Grab a cup of coffee or your favorite snack and settle in for my favorite post of the month! In this month’s Coffee Break, I’m chatting about the Mid-Year Reader Survey results and my feelings about homeschooling our 9-year old. I’m also answering some of your “Ask Megan” questions. So get cozy and let’s chat!

Coffee Break

Catch up on past Coffee Break posts HERE!

How Are You?

So…how are you doing, friends? That seems to be the question I see reverberating the most around my family chats, friend text chains, and social media feeds. And it’s the one on my mind today: how are you?

I’ll be honest…we’re creeping, ever so slowly, toward our breaking point. Friday, March 13th is when the whole “life at home” started for our family; and until lately, I’ve been “okay.” While it certainly took a lot of adjusting and a vast majority of the last few months haven’t been fun or easy, I’ve been mentally, physically, and emotionally hanging in there.

Until a few weeks ago when our school district went 100% virtual for the start of school.

I knew it was coming, but it was a true gut punch all the same to hear that Henry will most likely be home with me…100%…until February. February. That afternoon, when this new reality fully sunk in, was the very first day I cried and screamed (and cried and screamed and cried and screamed) about all of this. And I have felt myself struggling…emotionally, mentally, socially…ever since.

I’m just gonna say it: there is one main reason I send my child to school. Completely aside from running a home-based business, not feeling qualified to educate, and acknowledging the social benefits of traditional schooling…it’s primarily because Henry and I are a really bad combination when it comes to schoolwork. I first saw it at a young age when I would try to teach him how to hold a pencil or use a scissors. And it’s gotten worse with each passing year. Whether it’s a single worksheet for homework, a science fair project, or even helping him through a LEGO manual…he doesn’t respond to me…at all…and I can’t hold my patience together enough to help him sufficiently. Within minutes, any learning situation becomes combative, tear-inducing, and stressful…for both of us.

I have known for years that homeschooling was never a viable option for Henry, so you can understand the “100% school at home” situation is my own personal nightmare (and his too). This is not to say I don’t support the county’s decision or teachers’ concerns over the virus (both of which I do). This is just to say that homeschooling reeeaaallly doesn’t work for Henry and I, and I am deeply worried about the emotional health of our household in the next 6 months. Greg and I have thought through countless options and situations (none of which I am going to detail here and now), but we have come to the conclusion we are just going to have to find ways to persevere through our county’s distance learning plan.

We’re starting with setting Henry up a new homeschooling environment (I’ll share what we settle on later this month), and I’m mentally preparing to dig really deep into my already-dry well of patience in order to guide him through this. From there, we’ll take it one day at a time. This entire situation reminds Greg and I so much of a deployment: you just put your head down, barrel through, and count down the days until it’s over.

That’s where I’m at on the “pandemic rollercoaster” this month…how about you?

Reader Survey Results

Last month, I featured a mid-year reader survey, and THANK YOU to all of you who chimed in! I’m going to share some specific results you might be wondering about below; but in general, I was so excited to read that most of you are loving what I’m already doing and want to see more of a lot of the content I already have coming down the pipeline! Long-time readers know I’ve bounced around and struggled a lot with finding my precise niche; and I think this is the first survey that really validated that I am (finally!) doing what resonates with me AND you! Yay!

For the data lovers out there, here is how the YES/NO questions panned out:Coffee Break

As far as post requests, project ideas and the “Ask Megan” questions, I was surprised to see some really consistent themes in your answers. In addition to wanting to see even more DIY, organization, and renter-friendly content, I was somewhat taken aback (although, I probably shouldn’t be) by how many want to know more about our military lifestyle. I used to post military content fairly regularly, but fell out of the habit for a variety of reasons. Since SO many people asked, I’ll be sure to sprinkle even more details in where I can!

A lot of you also asked about my personal fitness, sleep routine, and life in general with three young kids. Although many of you seem to think I am some sort of “Super Woman,” I assure you I am not (see my homeschooling struggle above!) so I’ll start sharing some of these ” real life” details in my Ask Megan features!

Finally, thank you to the almost 100 people who offered to provide me blog feedback! I’ll be sending the form out in the next few weeks so keep an eye on your Inbox for that!

Psssst – You are on my mailing list, right? I send out an exclusive third weekly “post” every Sunday morning, and it often covers a lot of FAQs I get or topics I think you want to read about. It’s short and sweet, and a lot of you have been telling me it’s one of your favorite things I’m doing right now! Subscribe using the form at the bottom of this post!

Ask Megan

Behind-the-scenes, I am slowly (and I really mean slowly) building up a backlog of content so that I can eventually get up to posting three times per week. When I get there, I’d love to switch the “Ask Megan” concept to a post series of its own. Until then, I’ll add a few questions to the bottom of each Coffee Break post!

Q: Did you ever finish the quilt you were working on in Kansas?

A: Nope. (Wow – good memory, by the way!) Actually, I’m not sure if you’re referring to the “Ice Quilt” I mentioned here, the Block-of-the-Month quilt I worked on for the year we lived in Kansas, or Sam’s baby quilt that I started here…but the answer is still “nope” to all three. (See?!? I don’t finish every project I start!) Somewhere along the way, I fell out of love with the process of assembling quilts and have kind of accepted that it’s not really my crafting strong suit. In fact, I’m kind of amazed to look back at the quilts I have made (you can see a bunch of them here) and marvel at the time I must have had “back then,” ha! I’ll never say I’ll never quilt again (because I do LOVE picking fabrics and gorgeous patterns) but it’s just not the type of crafting I enjoy these days.

Q: Any thoughts on buying a home in the future?

A: Quite a few of you actually asked this question (or a similar variant)! It’s not a quick or easy answer (is anything ever “quick” with me?!?) so I’ve assembled an entire post outlining our rent vs. buy strategy. Stay tuned for that in September!

Q: How long will you be staying in this house?

A: We should be in this house for the next two years (making it a total of three). Without diving into a long story, there was a small chance we’d move next summer if Greg was selected for Command. But Greg (and I) chose to pull his name from consideration so that our family could have some stability. This last transition was really hard for Henry, and we all feel like we lost our first year here because of the pandemic. By removing his name from consideration, there is no chance he will be chosen this time around, and we therefore shouldn’t have to move before his three year orders are up. At least we hope…there is NO guarantee with the military, and we’ve been blindsided before!

Have a question you’d love to see me answer?!? Ask away in the form below:

Alright my friends, that finishes up this month’s updates! I do hope you and yours are hanging in there during this wild and crazy time. I don’t think I say this enough, so I’ll finish with this: thank you SO MUCH for stopping by, saying hi, and being supportive for everything I do here! I need you as much as you need me these days 😉!

See You Soon!
Megan