It sounds like it would be all peaches and cream to have a spouse with a home office. There are, in fact, some good things about your spouse working from home, however, sometimes it can be frustrating and a challenge to coordinate homeschooling and a spouse’s full-time job at home.
First, imagine that you have just settled into a rather interesting discussion on the Hagia Sophia with your 5th and 6th graders. You’ve pulled out the websites with interesting videos, you’ve found the great pictures, and you’ve read the chapter in your history book pertaining to this time period in Constantinople’s heyday. Your kids are all intrigued and attentive. Then, the fun parent walks in the room with something totally off topic to discuss. Now the kids are distracted and the points you were about to make are totally lost—bummer.
Second, your day has started with a rather high energy three-year-old. All he wants to do is show you and the other kids, that you are trying to teach, every single toy in the house. You have attempted to say the same two bits of instruction four or five times already, each time a little louder than the previous. Your superhero spouse steps in, since he works in his basement office below you, and swoops the noisemaker out of the room. He realizes that if he didn’t come in at that exact moment, someone might have left the room with a lot less hair—that someone being YOU—sweet.
Third, when your spouse works in a home-based office, you and the kids have to keep your noise-level to a dull roar sometimes. You might want to stomp out all the pronouns as your chant them or slap crazy stickers to the periodic table you have hanging on the dining room wall, but you might just have to wait until the important phone call is done. Thoughtful.
So, yes, having a work at home spouse in your homeschooling family means that someone is home just about all the time. It means you can have an extra hand when you need one. It means you have to be thoughtful of others, a basic human skill of respect. And it means that although interruptions are a nuisance, it’s a wise thing to model interpersonal relationships for your kids.
Lindsay Banton is a caffeinated mother with three great kids. She never expected to homeschool, but has found that it is a wonderful addition to their lifestyle and wouldn’t change it for the world. In addition to homeschooling, Lindsay works alongside her husband in campus ministry at a large university in Connecticut. She grew up in Virginia but has settled into life in New England, learning to love the long winters, cool springs, green summers and gorgeous autumns- and has built a boot collection to meet all the demands. She is currently blogging at www.oaksreplanted.blogspot.com.
