I started homeschooling Adrienne—and later, Addison—beginning in kindergarten. Though it was a tricky new venture to figure out, the rewards quickly outshone any challenges. We were in full control of our family calendar, no rushing out the door every morning, only to return home cranky and anxious. I was free to design our routine and shape curriculum to fit our family’s rhythm, not the other way around.

My husband, Steve, is an entrepreneur who works from home, which meant travel is easy to arrange. Studying space? We headed to NASA and met real astronauts. Exploring civil rights? Birmingham offered lessons beyond the textbook. Covering American history? Off we went to Washington, D.C. We forged our own little adventure co-op, building memories while learning in real time.

What I realized from planning each subject, each adventure, and each grade level was that I must also plan for myself.

It’s easy, as homeschool moms, to pour everything into preparing our children for the future while losing sight of our own. But if we don’t prioritize our personal growth, no one else will do it for us. One day, those kids will graduate; we’ll have taught our last lessons, planned the last field trips, and our homeschool career will roll to a quiet stop. Then what?