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I'm Sara, the voice behind Chasing Jupiter, wife to my best friend, and homeschool mom to our two young boys.
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  • “When little people are overwhelmed by big emotions, it’s our job to share our calm not join their chaos.” -L. R. Knost 🌿 ———————————— I was recently scrolling through a Christian homeschool group on facebook and came across a post from an obviously overwhelmed mom. She was in need of a break and her children were struggling too. I was about to jump in with a word of encouragement because, let’s face it, we’ve all been there! I couldn’t help but notice the comments. Many moms recommending she just needed to control her kids, enforce punishments and time-outs. Take away activities, and many proudly stating that their children would be spanked for that behaviour. All using “godly parenting” for their reasoning. ———————————— I’m not intending this post to be one of judgement, just reflection on my part. I couldn’t help but think that the majority of so called “biblical” or “Christian” parenting isn’t very Jesus like at all. It lacks grace and mercy in the continuous search for sin. Sin we imagine in our children because they’re pushing our buttons or triggering our own emotions. Instead of listening and understanding the why of a behaviour we easily fall into a trap of judging each choice and behaviour as either obedience or defiance in need of correction and punishment. ———————————— It’s easy to resort to punishments and threats when we’re feeling overwhelmed and exhausted. And I’ve learned over time that modelling patience, compassion, respect, self-control, and mercy when we are most overwhelmed has the greatest effect on our children’s lives, our relationship with them, and simply the kind of day we have. ———————————— Remember, our children are growing and learning. They quite literally do not have the capacity to act as mature and adult-like as we might want. They aren’t out to give us a hard time, they are having a hard time, and there is always a “why” behind the behaviour. Let’s figure out the why, even when they may not know themselves. ———————————— What are some ways you build your children up through relationship and connection when the day is going less than perfect? ❤️
  • “If you begin and finish your days with thoughts of gratitude, you’ll find yourself living from a place of abundance rather than lack. Those first and final moments set the tone for the many moments that fall in between.” -Erica Layne ❤️
  • Sometimes I find myself scrolling through Instagram and all the pictures of perfectly curated unit studies, school rooms, nature studies, etc and I think “how beautiful”, The next thought I have is, “is this really something my kids need in our day?” If you’re just starting out and feeling overwhelmed by all the things you “have” to do, I would just like to share a few things I have learned these past few years. We really don’t need any of the beautiful, teacher intensive unit studies, trendy curriculum, or expensive manipulatives to be a successful homeschooler. We don’t need to make every learning experience magical. Math doesn’t have to include carefully chosen rocks, sticks, and seeds from a nature walk. You don’t need picture perfect, Pinterest inspired learning activities to study colours, numbers, and writing. It really can be just a workbook. (Believe it or not some kids really do love the workbooks and “dry” textbooks that people have warned you against...😉) We don’t need to spend an entire week or more studying ants with highly detailed chalkboard drawings, picture books of ants, songs about ants, movies about ants, Math with ants 🐜🙈... it might not be a study about ants but you get the picture. You don’t need a school room with floor to ceiling bookcases, vintage maps and art on the walls, desks, and a reading nook. In fact, you don’t need a school room at all. We don’t need a family oriented morning basket first thing in the morning. We don’t need candles, tea, and tiny sandwiches to study art, poetry, or music. A few things we do need to get started: A willingness to learn, listen, and to try new things. A willingness to carve out our own unique path with our children, (which may or may not include poetry teatime and Charlotte mason inspired art studies.) Just remember, school at the kitchen table is perfectly fine. That $10 workbook could be just as wonderful as one that costs $100. Your school day can (and probably will) look very different than another families day. Also playing board games as a family on the living room floor, totally counts as school. 😉
  • “It is important for us to remember that we all have magic inside us.” -J. K. Rowling ✨
  • We’re having a lazy Sunday morning over here and I thought it was the perfect time to jump on board the #bravegrownspaces photo prompt challenge! Especially since today’s prompt is technology and both boys are using the tablets. I have been asked a few times about how we use technology in our home and what rules I have surrounding it. Honestly, we’re still figuring it out. We always have music playing, we utilize audiobooks, podcasts, documentaries, online classes, and movies in our homeschool. Now we also all have tablets. We also use tech for fun and entertainment. We do our best to keep it balanced. That said we do have a few rules. 1. Parents get to make the final call on any tech use. We are trying to teach them discernment and we include them in our decisions, if only to explain why we won’t be adding that game to the tablet. This rule isn’t to control them, the ultimate goal (for most parenting decisions, not just tech) is to teach our children to control themselves. 2. No social media. My kids are only 8 and 5 so this hasn’t been an issue and they haven’t mentioned it yet. We also keep games like Minecraft offline so “chat” or playing with other gamers is not accessible. This rule is strictly for safety, not because I don’t trust my kids. 3. If tech, any kind of tech, begins to affect attitudes and our behaviour to one another it goes away until we work things out. (This goes for anything in our home that affects our attitudes towards one another... even friends. Siblings come first.) 4. Lead by example. This is a rule we made for ourselves. If the kids see us on our phones all the time, why should they be any different? We have various settings on our phones to remind us when we have spent our allotted time. And I also try to complete my own chores and to-do list before opening my laptop or working on my phone. Children follow what we do, not what we say. 😉 Like I said, we’re still figuring all this out. As the kids get older these rules will change I’m sure. Some will be added, some removed. What rules have you found helpful for technology in your home? 📱 #bravegrownspaces_technology
  • My husband worked it out to leave work early yesterday so we all could go to the beach. I didn’t think much of it because it’s normal for him to want to be home with me and the boys. He frequently turns down overtime and rushes to finish work to fulfill promises of adventures with the kids. Last night, however I felt overwhelmingly thankful for this attitude he has of work and the value of his time. Though I have taken it for granted I realize how much this time means to me and our kids. 🌿 Don’t get me wrong, he works incredibly hard. His work ethic is amazing and a wonderful example to our kids. And of course there has been seasons he has had to work more than usual us being a one income family. But I have never had to wonder where his priorities lie. 🌿 He’s simply breaking tradition of past generations. The generations of men who have told him how they wish they would have spent time with their kids while they were growing up. How they wish they would have spent less time away, less time at work and more time cultivating a relationship with their kids. 🌿 He decided that won’t be him someday. He decided that he won’t miss out on these fleeting years of childhood. He’s making decisions every day that lead him home and I love him for that. I am beyond thankful that my boys know he loves to just be with them, that he is interested in them and their interests, that he not only loves them but actually likes them and shows it. They look at him as a father and friend and because of his choices today they will always know he put them first. 🌿 That’s my sappy post for the weekend. 😉 What makes you thankful for your spouse today? ❤️
  • “It’s up to us to choose contentment and thankfulness now— and to stop imagining that we have to have everything perfect before we’ll be happy.” -Johanna Gaines 🌿 It’s hard to be thankful all the time isn’t it? We see perfectly staged photos on Instagram with beautiful spaces, homeschool curriculum, school rooms, vacations, clothing, etc... and think “if only I had that school room or that house or that backyard or that math curriculum... everything would be perfect!” I find if I’m not careful I can overlook what’s right in front of me with wishful thinking. Everything I need to be content, thankful, and happy I already have. Isn’t that a freeing thought? Of course there will always be goals, home improvements, and plans but none of that has to get in the way of our happiness here and now. Just a few thoughts as we go into a season of planning and a new school year. ❤️
  • I had to apologize to my boys one too many times this past week. It was possibly one of the hardest weeks of my pregnancy so far. Anemia coupled with headaches and of course just regular third trimester exhaustion pushed me to my limit. But none of that excused my tone with my children. It didn’t matter why I spoke unkindly, why I lost my patience, it mattered that I did. How often do we expect our children to maintain their self-control in all circumstances? It doesn’t seem fair does it, when we have those moments of weakness too. We’re all human after all. The hardest part of this parenting gig is realizing that our actions can be forgiven, but never erased. The hopeful part of parenting is that our children can and do learn from our own actions. And they will follow our example long before our words. When we mess up we get a chance to show our children how to move on from mistakes. In their moments of weakness we get to show them what kindness and mercy looks like. My humbling moment this week hopefully showed them what it means to apologize with action. To make necessary changes, and to speak up when overwhelmed. We took a “reset” day on Saturday. Spent the morning playing together at the park. The afternoon crossing a few things off our to-do list. And then finished off the day in the backyard roasting marshmallows and just enjoying each other’s company. It definitely helped to change the tone of our week. What are some of your best tips for rest when a day (or week) is going poorly? What do you do when your health requires more rest than usual, when your regular activities are too much and you know you need to slow down? #honestmotherhood
  • “Some old-fashioned things like fresh air and sunshine are hard to beat.” -Laura Ingalls Wilder ☀️ ...and don’t forget the fog! Living on the coast gives us a wide variety of weather. Our beach adventure led us to fog, sun, a thunderstorm and back to sun. Another memorable summer day. I’ve recently hit what I believe to be the nesting stage in my pregnancy (my husband might have mentioned something the other day about my continuous need to rearrange furniture...🙈) yet our summer days are much to short to spend indoors. I have definitely neglected some items on the to-do list these past few weeks but the I think the memories have made up for that. 😉 How have you been spending your summer days? 🏖

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