Discover how a working mom transformed into a 'lazyhomeschoolmom', exploring unschooling, traveling, and earning money online. Join her journey now!
As a working mom, I was constantly juggling between my career and my family. I would rush to get my kids ready for school, drop them off at daycare, and then rush to work. After a long day at the office, I would come home exhausted and still have to cook dinner, help with homework, and get the kids ready for bed. It was a never-ending cycle of stress and exhaustion.
With my husband working internationally, and no back up from family, I really felt alone with 3 feral boys at times...
The boys aren't feral of course, but two of the boys are neurodivergence, especially my oldest was struggling with his ADHD and later depression, leaving me more and more clueless how to reach out to him, and help him.
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But then, something changed. In our case, our decision to switch from public school to homeschooling was a combination of several factors. Our oldest child, was struggling academically and emotionally in the public school setting because of his ADHD. Despite our efforts to work with the school and support our child, we felt that the one-size-fits-all approach of the public school system was not meeting our child's needs, and medications wasn't an option for us. (Although we did try later, on his personal request, but more on this later.)
But homeschooling wasn't on our radar, homeschooling just isn't an European thing, and back then, we actually didn't know any homeschooling families.
We needed 2020 to happen, although we felt the stress, the unknown and learning to handle lockdowns and restrictions, this period was a real eye opener for us.
Turned out we loved working at home, taking advantage of the beautiful Austrian winters, hiking and ice skating during the day, and shifting school studies to the late afternoon. The freedom to start school whenever we felt like it, such bliss and freedom.
After the first "the world stood still" period, more and more parents needed to go back to work, not knowing what to do with their children. Because I was working in tourism at the time, I had all the time of the world, and of course volunteered helping my friends out, soon we had our kitchen table filled with children, learning and studying together, spending a lot of time outdoors.
Guess what? Turned out I really enjoyed spending time with the minions, teaching and spending a lot of time together - quality time-
Sadly this wasn't sustainable, school opening up again and the boys went back to school, the Austrian government forbidding parents to continue forming smaller "study groups" sadly.
Back to daily struggle and homework, catching up for the lost weeks, even getting piles of homework during their short Easter holiday, it just felt so stressful, we missed the freedom of planning our days spontaneously. The restrictions and mandates weren't helpful either, my son came back with severe headache every day because of the mandatory medical masks, having nightmares about the daily C testing at school. Then the next lockdown happened (Austria had multiple lockdowns and a lot of restrictions) and I knew I had to make changes...
Thankfully luck was on our side, the Austrian government made it able for parents to continue distance learning, if you refused to comply the testings and waering masks at school. I happily took this opportunity, the relief my son had, I can't even explain...
So I decided to take a leap of faith and become a lazy homeschool mom. I know, it sounds counterintuitive. How can a lazy mom homeschool her kids? But hear me out.
I realized that my kids were missing out on so much because of my busy schedule. I wanted to spend more time with them and be more involved in their education. Also we started to notice all damage harm during all the lockdowns, and especially the restrictions at school, mandatory mask and daily testing, the burden these kids had to carry physical and mental, where at the same time our politicians had big parties, even television broadcasted. I quit my job and became a stay-at-home mom.
At first, I was overwhelmed with the idea of homeschooling, luckily at this time we could step into homeschooling at any time, if you didn't want to comply with the school restrictions, the government allowed families to jump into homeschooling, you only had to take the annual testing, and study all the workbooks given from school. So basically we replaced school at home. learning and studying, making schedule's, doing everything the kids have been doing all these years at public school.
Because of this new freedom, we started traveling more, short trips Italy, Netherlands and Croatia, beautiful and surroundings, carrying our books around wherever we went... Trying to keep up, because of you don't pass the annual testing? The boys had to go back to school, and redo the entire year...
Talk about putting pressure on my shoulders.
My husband at this time had been working in the USA, where the restrictions had been completely different, and people could decide for themselves if they wanted to wear a mask, or rather not. In my personal opinion the best approach. But he did experience difficulties traveling in and out Europe. Leading for him staying longer in the states, alienating himself from his children.
This is when we started to talk about us staying in the states long term, taking the stress from my husband's shoulder, and giving the boys an all American experience. But the financial aspect, applying for visas, searching for housing, having double rent? It just wasn't something we could finance short term. So we had to put this idea on hold...
Faith happened, or meant to be? And September 2021 Austria announced an other lockdown coming up, and my husband joked: now you have to come this way, because I can't travel home - challenge accepted!
Because of the travel restrictions from Europe into the United Stated, we had to go on vacation in Mexico first.
My oldest decided not to come along, this led to an entire different story, more about this soon.
So, myself and the younger 2 applied for Esta, hopped on the plane to Mexico, had the best time ever at Playa del Carmen, everything low budget, shabby apartment, but what a vibe! we loved it, we kept meeting incredible people, chilling and discovering archeological sites all over the area.
During this entire trip the boys have been working in their workbooks, online and simultaneously learning about Mayan history.
Looking back, I feel sorry for them, being forced to learn for annual testing, the pressure and putting a brake on their eagerness to learn what they really wanted to learn about: Mayan history.
Sitting at their desk, instead of playing outside all day, every day. We continued learning and studying during our American stay, enjoying the Autumn in Chicago, Jolliet, Halloween and The Magnificent Mile Light parade, seeing Santa at Bass Pro shops, we loved it.
We came back home, looking forward for winter time in the Austrian Alps, guess what? Another lockdown, this time with restrictions for the unvax, evening clock, it all felt so surreal after coming back from Chicago. We saw more and more families struggling with depressions, our oldest one of them. It was a hard time for everyone, but I think because of the freedom at Mexico and Chicago maybe even harder for my boys.
This was the craziest winter all times, we lost friends, and found new ones. Playgrounds stayed empty, parents needed to work, using devices as babysitter, by the time April came we have been waiting on notice when, and where to take our annual testing.
This was important to know, because all schools handle their annual testing differently, but because of the massive amount of families suddenly homeschooling, the state was overwhelmed and we never got our date. Same time my youngest was stressing himself out, what if I don't pass? What if I fail?
I felt so sorry for my smart precious boy, he always enjoyed studying, curios mind, happy and he started to turn into this insecure, restless kid having difficulties sleeping because of the unknown.
This is the point I turned into Lazyhomeschoolmom, we decided to apply for visas, clear the house, sell everything, even my beloved car and go for it!
Be adventurous, prioritising family bonding, living the American dream.
So we sold everything, visas in our pocket, and changed our lives for good. We started this journey in Chicago, took a road trip to Dallas tx, and lived here for a year. Made the best friends ever, and learned about all different kinds of homeschool approaches and possibilities. Because guess what? We had already decided to leave our Austrian workbooks where they belonged - can you guess?
But now what? I had no idea where to start or what curriculum to use. But then after the longest time deschooling, I discovered the beauty of unschooling. Unschooling is a homeschooling method that focuses on child-led learning. Instead of following a strict curriculum, I let my kids explore their interests and learn at their own pace.
This has been a game-changer for our family. My kids are now excited about learning and have the freedom to pursue their passions. We have more time to spend together as a family, and I no longer feel guilty about not being able to spend enough time with them. We use workbooks, online platforms, even online games like Chess and Minecraft for learning purposes, so much freedom!
After some time of adjusting to this new lifestyle, helping my oldest battling his depression, it was time for me to start new ventures. Thinking back, the staff at the hotel in Joliet always said I should definitely try TikTok, they would all love to follow me.
Why not, I have nothing to lose, lots to talk about and more free time than ever before. Looking back, I would advise myself to take this opportunity more seriously, and pick a niche - I still haven't picked a niche, lol.
At this time I am earning money with social media, affiliate, especially Amazon and UGC for smaller companies, surveys and used to provide bookkeeping, and I am now building this blog with new goals in sight.
Until now we have gotten free hotel stays or upgrades for video content, family fotos at campsites, although it has been easier to find collaborative companies in the United States, but I'm working on a few European collaborations at the moment.
So even with the smallest amount of followers it is possible to earn money online. Just be bold and ask.
Why am I telling you this story?
Because if I can, do it? So can you! New beginnings, where one door closes, more will open.
If I can educate my ADHD children, with no academically background, not even a little bit of teaching background, so can you! There is so much online these days, YouTube, free websites, Pinterest. You don't have to do and figure everything out by yourself.
Not sugar coating this, earning money online costs hard work and dedication, showing my face on social media with my imposter syndrome :-) has been my biggest struggle.
I’m stuck between:
“I need to save money” and
“you only live once”
If social media isn't for you, there are many ways to earn income online, such as:
1. Freelancing: Offer your skills and services on freelance websites like Upwork, Fiverr, or Freelancer.
2. Virtual Assistant: Provide administrative or technical support to clients remotely.
3. Online Surveys: Participate in online surveys and get paid for your opinions.
4. Affiliate Marketing: Promote products or services and earn a commission for each sale or referral.
5. Blogging: Start a blog and monetize it through advertising, sponsored content, or affiliate marketing.
6. Online Teaching: Teach a skill or subject online through platforms like Udemy, Skillshare, or Teachable.
7. Social Media Management: Manage social media accounts for businesses and individuals.
8. E-commerce: Sell products or services online through platforms like Etsy, Shopify, or Amazon.
9. Digital Marketing: Offer digital marketing services such as SEO, social media management, or email marketing.
10. Virtual Bookkeeping: Provide bookkeeping services to clients remotely.
Remember to do your research and choose a method that aligns with your skills and interests. It may take some time and effort to build a successful online income, but with dedication and hard work, it is possible to earn a steady income online.
After one year of living the American dream we had to return to Europe, due to new job opportunities for my husband. At first we thought to continue traveling full-time, not ready to give this new lifestyle up.
But I did notice the boys missed a place to call home, with the eagerness to continue traveling. Manifesting ourselves a nice, and affordable (cheap) apartment in the Austrian alps, helped!
By accident we have found the most enchanting Austrian Cottage, including wood stove! So at this time we are part time traveling, cooking on our wood stove and canning, I have my basement filled with healthy home made meals, soups and sauces, saving us a lot of money on the monthly budget.
In a nutshell: I am living my best adhd mom life
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
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