Just Go To Bed

When evening comes in a homeschooling home, it’s not peaceful. It’s not poetic. It’s not a soft montage with candles and journals. It’s more like: Everyone needs to go to bed. Immediately.

By the time the sun starts setting, I have talked all day. Explained all day. Mediated all day. Fed everyone all day. Answered questions I didn’t even know could be asked. My brain is done. My body is done. My patience packed up and left somewhere around 3:47 p.m.

And yet… somehow… everyone still needs something.

Evening is that moment when a stay-at-home, homeschooling wife realizes she has been “on” for twelve straight hours without a lunch break, without clocking out, and without anyone saying, “Hey, you look tired—go rest.”

Dinner happens. Pajamas happen. Teeth are brushed (after reminders). Water cups appear out of nowhere. There are suddenly very urgent thoughts that must be shared right now. This is the time children remember every life question they’ve ever had.And I love them. I truly do.

But evening is when I start silently chanting: It’s mom’s time now. Please go to bed.

Because evening isn’t about productivity anymore. It’s about survival. It’s about reclaiming a tiny piece of yourself after giving every ounce to your family all day long.

It’s when the house finally quiets and the silence feels loud at first. When you sit down and don’t know what to do because no one is asking you anything. When you stare at nothing and realize that this—this—is rest.

Even if rest looks like scrolling, zoning out, folding laundry without being interrupted, or sitting in complete silence with a snack you don’t have to share.

Evening is when guilt tries to creep in. Should I be planning tomorrow’s lessons? Cleaning more? Doing something meaningful?But no. You’ve already done something meaningful all day long.

You taught. You mothered. You showed up. You held the emotional and physical weight of your home. That counts.

So when evening comes, it’s okay to say (out loud or in your heart): Everyone is alive. Everyone is fed. Everyone is loved.

Now it’s my turn.

Go to bed, kids.

Mom’s off duty.