1. Homeschooling doesn't mean babysitting. You are actually teaching your kids, just in a different way. 
2. Homeschooling isn't for everyone and that's ok. Do what feels right (and best) for your child. 
3. Preparation is key. Every day should be scheduled and prepared. 
4. Flexibility is also key. Kids some times have bad days the way adults do. Don't ever feel bad about throwing your schedule out for the day and winging it. It's ok. 
5. There are more families of color that homeschool than you think. 

If you want to learn more about homeschooling, do your research. There are tons of groups, organizations and websites that dig deep into how you do it and determining if its right for you. And if you want to know more about my experience, let me know - I'm happy to share!

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I’m so over the Terrible Twos. I love my little munchkin, but how the heck did I forget about this part of parenting? You know, the part where they go from being sweet little angels one day to acting like Tasmanian Devils the next?

I am – by no means – calling my kid a Devil but his flip in attitudes is crazy sometimes. Case in point, his latest temper tantrums these days tend to have something to do with the controller to the PS4. Either he can’t reach, we won’t let him have it, it’s not charged so it doesn’t light up or he can’t find it; either way, he’s going to pitch a fit. Usually I ignore him and let him ride it out, but then he goes a step further and throws things.

*record scratch*

Nope, not happening. The experts say that you should soothe, and talk to them about their feelings and what’s happening; help them understand that this too shall pass. Uh, yeah right. If I’ve learned anything about parenting in the almost-9-years that I’ve being doing it, you can’t calm “The Beast” once it’s provoked. Save your coddling and talking through things for when they aren’t in the middle of an epic meltdown – trust me on this.

So, what now? How do you survive the Terrible Twos with your sanity intact, house still standing, and people not battle weary? I think I may have figured out a few things to get you through it:

1. Move them to another room where they can wreck it and let them have at it. Listen – everything isn’t meant to be a talk about feelings; sometimes kids just have to let it out. Give them the space to do that and you can go clean the kitchen or watch tv until there are civilized to talk.
2. Time out. I don’t think timeout really works on kids younger than 3, but if it works for you, use it. Have them sit on the couch or in a chair next to you while they settle down. When they are calm, ask them what’s up and what that situation was all about. You might be surprised with the answer.
3. Take something away. My boys LOVE certain toys, so when their behavior is less than stellar, they lose the privilege of having that toy. My oldest has had a toy taken away for as long as year – mainly because I forgot about it and couldn’t remember where I hid it.
4. Grin and bear it. Time and time again my little guy goes from zero to thirty at the most inopportune times, case in point: the grocery store. I’ve been that mom with abandoning a basket and carrying a screaming child out of the store while red with embarrassment.

On Friday, August 4, we celebrated my oldest son's 9th birthday. I can't begin to tell you how crazy it is to me that I have a 9 year old. Seriously. I remember when I found out I was a pregnant with this kid (near Christmas) and then gave birth to him just as our first African-American president was running for office (and who happens to share the same birthday as him). He has been the biggest blessing and challenge of my life.

No one looks at parenthood as a challenge but let me tell you, it is. It's a challenge to think about how you will love someone so much and pray about how you hope you don't screw their lives up. My son(shine) is an absolute joy. This boy is a ball of pure energy, mixed with the biggest imagination ever, sprinkled with the brightest smile, touched with a huge heart, tossed in an amazed mind and topped with pure love. He is literally love and God personified. Even when he drives me crazy, makes huge messes, gets on his little brother's nerves, and can't seem to sit still, he is the best thing that ever happened to me and serves as a reminder of why I push myself so hard every single.

I'm ready to end this search of finding the perfect school for our son. I will talk about our school journey in another post and why we chose to homeschool, but right now I'm going to focus on our recent quest of finding a school to enroll him in.

School classroom

Let me start this post by saying my son does not have any learning abilities or special needs. Our decision to homeschool was by personal choice, and residual trauma from a horrible Pre-K experience (a bad teacher with no patience for 3 years old = drama!). In the last year, he has expressed interest in attending "real school" (aka public school). We aren't completely against the idea, but we definitely want to empower him to make decisions so, our journey began.

I have viewed, met, and spoken with teachers at public, private, Montessori, Christian, you name it - and one thing's for certain: every school is different. From the school calendar to the teaching method, everyone has their own way of doing things and that's pretty darn cool. In fact, we actually prefer Montessori schools over all of them but given some of the recent meetings, we're still not quite sure.

I'm sure many of you are saying, just put him in a school. Generally speaking, its just that simple but its not. We are fully involved, hands-on parents and quite frankly, schools just aren't what they used to be. You really truly have to spend time getting to know the school and especially the people that work within them. My parents were totally engaged in every aspect of my schooling all the way through college. I SO appreciate them for serving in one of the most important roles: my advocate.

We as parents forget that we are advocates for our children so it is our job to speak up when we need to it and to rally the troops when its time to put a plan in place. This next school year is going to be a dozy for us in a number of ways but I am fully committed to making the best possible choice for my little guy.