Its official........

I now have two college students.  I am so proud of them both. They both were accepted prior to graduation, both home-schooled their entire school career, and they are both just amazing human beings. 

I have raised two incredible humans on my own.  Life is great, just as it should be.  Way to go A18 getting accepted to all the schools she applied to and to C19 for being a straight A college student for the last two years.  Its just incredible!  This joy is what all parents should feel when they actually participate in raising kids.  Nothing compares to it really.

So many people ask me literally daily how I do all the things I do and continue to be laughing and happy..........

Me trying to support my kids but I would not have it any other way......

Retweet!

Gawd......

~

Self-explanatory...........

So true.....

~

So true.........

Can't believe it.......

we moved in to our apartment to get a fresh start. Moving here was one of the best decisions I made for my family.

We have great neighbors and an awesome apartment.

So blessed!

Words to live by.........

Amen.........

~

Reasons single parent homeschooling is awesome and doable.....

and a few tricks and a little encouragement to keep you on track.

It is very difficult to be a full-time everything but after spending a lot of time trying to figure out what works, I am getting pretty darn good at doing everything on my own, not depending on anyone else and my girls not depending on anyone else either.  After I got rid of the King of Hell. When I filed for divorce and became single parent after 16 years, my first thoughts were okay now what?   It did not take me long to get back up on my feet and face all of the adversity that was being thrust my way.  Really, there were not a lot of options, I have two children that need a parent to be strong and take care of them so that is what I did and continue to do.

Honestly, there are days that I am so tired and worn out I just want to crash but I cannot let my children down, they have been let down enough so I just keep going and going.  They see how much I do for them, they appreciate it, and I know this situation has given them a few ideas on how to conduct themselves later in life when it comes to marriage/children, and this I am VERY,VERY grateful for.

I am certainly not the first or the only single, working, homeschooling momma but when people find out that I am a single, full-time working, homeschooling momma, the questions start flying.  They look at me like I have three heads.  I am all too happy to answer their questions, and I see the reasoning behind their curiosity.  Being a single, working, homeschooling mom is a fairly unique demographic and homeschooling is situation-specific -i.e. everyone has their own way and their own reasons for homeschooling.   I get emails and messages from other moms, newly single moms, and single mom wannabes wanting to know how I do it all so here are a few tips and a little bit of encouragement from me.

If your life has taken you and your children down an unexpected path and you were already homeschooling, I highly recommend you continue homeschooling if at all possible.  Why?  Stability! When a parent leaves, children have to deal with it so making more drastic changes would just add more to their already full plates.

Navigating as a single parent (a single parent with full custody and have the kids 99.0% of the time is what I am referring to) takes time to figure out, the children will have to learn to navigate this path as well.  Everyone will need time to adjust to their new lives.

My divorce took three LONG, LONG, LONG, exhausting years to finalize but luckily (thanks to me and my peeps) my children were able to keep their same routines and activities and continue to do the things they enjoy.  They are actually getting to do more than they ever have before.  For them, there was just one less person in the house and no money.  They did not have to be dumped off to sit in a building all day long and put on a good face.  They had a chance to grieve and recover which I believe they have done beautifully.

A big bonus of homeschooling is family unity.  My girls and I are very close.  I love spending time with them.  They are a pleasure to be around.  We have a lot of fun times, a lot of fun times.

My best advice is to be extremely organized.  I cannot stress this enough.  Time is valuable so make every second count.  I am not suggesting a rigid schedule, just keep things on an even flow so everyone knows what to expect.

Also keeping things simple is necessary.  Being a single mom with 100% of the responsibilities on your shoulders -i.e. finances, cooking, cleaning, teaching, working, activities, and for us packing everyone up to move to a new place is enough to make anyone go crazy.  That is why you must keep it simple.  Some things will have to go by the wayside.

Have a good support system in place is my final big one.  Have a close group of family and friends that can help you through this journey especially in the beginning so you don't crash and burn.

Enjoy your kids while you can because before you know it, they will be all grown up and off to college or off to some other great adventure that is waiting for them.  

Cinderella, Cinderella, CinderELLA!!!

My life is so busy!!  Back to school = back to busy.  

My August to do list is huge!!!!

For example, tomorrow is our first official day of the new homeschooling year.  We have to be at co-op early in the morning.  I need to work at my home job before that and get everyone out the door so we are on time.  Monday's are usually the busiest day for us.  After co-op, I have to work at my home job again, as well as dinner, laundry, dishes, and etc..............Never ending list.

Big things to do in August.
~Call the IRS (GAG).  I need to locate my half of the joint tax refund that I was supposed to get in 2012.  I need this money for our move.  I think I will do this Tuesday between working and teaching.  I anticipate it will take a while.
~Prepare for court.  Lots to accomplish on this court date.
~Pack, pack, and pack.  We are going to need to move in a few months.  Foreclosure.  That is what happens when you put too much trust in someone who does not deserve it.  We will make it though, I would never let my kids down!
~Start hauling stuff out of the house.
~Renew driver's license.
~Doctors appointments.
~Dentist appointments.

Those are the biggies.  I also get to homeschool, work full-time, be a single parent, cook, clean, do the pet care, and all the running around.  I am a very busy person, I am doing this on my own.  If I drop one ball, they all fall down.  I cannot let that happen.

A few tips:
~Keep your priorities straight.
~Say NO!
~Take a break.
~Slow down.
~Drink lots of water.
~Focus on the end results.
~Eyes on the prize, Violet.

Happy living..............

Noncustodial parenting..............

The noncustodial parents deadbeats have it easy.

They do not take any responsibility for their children, they show up when it is convenient for them to do so, they bribe the kids with things, they don't pay child support as ordered and yet they harass and criticize the custodial parent who does/provides everything relentlessly.

In the end, they are really missing out on everything, and they have no one to blame but themselves.

The kids are not worried because they trust their custodial parent to make sure they have the basics.  The bond between a custodial parent and the kids is completely different than that of the deadbeat!

Monday, how do you do it?

I am frequently asked how I make it day-to-day but especially on Mondays.  Honestly, I don't know.  I just do what I have to because my kids depend on me 100%!  I don't have an option, I have to get everything done.

So Monday starts out with me typing as much of my medical transcription as I can before 11 a.m.

I have teenagers so they get to sleep in until around 10ish especially on Mondays since I have so much to do.  They eat breakfast and get ready.  They have to take care of the massive amount of pets we have before we head out for the day as well.

If we are lucky, they can do a little bit of their homeschooling done before we leave but usually, it is not too much.  The Monday classes count as their school for the day anyway so it is not that big of a deal.

If things are running smoothly, I try to squeeze in more transcription.  I also have to have all of my Monday class supplies and activities ready to go which I usually do the day before.

There is also more eating in here somewhere but we usually just wing it at this point.

Then we head out to Monday classes.  When we show up, we usually get side-tracked talking or whatever.  I have to make copies before my classes so I can't talk too long.

Then it is class, class, class, and then head home which we usually have at least one friend come home with us or a few show up later to hang out which is always fun!

I, of course, have to feed them again.  I go back to typing my transcription, cleaning up, and doing all of the other stuff I need to do because I am a full-time, single momma so it all falls on me.

 They hang out.  I hurry to get everything done so we can call it a day and watch tv together for family time and relax from the long day.

Did I mention it is 9 p.m. at this point?

After that, I go back to transcription, if there is any left to do, make sure everything else that needed to be done is done, and then try to go to sleep which for me is around three hours later.

This is a lot to accomplish in one day but it gets done because it has to!!

And that is how you get Monday done!

"How do you do it all?" I hear this at least once a week from someone. I have blogged about this many times.

I read this every day! 

Here is the truth.  I don't!  I can't!  No one can but my kids are the reason for everything I do.  I can't give up, I can't fall apart, I can't settle for less.  I can't, can't, can't........because of my girls.  So every day I do anything and everything I can to make sure they have what they need as best I can.  If they are happy, I am happy.  Plus they see that I can work multiple jobs, homeschool them both, volunteer in the community, and do the dozens of other activities I do each week.  They see what picking up the pieces and moving on looks like.  I never imagined this would be my life but I am so grateful it is.  I am such a different person than I was a year and a half ago.  I am strong and fierce.  I am not putting up with anybody for any reason.  I don't have to so why would I?  I am so freeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.........  I do things now that I did not think I would be doing and having a great time.  It is so nice not being underneath someone else's shadow.  I am a much better everything single than I ever was married.  Maybe it depends on the person you marry but who cares?  Not me!  My life is better than it has been in years in so many ways.  As long as my girls are happy and healthy, and they are, I am happy.  At the end of the day, family is all that matters.  I feel sorry for people who screw up their lives because they are selfish or stupid.  One day they will see what they have done but it will be too late.

"YOU MUST DO THE THINGS YOU THINK YOU CANNOT DO." 

ELEANOR ROOSEVELT

I love Pinterest! I wish it could be my full-time job...........

but since it cannot, sigh, I did find a way to use it to my advantage.  I am a medical transcriptionist, and I have to look up a lot of info so when I find something good/useful, I pin it to my medical transcription board so I can have it for reference next time.

Check out my medical transcription Pinterest board here.
You might also like my single mommas board, my budget/money board, and my work at home, homeschooling moms board.