Conflict of Interest

 Have you ever been torn betwixt two? Two decisions of upmost importance? As a mom that homeschools her children I have found myself in this place on more than one occassion. This time the ugly culprit was the chicken pox.
  My husband thinks of me as a 'go to' kind of girl. Give me something to do or that needs to be done and I have analyzed it, made a list, and have already employed several of our children to help accomplish the task. So as a homeschooling mother I look at our studies in this same way! Analyze what needs to be done for the day, make a list (even if it's a mental one) and then work away at it until it is finished. My problem with this is when our children are sick. It is so hard for me to just let them be, well, sick. It is not in my lesson plans, I have no place for it on my 'list' and it is just down right aggrivating (tongue in cheek!)
  Dealing with colds or the flu is one thing...the chicken pox...well, that has been a whole new ball game!! We had 3 sick children...that is half of my student body!!!! What to do?!?!? I struggled so hard with myself. I felt obligated to that part of me that is a die hard 'get it done' mentality and yet I felt guilty for 'gently' encouraging them to try do get at least some of their school work done.
  So one night, while laying in bed I was pouring my heart to my husband over feeling guilty because we were not getting the amount of school work accomplished that I thought we needed to. My husband, who is so very practical (my anchor) just looked at me and said 'You need to be their mom,not their school teacher.'
  Ah! How could I stray so far away from what I am? I am a mother to our children before I am a teacher in the academic sense. If they were enrolled in a traditional school they would not be doing school work. No, they would be cuddled on the couch and I would be watching over them and trying to make them as comfortable as possible. The teacher in me did not have time for sickness, but the mother in me would make sure they were well taken care of.
 Mothers. especially mothers that are stay at home moms/homeschooling moms, wear many, many, many different 'hats'. Sometimes we just need to be reminded that the most important  'hat' to wear, at all times, is that of mother!