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Written by Caitlin Fitzpatrick Curley of My Little Poppies

I’ve lived in New England my entire life, and I’d rather be outdoors than inside, but somehow I never learned to ski.

When my husband and I were first married, he bought me ski lessons.

It was the perfect gift, really. I had always wanted to learn. My husband is an avid skier and this would be another outdoor activity we could enjoy together.

I wanted to love it.

I tried really, really hard to love it. 

But there’s this thing that happens when you learn to ski in your thirties. It’s called FEAR.

When you are young, you are fearless. You pop on those skis and zoom down the mountaintop with nary a care in the world.

If we’re being completely honest, it wasn’t so much that I was afraid to fall or crash into a tree. (Although I was.)

I was afraid of crushing one of the eighty gazillion fearless young skiers whizzing past me left and right. I had images of pinning someone’s sweet child to a tree, rendering him unconscious.

Plus, I was cold. And my knees hurt. And I kept wishing I could be snowshoeing. Or hiking. Or cross country skiing. Anything other than downhill skiing.

Downhill skiing: aw, hell no!

I hated my first ski lesson (although I didn’t tell my husband).  I wasn’t ready to give up yet. I still wanted to love it.

We tried again.

I hated it even more… and I just knew. I knew deep down in my gut that downhill skiing was never going to be my thing. This was never going to happen.

I had to confess to my skier husband that this sport was not for me. I had to crush his ski dreams. He’d have to wait until we had a passel of fearless kids to zoom down the mountain with. 

I told him that it could be THEIR thing, something they could all enjoy together. I could read in the ski lodge with a cup of coffee and meet them afterward and they could tell me all about their adventures. It would be great.

[This is happening now, and it is great… especially that reading alone bit.]

My husband was disappointed, but he understood. Skiing, for me, was a hell no. (More on that in a minute.)

sitting through the super bowl: hell no!

You probably already know this, but yesterday was the Super Bowl.

I grew up in a family of sports fanatics, and I never quite fit in.

I’ve always been athletic. I love to hike, to run, to swim. I love watching live sporting events* … but I have zero attention span for televised sports.

* I love watching live sporting events except for football.

You guys: I hate football. I’m sorry, I just do. 

As a kid, I tried to understand it but it makes my eyes glaze over. To me, it’s all whistles and crashing into each other.

But people love football. It’s hard to avoid.

During high school, I’d go to the football games with my friends. And I hated every minute.

In college and beyond, I went to Super Bowl parties at the urging of my friends. And I hated every minute.

“Oh, come! You’ll have fun! Plus, the commercials are great!”

I love my friends to the moon and back, but I have never enjoyed a Super Bowl party.

It was about ten years ago that I had a Super Bowl epiphany. I don’t know why it took me so long, but I realized that football in general, and the Super Bowl in particular, were never going to be my thing.

For me, football is a hell no.

And so I swore off all Super Bowl parties. Ask me to go and you’ll get a big, fat nope. It’s not personal, it’s just that football is a hell no.

These past ten years have been wonderful! I spend Super Bowl Sunday afternoons playing with the kids outdoors, and I spend the evening reading a favorite book…with zero interruptions because everyone else is watching the Super Bowl.

What is Your Homeschool Hell Yes?

Finding your homeschool “hell yes”

On a recent episode, Kara mentioned a video titled No “yes.” Either “HELL YEAH!” or “no” by Derek Sivers.

(It’s fantastic and you should go watch it now. Go on, I’ll wait for you right here.)

She also recommended this book, which I purchased immediately.

The book is so good that I read it during the Superbowl (see image above).

All of this got me thinking about how these principles can be applied to homeschooling.

When you think about it, we are homeschooling in a fantastic age. There are almost too many options out there! It can be easy to look at homeschool blogs and Instagram and Pinterest and think that you should be doing that, and that, and that, and also that.

But you can’t do all the things. You need to find your Homeschool Hell Yes.

What do you love? What do your kids love? What homeschool activities do you enjoy doing together?

Do more of that, and less of what everyone on Instagram is doing.

Experiment. Dive down rabbit holes. Get lost in learning. Discover your joy.

Find your Homeschool Hell Yes.

Maybe it’s unit studies. Or lap booking. Or Charlotte Mason. Or unschooling. Or classical ed. Or maybe it’s a unique mix of it all. Maybe it’s none of the above.

Your Homeschool Hell Yes should fit your family, your philosophy, and your lifestyle. You know you’ve found your Homeschool Hell Yes when everything feels a bit easier, when you feel like you’ve found your rhythm.

Your Homeschool Hell Yes is not a magic bullet. It doesn’t make everything perfect, but it does make things feel lighter.

Do you want to know our family’s Homeschool Hell Yes? Our Homeschool Hell Yes includes fantastic read alouds and educational games!

Reading books and playing games is working for us right now. We love it, the kids are learning, and we are –gasp!– having a good time.

If this Homeschool Hell Yes starts to fail, I’ll reassess. I’ll tweak. I’ll discover a new Hell Yes. 

Until then, we’ll read and play.

I won’t waste time with all those Homeschool Hell Nos.

Do you want to read more about our Homeschool Hell Yes?

Check out these related posts:

• • Guide to Gameschooling: Learning Through Play | The Homeschool Sisters

• • Coffee and Books: An unexpected homeschool game-changer | Simple Homeschool

• Gameschool Challenge: Add More Play to Your Day! | My Little Poppies

Now, it’s your turn. Tell us: what is yOUR HOMESCHOOL HELL YES? Share here!

BE SURE TO FOLLOW THE HOMESCHOOL SISTERS

We are giving away one favorite homeschool resource every weekday throughout the month of February 2017.

You’re not going to want to miss it! The giveaways will happen on Facebook and Instagram, but we’d love it if you could follow us everywhere. You can hang out with Cait and Kara on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.

PSST…DID YOU KNOW YOU CAN SUPPORT THE HOMESCHOOL SISTERS PODCAST WITHOUT SPENDING ANY EXTRA?

Many listeners have asked how they can support The Homeschool Sisters Podcast. The answer is a simple one. Do you shop online? Click our link first. You won’t pay any extra, but a small percentage goes toward The Homeschool Sisters Podcast to help offset our expenses. Every little bit counts, and we are so grateful for your support!