Why I Paused My Homeschooling Blog

Like many, I begin each new year with a fresh perspective, exciting plans, and somewhat lofty goals. Knowing 2024 would be my last year actively homeschooling, I began thinking about what I wanted to do as this fifteen year-long chapter of life was rapidly coming to an end. Since I couldn’t convince my husband to sell our house and explore the country like gypsies, picking odd jobs up along the way, I began to focus on what I could do as a retired homeschool mom, homemaker, and wannabe blogger.

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I started a homeschooling blog a few years ago. It was a fantastic time of writing reviews for The Homeschool Review Crew, as well as my own reviews, finds, and ideas about homeschooling, but I wanted to take it further. I wanted to be a “professional homeschooling guru”, and have masses of people flock to my website for reviews and advice.

That didn’t happen, but I have a message and a zeal for homeschooling. So, in mid-February, I paid someone to tell me everything that was wrong with my blog. Ouch! I was so eager to make the recommended improvements in the spring, but life paused my blog.

A year of inactivity on my blog was not something I ever intended to happen. But it did.

The Long Pause

The first pause: I hit menopause. Rather it hit me, like a blazing hot, gooey sweet potato. Have you ever felt your knee caps sweat? Well, they do. It’s hard to concentrate on anything, because I feel like I may turn into a puddle of hot sweet potato goo at any given moment. I’m still struggling, but am managing things well with my new best friend, DeWalt.

Next pause: My son graduated. I know the goal is to work your way out of a job, but I wasn’t ready! I mean, that’s it? We’re done? I have so much more I wanted to teach! I quietly had a hard time letting go. People aren’t kidding when they say the days are long, but the years are short. Too short.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get the opportunity to properly celebrate him (or me) for that matter. My dad’s health was in decline. The first week of summer, we were given the bad news that his cancer is spreading faster than his treatments could keep up with. Vacations, the beach, and my blog were again put on pause.

In Between the Pauses

Whenever I have free time (which has not been much), I’ve been wading through the depths of web design, techie things that I’m not cut out for, and pipe dreams of becoming that “professional homeschool guru”. Even though homeschooling is on the rise, overcrowded public schools still exist. That’s a clear indication that I have work to do!

So, what’s a recently retired homeschool mom with a lifelong passion for homeschooling to do?

Well, my sleeves are already rolled up (thanks to menopause), and I’m ready to jump back into what I love – homeschooling!

Pauses are Good

I need structure, and am addled when things go off course. This past year, however, I never viewed the pauses as a setback. I’ve learned life’s pauses are exceptional things that come with having a full life.

My paused blog provided me the time to think about the direction I’m aiming for. I will probably never become that “professional homeschooling guru” with masses of followers, but I hope to at least become a source of sound, solid help to those on their homeschool journey. I’d love to keep seeing the upward trend in homeschooling, even a societal shift. Most of all, I’d love that everyone who reads my blog becomes a Fanatic like me.