i think i can, i think i can

Growing up, my most favorite book was “The Little Engine that Could” by Watty Piper. My aunts and grandmother read it to me tirelessly and I really believe it shaped my personality. I don’t give up easily. I push and push to get something done even when everyone says it can’t be done. Uphill, downhill, it doesn’t matter. Forward motion is all that counts.

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.

It’s spring. There’s something like 4-6 weeks left of the school year and for a lot of us homeschool moms, it’s the hardest time of year. It’s when it’s much more interesting (and more fun) to plan next year than it is to finish the tasks left for this year. If you’re like me, you wistfully think about all the things you’ll do different next year. And by different, I mean better.

These daydreams carry you off like visions of candys and toys.

The uphill battle of getting up and getting it done gets harder and harder because the spring weather calls to you through your windows. The climb to the end of the curriculum is tedious and requires you to slow your climb though you’d much rather be coasting downhill into summer. The wheels are spinning and sometimes losing traction because you feel like you’re running out of time.

How will the children ever know all. the. stuff?

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.

I think I can was the Little Engine’s mantra. The thing he chanted over and over to get him through the valleys of “I can’t” and the hills of “no way.” And it’s the thing I hear in my head thanks to the hours of read-alouds as a child. It’s what I tell myself when it feels like I just plain can’t.

Of course, even the Little Engine couldn’t do it without the toys to cheer him on, the smiles of those waiting kids to encourage him. What about you? Do you have community rallying beside you? A mentor or “sister” encouraging you to the finish line of this school year? If not, send us an email or set-up a Coffee Chat. We’d love to teach you how to say, “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can” and then show you that you can.

With Love, Kristy