all the time. And you know what to do when they get all sad-faced at you.

Now is the time to take what you've learned and use it on the sad-faced person in the mirror.

Be as organized as you need to be to stay sane. Keep as many records as you need to keep so that those who need to look at them later can see what you've done. If you want to include scrapbook pages as part of your kids' "make your own yearbook" assignment, go for it.

But don't get so caught up in preserving memories that you lose the capacity to make new ones.

Get some rest, Mom. You've earned it.