I didn’t move back to the area soon enough to go to the National IHM Conference, and my good friend (and my favorite vendor) aren’t going to the Catholic Family Expo in Baltimore, so I pretty much decided to not go to any homeschool conferences this year.

Then Margaret said she was going to the Family Centered Learning Conference, and Lancaster isn’t too too far away, so I decided to go.

And I’m so happy I did.

Homeschool conferences, especially faith-centered ones, are like day spas for your mind. It is so refreshing to be in a room full of funny, intelligent, charitable women who share your daily struggles and have similar hopes and dreams. It is nice to listen to speakers who do liturgical crafts with their children or one-on-one preschool time with the little ones even though they too have a large family. It is good to be challenged to challenge your children in their reading and writing and inspiring to hear how one woman struggles with a large family and a special needs child and still manages to be full of joy.

I’m glad it’s still summer, and I have another month to relax and think about school but not actually do it. I need this time off to recharge my energy level and my spirits. And even though I didn’t really know it, I really needed that conference.