There have been homeschool mornings when I seriously considered flagging down the yellow school bus. Not for the kids—for me. I’ve wanted to send myself away for a reset. One of those mornings changed everything. It started with cold coffee, pancake-fueled sibling squabbles, and me snapping during read-aloud: one of those homeschool days. What followed was a TED Talk that put language to what I couldn’t name. That TED Talk shifted something deep inside me. If you’ve had a morning like that, I want to tell you what helped me reset—and why that reset changed everything about how I homeschool and how I care for myself. Grab your You Be You Checklist to help you reconnect with your true self and begin cultivating the homeschool mom life that reflects you . Reconnect with the Real You Start your journey back to yourself with the You Be You Checklist. The TED Talk That Gave Me Language for One of Those Homeschool Days I woke up to a cold cup of coffee beside my bed, and the soundtrack of the morning was my kids bickering in the kitchen over flipping pancakes. I felt irritated, but I didn’t exactly know why. Maybe it was PMS. Maybe it was an argument I had with my husband. Or maybe it was just exhaustion. Whatever it was, my irritation was running the show. I tried to move the morning along, got us to read-aloud time, and the kids started fighting over who could sit next to me. That was it. I snapped. I yelled. And I told them to just stop and sit down. And in that moment, I realized: nothing I’m about to say is going to help anything. So I left the room. I went to my bedroom to calm down and I needed to decompress. I reached for my husband via text, but he was in emerg. So I messaged a friend. Her reply? “You need to watch this Brené Brown TEDx talk. It’s going viral.” I told the kids to go play in the backyard. I opened YouTube. And yes—that TED Talk was the beginning of everything changing. What That TED Talk Stirred in Me Brené’s message gave me language for things I didn’t even know I was struggling with: I didn’t know what I needed. I didn’t know who I was. And I didn’t know I was allowed to honor those things. I had been running on empty, managing everyone else’s emotions, juggling lesson plans, mealtimes, and sibling arguments, all while ignoring my needs. That TED Talk was a turning point. A mirror. A permission slip. 7 Ways Brené Brown Rescued Me from One of Those Homeschool Days Let me share how her teachings helped me reframe my homeschool life: I am a person in my homeschool too. I had to get curious about my thoughts and my emotional patterns. Brené reminded me that parenting isn’t just about my kids’ emotional development—it’s about mine too. “You are imperfect, you are wired for struggle, but you are worthy of love and belonging.” It’s not about what can I accomplish, but what do I want to accomplish. That was a mindset shift I needed. Even if the world around me valued productivity, I needed to value purpose. What really matters to me? “To me, authenticity is a collection of choices that we have to make every day… the choice to show up and be real.” Connection is why we’re here. I remembered our family trips to rural Africa, where people stopped to really listen. Homeschooling, for me, had to be rooted in connection—even on the hard days. It matters a whole lot more than making sure a kid reads before 7 or I finish the homeschool year with 180 instructional days. “Connection is why we’re here; it is what gives purpose and meaning to our lives.” A leader is someone who finds potential. It’s easy to squash the unlovely behaviors. But my real job? Helping my kids grow into their real selves. My focus needed to be in that if I wanted them to thrive. “I define a leader as anyone who takes responsibility for finding the potential in people and processes, and who has the courage to develop that potential.” Authenticity is a daily choice. I started risking being seen—really seen. Even if it meant some people didn’t like the real me. The real ones stayed. And the ones that didn’t? They weren’t really into me anyway. “Authenticity is a collection of choices that we have to make every day… the choice to let our true selves be seen.” Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive. Just like a jazz musician improvises outside the lines of sheet music, I realized I didn’t have to follow someone else’s homeschool formula. We homeschool not to replicate school at home—but because it lets us create something uniquely ours. We homeschool because it makes us, and our kids, come alive. “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” It’s about thinking the right thoughts. Reframing my thoughts about myself, my kids, and my homeschool has been the foundation of our family’s happiness. But it’s more than that. It’s been the key to quieting the shame stories I didn’t even know I was carrying—stories that
