February 2, 2024 • 12 mins
Hey friend,
Our challenge for this month is to reflect on what we love about homeschooling and, more importantly, what we love about our children.
If you're feeling a little on the verge of burnout or want to fall in love with homeschooling all over again this challenge is for you.
Are you curious? Tune in to this short episode and learn how this challenge could become a wonderful tradition in your home every February, then visit the community to see pics. I can't wait!
Know that I am here cheering you on every step of the way with a prayer in my heart and a smile on my lips.
Your Homeschool Coach,
Inga
Join the Conversation: After you listen to this episode, I'd love for you to jump into our Facebook Community. Let's chat about the love notes you've been leaving for your kids. What moments touched your heart the deepest? It's our little corner of the internet to share these beautiful moments and connect.
Personalized Guidance: Feeling overwhelmed or eager to weave more love into your homeschooling routine? Book a Discovery Call with me. Together, we'll explore strategies not just for February, but for the entire school year. I aim to help you rediscover your passion for homeschooling, making every moment special for you and your family.
Spread the Love: If this episode made you smile and think of a friend who could use a little boost of love, share it with her. Let's help each other find joy and love in our homeschooling journey. It's amazing how a simple act of sharing can spread so much positivity.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
We made it through January, yes! And now we're jumping into February,
and that means that we have a new challenge this month.
And I'm excited about this challenge because you know it has to be all about love.
And so we're gonna talk about how to do this love challenge,
and it might be a little surprising for you, and you might have heard of some
(00:21):
of the other part because I heard it a long time ago, and now I'm hearing that
lots of moms are doing it.
And so grab your lavender earl gray tea, your cozy blanket, and this time you're
going to need some scissors, some pink, red paper, and your planner. And let's do this.
As moms, especially those of us who homeschool, taking care of ourself is crucial.
(00:45):
Just like when you're on a plane, before the plane takes off,
they remind you to secure your own oxygen mask first before assisting others, including your child?
Music.
Well, this podcast is your oxygen mask.
I'm Inga, a certified life coach and educator with over 30 years in curriculum and instruction.
Most importantly, I'm a homeschooling mom of four, and so I understand what
(01:07):
it feels like to juggle it all.
In this podcast, we'll tackle the stress and the challenges that come with homeschooling.
We'll talk about simple ways to prioritize our holistic well-being and practical
tips to make homeschooling a little bit easier.
Sometimes we We just need a reminder to be still and know that He is God,
to pause, prepare, and recover from the demands of homeschooling and life.
(01:27):
So friend, it's time to take a moment to catch your breath.
Welcome, welcome, welcome to another episode of the Catch Your Breath podcast.
If this is your first time here, thank you for joining me. And if you're back
again, thank you for coming back again.
This is a super short episode. I'm going to share our February challenge and
(01:49):
we're going to be talking all about love.
If this is new to you, then I think you're going to like this and then we're
going to do a little bit of a twist on it.
But before we do that, I just have to check in on you.
So how are you doing? I want to, first of all, tell you that I appreciate the
love that you consistently pour out to me.
Those of you who have been reaching out, checking in on me, telling me that
(02:12):
you love the podcast and then telling me which episodes really have resonated with you.
And that means so much to me because it helps me to know what you want to hear
and be able to support you.
And I love doing this. I love getting a chance to encourage you.
I believe that this work that I'm doing is a ministry and it's a passion.
(02:34):
It's something that truly helps me on my journey.
And that's the amazing part that being able to do this and support you and encourage
you helps me to remember to look for those positive things.
And then it encourages me. So I just want to thank you. I want to tell you how
much I love and appreciate you, and I want to let you know, please keep those emails coming,
keep the reviews coming, and continue to share this with your friends and other
(02:59):
moms who need support and encouragement and need an opportunity to catch their
breath on this homeschooling journey.
So today, we're going to talk about our challenge for the month of February,
and obviously, it's going to be all about love, because why not?
And in this one, what we really are going to focus on is something super simple,
and And actually, let me say this. The first one is simple.
(03:20):
The next one is going to take a little bit of preparation. So let's just get
the simple out of the way.
This month, February going into March, even though we've just come back from
most of us some time off in December in the holidays.
A lot of times what can happen during this season is that we can start to feel frustrated.
(03:40):
We can start to feel exhausted and weary. and we can in some ways start to lose
our love for homeschooling.
If you're not in that place, that is wonderful.
Keep on doing what you're doing. But if you are in that place where you're struggling
a little bit, where you're starting to feel frustrated,
where you're starting to wonder and try to remind yourself why you did this,
(04:03):
then this is the perfect challenge for you because we're going to take time
each day during the month of
February and we have one extra day Since it's a leap year and we get 29,
we're going to look for 29 reasons that we love homeschooling.
Every single day, whether you want to do it in the beginning of your day or
whether you want to do it at the end of your day, just think about what you
(04:25):
love about homeschooling. And that is going to help you as you're moving on.
One of the things we talk about when I work with clients, we talk about really
looking at our mindset and then we talk about our motivation to be able to help
us to get to that momentum and then to mastery.
And when we're in that motivation stage, we need to remember why we're doing
(04:46):
this. And as you're looking at all those reasons, as you become a detective
searching for why you love this, it is going to help your motivation.
It's going to help you keep going because sometimes you can lose sight of that.
When you get into the everyday, you've been doing it now probably for the first part of the semester.
And so you start to get into that place where things may be challenging.
(05:08):
Things may feel ho-hum. It can kind of feel like, oh, we're doing the same thing
every single day. And so this is just to revive that, to remind us,
to refresh us, to help us to really reflect on why we're doing this,
why we love it. And it can be anything.
And your reasons are going to be so different than everyone else's.
And it can be that you love it for the freedom, that you love it for the individuality
(05:30):
that you get to give your children, that you love it because you get to customize
it, because you love it because you get to be with your children every day. day.
Whatever it is, 29 reasons, one reason each day, why do you love homeschooling?
And I would say that at the end of this, keep it somewhere in your lesson plan
book, in your planner, that you can just go back to that.
Or even put them on one thing I love with my kids. They love to do origami.
(05:54):
And so they made a jar with, I don't even know what those are called.
I want to say shrikens, which it was.
Shrikens and beautiful colors. And I could just put it in there.
They made me some baskets.
And so you just have those colors. Well, you can do that with your thing that
you really love about homeschooling. It may be that you get something and you write it on there.
(06:17):
Each day and then you put it in a little jar and so when you're
having a hard day when you're having a challenging day that you
just pull it out and remember what you love about it but I
think that this is going to help us to just get back to the love of it and I'm
going to be doing the same thing you obviously are welcome to come and share
in our homeschool group or if you want to just keep this intimate and close
(06:38):
to the heart 100 you can do that and then the second thing because we We want
to then pour that love outwards.
As I said, I learned about this, I think, I want to say it was,
I don't know, four years ago or something.
And I thought, the first year, I have to be honest. Let me just be honest with
you. Can I be honest? Okay.
When I first heard about it, I was like, that's a lot to do because I have four kids.
(07:00):
But then I did it and my kids loved it. And I was like, okay, so we got to do this.
And so what it is, is you will cut out 29 hearts for each of your children. I know, I know, I know.
29 hearts. But you can find something online. If you have one of those heart
stamp things that you can cut them out or even have them cut them out.
They love cutting. You have younger kids.
(07:21):
Make that the lesson for the day. Let's cut these hearts out.
And then what you do is write one thing that you love for each of your children
each day for 29 days. Oh, yes.
We were in my homeschool co-op and one of the moms was talking about that she
did it, which I thought, OK, so a lot of people are doing this.
And then we were just talking about how hard that gets when you
(07:42):
have more than two kids because now you have to think about all
these different things and what's even harder for us
is we do that on birthdays so for each year
that they have so like let's say when they're 11 we put 11 things that we love
about them 11 words that describe them or help us to remind us of what embodies
them and so you know thinking about all right so can I put the same words on
(08:05):
there will they forget it, trying to think of new ones,
29 is going to be a lot.
But I think what it does is stretches us.
I think it helps us as we're doing it each day to reflect on why we love our
children, which if we do it at the beginning of the day, then it can help the
rest of our homeschooling day to go really well.
(08:27):
If we do it at the end of the day, it can kind of put that bookmark to just
remind us what we're doing it.
And I pray that as you're doing this, that this is really going to build the
connection and deepen the connection that you're having with your child.
And you can even include your husband in it if you want and see what words he has to say.
But it just helps them to recognize that you see their uniqueness,
(08:49):
their individuality, and that you love who they are.
And we go one step forward and say, not just do I love this about you,
but I also like this about you.
Because I think it can be easy sometimes to show love, but not always show like.
And so you can choose to do it on their door each day.
You can choose to pass it out at your
(09:09):
homeschool table you can choose to hide it somewhere that
you know that they'll find you can choose to put it on the bathroom mirror you
can be as creative as you want to and I think that this will be something that
they look forward to but let me say this let me give a caveat and a warning
more than likely they are going to love it.
(09:31):
And you're not going to be able to stop now that's the only thing they'll look
forward to it And so it's something that you may find yourself doing every, every, every February.
But I think what's beautiful about that is that it gives you an opportunity
to stop, to take a moment, to pay attention, to express your love,
(09:53):
to express your appreciation.
And when you do that, I think that they can remember it. And my kids have not
kept theirs because we don't do a great job of keeping all the things.
But I've heard moms say that their kids keep them in notebooks and different
things and go back and look at them.
And I think that's just a beautiful memory and reminder.
So I pray that this one does not seem really challenging. As I said,
(10:14):
it's going to take a little bit of preparation.
But our challenge for the month of February is you're going to write one thing
that you love about homeschool, about homeschooling every day for 29 days during the month of February.
And then you're gonna write one thing that you love about each of your children,
put it on their door for 29 days.
And then maybe, you never know, my kids did it for me because they like to do
(10:37):
the things that I do and they put it all over the door. And I don't know if it was for Mother's Day.
It probably was for Mother's Day. I was thinking it was for February,
but it's probably for Mother's Day, but they put all the hearts on the door
so I knew they were paying attention.
I cannot wait to hear how you feel at the end of this month and how they feel.
And I pray that this one blesses you and it's something fun that you can do with your family.
(10:59):
Come into the group, share it with us and let us know how it's going.
All right, until next time.
Thank you for tuning in. I hope that this episode empowered,
equipped, and most of all, encouraged you.
Don't forget to share your thoughts on today's topics because I'd love to hear
how you're implementing these strategies.
And you can do that in the free community where you can connect with me and
(11:20):
other like-minded moms.
You'll get some practical tips for homeschooling and teaching your child,
managing your stress, and prioritizing your self-care.
You can also ask questions there. You can participate in the fun challenges.
And of course you can celebrate your wins because
we like to party over there also if this
was helpful and you know that it can be helpful to someone
(11:41):
else leave a review or share this with another homeschooling
mom who needs to catch her mommy well that's
my cue but before i go i want to leave you with these words
from philippians 4 6 through 7 i pray that you won't be anxious about anything
but that in every situation by prayer and petition with thanksgiving you would
(12:01):
would present your request to God and that you will experience the kind of peace
that surpasses understanding as you navigate the stresses of life and homeschooling.
Until next time, remember to take a moment.
Music.
We made it through January, yes! And now we're jumping into February,
and that means that we have a new challenge this month.
And I'm excited about this challenge because you know it has to be all about love.
And so we're gonna talk about how to do this love challenge,
and it might be a little surprising for you, and you might have heard of some
(00:21):
of the other part because I heard it a long time ago, and now I'm hearing that
lots of moms are doing it.
And so grab your lavender earl gray tea, your cozy blanket, and this time you're
going to need some scissors, some pink, red paper, and your planner. And let's do this.
As moms, especially those of us who homeschool, taking care of ourself is crucial.
(00:45):
Just like when you're on a plane, before the plane takes off,
they remind you to secure your own oxygen mask first before assisting others, including your child?
Music.
Well, this podcast is your oxygen mask.
I'm Inga, a certified life coach and educator with over 30 years in curriculum and instruction.
Most importantly, I'm a homeschooling mom of four, and so I understand what
(01:07):
it feels like to juggle it all.
In this podcast, we'll tackle the stress and the challenges that come with homeschooling.
We'll talk about simple ways to prioritize our holistic well-being and practical
tips to make homeschooling a little bit easier.
Sometimes we We just need a reminder to be still and know that He is God,
to pause, prepare, and recover from the demands of homeschooling and life.
(01:27):
So friend, it's time to take a moment to catch your breath.
Welcome, welcome, welcome to another episode of the Catch Your Breath podcast.
If this is your first time here, thank you for joining me. And if you're back
again, thank you for coming back again.
This is a super short episode. I'm going to share our February challenge and
(01:49):
we're going to be talking all about love.
If this is new to you, then I think you're going to like this and then we're
going to do a little bit of a twist on it.
But before we do that, I just have to check in on you.
So how are you doing? I want to, first of all, tell you that I appreciate the
love that you consistently pour out to me.
Those of you who have been reaching out, checking in on me, telling me that
(02:12):
you love the podcast and then telling me which episodes really have resonated with you.
And that means so much to me because it helps me to know what you want to hear
and be able to support you.
And I love doing this. I love getting a chance to encourage you.
I believe that this work that I'm doing is a ministry and it's a passion.
(02:34):
It's something that truly helps me on my journey.
And that's the amazing part that being able to do this and support you and encourage
you helps me to remember to look for those positive things.
And then it encourages me. So I just want to thank you. I want to tell you how
much I love and appreciate you, and I want to let you know, please keep those emails coming,
keep the reviews coming, and continue to share this with your friends and other
(02:59):
moms who need support and encouragement and need an opportunity to catch their
breath on this homeschooling journey.
So today, we're going to talk about our challenge for the month of February,
and obviously, it's going to be all about love, because why not?
And in this one, what we really are going to focus on is something super simple,
and And actually, let me say this. The first one is simple.
(03:20):
The next one is going to take a little bit of preparation. So let's just get
the simple out of the way.
This month, February going into March, even though we've just come back from
most of us some time off in December in the holidays.
A lot of times what can happen during this season is that we can start to feel frustrated.
(03:40):
We can start to feel exhausted and weary. and we can in some ways start to lose
our love for homeschooling.
If you're not in that place, that is wonderful.
Keep on doing what you're doing. But if you are in that place where you're struggling
a little bit, where you're starting to feel frustrated,
where you're starting to wonder and try to remind yourself why you did this,
(04:03):
then this is the perfect challenge for you because we're going to take time
each day during the month of
February and we have one extra day Since it's a leap year and we get 29,
we're going to look for 29 reasons that we love homeschooling.
Every single day, whether you want to do it in the beginning of your day or
whether you want to do it at the end of your day, just think about what you
(04:25):
love about homeschooling. And that is going to help you as you're moving on.
One of the things we talk about when I work with clients, we talk about really
looking at our mindset and then we talk about our motivation to be able to help
us to get to that momentum and then to mastery.
And when we're in that motivation stage, we need to remember why we're doing
(04:46):
this. And as you're looking at all those reasons, as you become a detective
searching for why you love this, it is going to help your motivation.
It's going to help you keep going because sometimes you can lose sight of that.
When you get into the everyday, you've been doing it now probably for the first part of the semester.
And so you start to get into that place where things may be challenging.
(05:08):
Things may feel ho-hum. It can kind of feel like, oh, we're doing the same thing
every single day. And so this is just to revive that, to remind us,
to refresh us, to help us to really reflect on why we're doing this,
why we love it. And it can be anything.
And your reasons are going to be so different than everyone else's.
And it can be that you love it for the freedom, that you love it for the individuality
(05:30):
that you get to give your children, that you love it because you get to customize
it, because you love it because you get to be with your children every day. day.
Whatever it is, 29 reasons, one reason each day, why do you love homeschooling?
And I would say that at the end of this, keep it somewhere in your lesson plan
book, in your planner, that you can just go back to that.
Or even put them on one thing I love with my kids. They love to do origami.
(05:54):
And so they made a jar with, I don't even know what those are called.
I want to say shrikens, which it was.
Shrikens and beautiful colors. And I could just put it in there.
They made me some baskets.
And so you just have those colors. Well, you can do that with your thing that
you really love about homeschooling. It may be that you get something and you write it on there.
(06:17):
Each day and then you put it in a little jar and so when you're
having a hard day when you're having a challenging day that you
just pull it out and remember what you love about it but I
think that this is going to help us to just get back to the love of it and I'm
going to be doing the same thing you obviously are welcome to come and share
in our homeschool group or if you want to just keep this intimate and close
(06:38):
to the heart 100 you can do that and then the second thing because we We want
to then pour that love outwards.
As I said, I learned about this, I think, I want to say it was,
I don't know, four years ago or something.
And I thought, the first year, I have to be honest. Let me just be honest with
you. Can I be honest? Okay.
When I first heard about it, I was like, that's a lot to do because I have four kids.
(07:00):
But then I did it and my kids loved it. And I was like, okay, so we got to do this.
And so what it is, is you will cut out 29 hearts for each of your children. I know, I know, I know.
29 hearts. But you can find something online. If you have one of those heart
stamp things that you can cut them out or even have them cut them out.
They love cutting. You have younger kids.
(07:21):
Make that the lesson for the day. Let's cut these hearts out.
And then what you do is write one thing that you love for each of your children
each day for 29 days. Oh, yes.
We were in my homeschool co-op and one of the moms was talking about that she
did it, which I thought, OK, so a lot of people are doing this.
And then we were just talking about how hard that gets when you
(07:42):
have more than two kids because now you have to think about all
these different things and what's even harder for us
is we do that on birthdays so for each year
that they have so like let's say when they're 11 we put 11 things that we love
about them 11 words that describe them or help us to remind us of what embodies
them and so you know thinking about all right so can I put the same words on
(08:05):
there will they forget it, trying to think of new ones,
29 is going to be a lot.
But I think what it does is stretches us.
I think it helps us as we're doing it each day to reflect on why we love our
children, which if we do it at the beginning of the day, then it can help the
rest of our homeschooling day to go really well.
(08:27):
If we do it at the end of the day, it can kind of put that bookmark to just
remind us what we're doing it.
And I pray that as you're doing this, that this is really going to build the
connection and deepen the connection that you're having with your child.
And you can even include your husband in it if you want and see what words he has to say.
But it just helps them to recognize that you see their uniqueness,
(08:49):
their individuality, and that you love who they are.
And we go one step forward and say, not just do I love this about you,
but I also like this about you.
Because I think it can be easy sometimes to show love, but not always show like.
And so you can choose to do it on their door each day.
You can choose to pass it out at your
(09:09):
homeschool table you can choose to hide it somewhere that
you know that they'll find you can choose to put it on the bathroom mirror you
can be as creative as you want to and I think that this will be something that
they look forward to but let me say this let me give a caveat and a warning
more than likely they are going to love it.
(09:31):
And you're not going to be able to stop now that's the only thing they'll look
forward to it And so it's something that you may find yourself doing every, every, every February.
But I think what's beautiful about that is that it gives you an opportunity
to stop, to take a moment, to pay attention, to express your love,
(09:53):
to express your appreciation.
And when you do that, I think that they can remember it. And my kids have not
kept theirs because we don't do a great job of keeping all the things.
But I've heard moms say that their kids keep them in notebooks and different
things and go back and look at them.
And I think that's just a beautiful memory and reminder.
So I pray that this one does not seem really challenging. As I said,
(10:14):
it's going to take a little bit of preparation.
But our challenge for the month of February is you're going to write one thing
that you love about homeschool, about homeschooling every day for 29 days during the month of February.
And then you're gonna write one thing that you love about each of your children,
put it on their door for 29 days.
And then maybe, you never know, my kids did it for me because they like to do
(10:37):
the things that I do and they put it all over the door. And I don't know if it was for Mother's Day.
It probably was for Mother's Day. I was thinking it was for February,
but it's probably for Mother's Day, but they put all the hearts on the door
so I knew they were paying attention.
I cannot wait to hear how you feel at the end of this month and how they feel.
And I pray that this one blesses you and it's something fun that you can do with your family.
(10:59):
Come into the group, share it with us and let us know how it's going.
All right, until next time.
Thank you for tuning in. I hope that this episode empowered,
equipped, and most of all, encouraged you.
Don't forget to share your thoughts on today's topics because I'd love to hear
how you're implementing these strategies.
And you can do that in the free community where you can connect with me and
(11:20):
other like-minded moms.
You'll get some practical tips for homeschooling and teaching your child,
managing your stress, and prioritizing your self-care.
You can also ask questions there. You can participate in the fun challenges.
And of course you can celebrate your wins because
we like to party over there also if this
was helpful and you know that it can be helpful to someone
(11:41):
else leave a review or share this with another homeschooling
mom who needs to catch her mommy well that's
my cue but before i go i want to leave you with these words
from philippians 4 6 through 7 i pray that you won't be anxious about anything
but that in every situation by prayer and petition with thanksgiving you would
(12:01):
would present your request to God and that you will experience the kind of peace
that surpasses understanding as you navigate the stresses of life and homeschooling.
Until next time, remember to take a moment.
Music.
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