{"id":65382,"date":"2024-07-03T15:00:01","date_gmt":"2024-07-03T19:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/?p=65382"},"modified":"2026-02-18T10:34:44","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T15:34:44","slug":"homeschool-moms-fearful-experiment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/homeschool-moms-fearful-experiment\/","title":{"rendered":"A Homeschool Mom’s Fearful Experiment"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A Homeschool Mom’s Fearful Experiment ~ <\/em>
\nWritten by Jamie C. Martin<\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

I’ve failed again;
\nI know it.
\nThere are a million ways
\nI’ve shown it.<\/p>\n

I’d been feeling so good about our progress,
\nThen you came home and said you couldn’t fill out the form.
\nAll of the other kids did, but
\nyou weren’t sure how to spell the words.<\/p>\n

My heart smashed flat like a grape under siege at a winery.
\nI could barely breathe. Sick to my core.
\nOver-reacting? Yes, I’m aware.
\nDoes that make it stop? Never.<\/p>\n

You see, my child,
\nI care so much and know so little.
\nI have no real-life role models for this journey and
\nyou are my Mad Scientist experiment.<\/p>\n

What I want for you is wonder, play, delight, childhood.
\nWhat I want for you is different.
\nBut different is scary.
\nTerrifying, in fact.<\/p>\n

There’s comfort in sameness.
\nComfort, even, in following the crowd off a cliff.
\nAt least everyone’s together.
\nA pile of bodies at the bottom to cushion the blow.<\/p>\n

But on our side of the mountain, there’s no trail.
\nWe ascend or fall on our own.
\nWe’re the mapmakers, the pioneers,
\nnot even knowing our destination.<\/p>\n

I try to remind myself to look up
\nat the unfolding view,
\ninstead of obsessing over each step.
\nYet the fear of stumbling is real.<\/p>\n

I remember this each time I see you fill out a form,
\na young man now.
\nWe figured it out together.
\nYou were my student, now I’ve become yours.<\/p>\n

You teach me that adulting doesn’t always have to mean struggle.
\nThat a foundation of love covers a multitude of tiny cracks.
\nIt turns out that some of life’s best discoveries
\nhappen in Mad Scientist home laboratories.<\/p>\n

The raw, rough materials,
\nquite ordinary on their own,
\ncombine into something much greater
\nthan the sum of their parts.<\/p>\n

It’s alchemy,
\nmagic in motion.
\nYou jump off the cliff,
\nand rise.<\/p>\n

*****<\/p>\n

The above was inspired by an incident that happened years ago with my son Jonathan, and I surprised him with the poem during the FINAL EPISODE of the Simple Homeschool podcast, ready for you now!<\/strong><\/p>\n

In this episode, Jonathan (homeschooled K-12)<\/em> also gives those of you feeling worried about your kids’ future an encouraging pep talk from his perspective, having graduated two years ago. And we recap the most popular episodes<\/a><\/strong> he and I have recorded together, including:<\/p>\n