I was hit by an iceberg recently and I wanted to warn you of the danger.  I consider myself a veteran homeschool mom and I thought I was immune to the iceberg danger.  I was wrong.

Scrolling through social media one day, I came across a few homeschool-themed accounts with breathlessly beautiful photographs. Visually rich.   Everything posed perfectly.  I stopped to admire the work that went into the various photographs.  They were stunning.  The photos made me smile.

And then I looked up from my screen.   To see crumbs on my table, to see scattered papers and books. And a neglected basket of laundry.  I stopped smiling.

Thud. Direct hit by an iceberg.

Suddenly I was discontent.  Why was my homeschool dark and dingy compared to those?  Our activities no longer seemed exciting.  Boring.  Just blah.

As quickly as it hit me, the iceberg floated away.   Wait a minute!   I know better!

Our homeschool is exactly that.  Ours.   Full of our family, our needs, our hopes and dreams, and the blessings that God has poured out on us.  The crumbs mean we had a fresh homemade breakfast.   The papers and books mean that we were able to find resources at affordable prices.   The basket of laundry meant we would be comfortable in clean clothes.

I had to remind myself.   Those pictures are just that.  Pictures.  Posed and edited.  Nothing wrong with that, nothing at all.   They merely show a curated moment in time. Someone else’s vision captured in a photograph.   Not your vision, theirs.  Not your life, theirs.  Not your blessings, theirs.   Like an iceberg, there is a huge amount in each photograph NOT seen compared to what IS seen.  We don’t know how many years a mother may have prayed to be able to homeschool.  Perhaps the photo is the result of a good day after many, many bad days.      It might even be an attempt to feel equal compared to others.  Good or bad, we don’t know the underwater details of a particular photo,  so don’t let it get to you.

We tend to look at the visible parts of others’ icebergs and compare it to the underwater parts of our own iceberg.  Not a fair comparison!  And there is NO reason for comparison!

May I make an unsolicited suggestion?  If you find that scrolling through social media continually makes you feel inadequate as a homeschooler,  consider dropping a few accounts or reducing your social media time.