SS#156 – Wonderfully Inconvenient Motherhood

Teenagers are idiosyncratic—and exhausting.

As homeschool moms, we know the work intensifies in the teen years, not just academically but emotionally and logistically. In this episode, we talk honestly (and with plenty of laughter) about what it means to keep showing up with “due abundance” when your teens reject most of it.

From complex books to last-minute lab supplies, from long drives to longer conversations, we explore how sacrifice, joy, peace, and perseverance all play a role in this season—and why it’s still worth it.

Resistance Isn’t Failure

Today’s Hosts

Today’s Guest: JoAnn Hallum

JoAnn is a first generation homeschooler who has been teaching her four boys for about 10 years in the Central Valley of California. She loves to read and tell people at parties they should read Charles Dickens. With a fine art degree in Printmaking, she discovered she loved writing when she became a stay at home mom. She now writes on Substack and Instagram, and sometimes Commonplace Quarterly. Her extracurricular activities include serving on the board for her local Youth Orchestra, hosting a local Nature Club and hunting for used books.

Check out her substack here.

Find her on Instagram here.

Scholé Every Day: What We’re Reading

Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre by Max Brooks

Brandy is into bigfoot.

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

JoAnn reminds us that it’s ok to take a long time with a book.

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark

Abby is finding education insights in this engaging novel.

Not Convenient

Motherhood is inconvenient—and that’s by design. We opened this conversation with the idea that the sacrifices involved in parenting, especially in homeschooling, aren’t signs that something is going wrong. In fact, they’re part of how it’s meant to go.

What’s hard for the mom is often what’s right for the child. It’s tempting to minimize those hard parts, but when we see the goal clearly, we stop resisting and start embracing our role more fully.

Teens need abundance

Charlotte Mason reminds us that education is the nourishment of the inner life, and our job is to supply it abundantly—even if most of it gets “rejected.” We laughed and groaned about the 90% of lessons that don’t land (at least not right away), but we also admitted: it’s true. We’ve seen our teens unexpectedly reference books they once claimed to hate. Abundance is an act of faith—and parenting teens means trusting that what seems wasted might yet bear fruit.

We often respond to resistance with retreat—cutting back the curriculum, lowering expectations, minimizing challenge. But Charlotte Mason pushes us to do the opposite: to provide more, not less. Due abundance means showing up with opportunities for ideas and engagement—even when they grumble. Sometimes that looks like driving all over town. Sometimes it means offering Shakespeare (again). It’s work, but it’s worth it.

Doing hard things, especially in high school

From steel wool scavenger hunts to reading Ivanhoe, motherhood and homeschooling require endurance—for them and for us. We shared how hard books and hard experiences aren’t just hurdles to overcome. They’re part of forming the will, growing the brain, and learning how to persevere. Even if our teens don’t “get it” now, it’s shaping them for later.

Full understanding not required

Do they have to understand every word? No. They don’t even have to like it. Audio books, complex language, and repeated exposure all count. We agreed that comprehension comes in layers—and sometimes not until years later. Reading hard things, even imperfectly, develops both intellectual and moral muscles. We remembered our own childhood reading: skipping words we didn’t understand, but still grasping the story. Our kids can do the same. The goal isn’t a perfect narration—it’s a richer inner life.

Joy, even without peace

Motherhood is sacrifice—but it’s also joy. We talked about reclaiming that joy by changing our mindset: seeing errands and chauffeuring not as burdens but as opportunities. The car becomes the classroom. The late-night conversation becomes the heart-to-heart. The “sacrifice” becomes the blessing. Even if no one sees it, we know the work matters.

We questioned whether “peace” might sometimes be a stand-in for mediocrity. True peace is the fruit of faithfulness, not of avoiding conflict or cutting corners. Our goal isn’t serenity at all costs—it’s wisdom, maturity, and love. We can’t train our children well if we’re protecting ourselves from the hard parts of the journey.

Excellence isn’t about outcomes—it’s about attitude. It’s not about looking impressive or doing more than others. It’s about caring deeply, ordering our loves, and growing in virtue. It’s about staying faithful to our call, even when it’s hard. Especially when it’s hard. We don’t chase excellence for applause but because we love what’s good.

Mothering Teenagers

We told the story of a teen who rolled their eyes through an entire Dickens novel—only to turn around and recommend it enthusiastically to a younger sibling months later. In the moment, it felt like rejection, like another one of those nine-tenths cast aside. But it wasn’t wasted. Teens are in the middle of their story, still becoming who they are. They need room to be wrong, room to explore, and room to grow. That’s why we keep offering, keep praying, and keep loving.

Charlotte Mason said mothers work wonders once they are convinced that wonders are required of them. And we are convinced. Parenting teens demands strength, endurance, and deep wells of grace. But it also rewards us with beauty, connection, and purpose. If we resist the temptation to retreat and instead choose to invest, we’ll see fruit in due time—even if 90% gets rejected along the way.

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