Back to School Prep... or Something Like That

Every July I think, This will be the year I’m ahead of the game. The school plans will be done, the kids' clothes sorted, the pencils sharpened, and the first week of lessons beautifully laid out.

And then July actually happens.

Right now, I’m surrounded by laundry piles taller than my children (who apparently all grew three inches overnight). The tomatoes are still green, the weeds are winning, and I’m locked in an ongoing battle with a deer that has developed a personal vendetta against my garden. It’s already taken out the radishes, the brussels sprouts, and is now making a run at my snap peas...the one thing I was most looking forward to harvesting.

Inside the house, the kids are more focused on video games, water fights, and overnight camp countdowns than on anything remotely academic. And honestly? I get it.

Meanwhile, I have two roosters that need culling, a gate that still isn’t built, and a chicken tractor that has to be finished before 50 meat birds arrive in two weeks. And let’s not even talk about the pickles. I gave up on those after too many soggy, vinegary failures. I’ve accepted that my calling in life does not include crunchy dill success.

So no, I don’t have a picture-perfect plan for school yet. What I do have is a reminder: this season is always going to be busy, messy, and a little off-kilter, and that’s okay. Because homeschooling and homesteading aren’t about perfection. They’re about perseverance. About building a life where learning happens in muddy boots, in between garden rows, and sometimes right after we catch the deer in the act.

This year, the plan will come together in pockets of quiet. It might be written between evening chores or during the 12 minutes the kids are occupied with a sprinkler. It won’t be perfect, but it will be real, and ours.

If you're feeling behind or buried under tomatoes (or the lack of them), just know you’re not alone. We’re all doing our best, even if that means the school year starts with mismatched socks and a half-built chicken tractor.