How to Survive Homeschooling When You Have a Migraine

You have your week planned, supplies are ready, and you are excited for the lessons that you have prepared. You go to bed just like normal, yet you awaken with the dreaded migraine. Ugh!

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The life of a migraineur is one of uncertainty and often fear not knowing when the next big migraine is going to strike. Mix that with being a mother that homeschools and you have an unfortunate mix.

First, let me encourage you that you are not alone. While you may feel alone in the darkness of migraines. There is a world of others that suffer from migraines. I am one of those people.

How Do You Survive Homeschooling When You Have Migraines?

Don’t be too hard on yourself

You need to remember that as a homeschool family your teaching day isn’t just from 8:00 am- 2:00pm Monday through Friday. You are constantly teaching your children throughout the entire day. So when you need to take a “day off” remember that your children live in an atmosphere of learning. Therefore, when you need to take a day off, they are not going to fall behind.

How to Plan for the unexpected migraine

If your kids are anything like mine, then they know migraines can come out of nowhere. I have suffered from chronic migraines for years. God has been gracious to me in that the severity and frequency has gone down for me. Nevertheless, when one strikes, I am often withdrawn to my bed. Lights out. Quiet please.

While migraines are horrible, I have seen some benefits from them. My children are sympathetic to others and helpful when they see someone in pain.  Having a mother with chronic pain, although frustrating, prepares your children for empathy towards others.

Migraines cause you to appreciate every moment that you feel well. I have learned to wake up and thank God for the days that I wake up feeling well and I do not take them for granted.

It is important to be prepared and not be caught off guard when a migraine strikes

Creating an Emergency Migraine Homeschool Kit

When you are “prepared” for your migraine or a sick day, the school day will feel a bit easier. I recommend creating an “Emergency Migraine Homeschool Kit” for those days you wake up with the dreaded migraine. Here are the essential items you need for your DIY Emergency Migraine/Sick Day Kit:

Depending Upon the Ages of Your Children You Can Create Your Own Emergency Migraine Kit

Some items to consider putting in your emergency kit. If your kids are very young, this may not be the best option, you know your kids best, so here are the ideas.

Books on CD

Having books on CD readily available is a great idea because they are using their listening skills and imagination. My children were ages 2 and 4 when I discovered audio books at the public library 😊. Some of our favorites are: The Chronicles or Narnia, Anne of Green Gables, and any of the short stories by Jim Weiss. You can even search for small picture books that come with CDs. We have the Toy Story collection book and it came with a CD that my kids follow along with. They can even listen to it with you in bed (if you are up for it).

DVDs that are educational

I have a set of “Wild Kratts” DVDs that we continually go back to. I bought them online. I know when they watch these DVDs that they are getting some type of education. Some other good educational videos are: “The Magic School Bus Series”, and “Octonauts”.

Word searches

Print up some word searches from this site: Discoveryeducation.com. You can even offer a small prize for finishing (or not).

Review workbooks that are independent level

Choosing some review workbooks for math, spelling, or any other subject is great so that they can review skills that they already have. Your children can practice multiplication or addition or anything else they have been working on in school. You can even allow them to check each others work by putting in stickers and stamps that they can put on when they are finished. (Don’t forget to add some stickers to your kit.

Novel toys

Have some toys set aside for when you are having a migraine. If these toys are novel, they will keep your kids busier longer. For example, you can have a new lego set or something random from the Dollar Tree or the 99 Cents Store.

New Books

Set aside some fun books that your children have never read. Make sure that they are at their reading level or at least they enjoy looking at the pictures. Where’s waldo and I spy books are great for independent time.

Sticker books

My daughter in particular loves these types of books. We recently purchased some “Timeline Sticker Books” and she loves them. So, I stuck one in my migraine kit.

Easy card games/board games

Having a pack of playing cards for kids to play go fish, war, or other simple games is a great idea. Other games that you can include are Bingo, Go Nuts for Donuts, Sushi Go, and Rummicube. Make sure these are games that your kids know well, so that they don’t have to come to you and ask for instructions. You want the games to be an indendent level.

Easy no mess crafts

The 99 Cents Store and the dollar tree are your best friends. They have so many easy and fun crafts for 99 cents. Put a couple of these into your Emergency Migraine Homeschool Kit to keep your kids occupied during your migraine. My Dollar Tree has a selection of easy wood crafts. While they may create a small mess with glue, I know that the benefits of these kits outweigh the mess.

Coloring pages and coloring supplies

I like to stock up on extra school supplies at the beginning of the school year when they are on sale. I stick a couple of them in the emergency kit so that they are new and crisp. Kids always seem to enjoy a new pack of crayons.

I have created some coloring books. You can see them by clicking here.

Easy Age appropriate snacks

Use your discretion for this one :-).

Plastic Tub or cardboard box to keep your DIY kit. You can even have the kids decorate it and make it special for when that dreaded day comes.

Store your Emergency Migraine Homeschool kit in an easy to reach place for your kids when migraine strikes.

**Note** You will notice that I have CDs and DVDs in the Emergency kit. I purposely put them in there because the last thing I want is to have my children freely looking online for material (movies, books, etc.) without supervision. I know firsthand that a child doesn’t need to be actively “looking” for inappropriate material to find it. In order to safeguard my children, I only allow searching on the internet when I am supervising them.

Be Flexible With Your Homeschooling Plans

I admit that I am a super planner. I love having my homeschooling lessons planned out and organized. When a Migraine strikes, I find that letting go of my plans for the day are the hardest part for me emotionally. It brings me down and it frustrates me. Once I start feeling better, I can’t wait to readjust and catch up with our learning lessons.

Remember to Not Be Too Hard on Yourself

Migraines are not your fault. Let me repeat. Migraines are not your fault. Please do not be hard on yourself.

While Migraines have been a part of my life since my childhood, I still haven’t been able to fully figure out what causes them and what triggers them. I have been able to figure out ways to naturally cope with the pain. I thought I would share them with you below.

Ways That Help Me Cope With Migraine Pain- My List.

The List FOR MOM 🙂

Pelegrino water – I know this sounds silly, but I feel like it helps me. It hydrates well because of all of the naturally occurring minerals found in it. 😊

Keeping my water bottle filled at all times. I use the Takeya water bottle to keep my drink cool all day long and I make sure that I fill it up first thing in the morning so I do not get sidetracked and forget to drink water.

Menthol or peppermint ointment to rub my neck and shoulders

Getting to bed on time

Neck support pillow

Warm compress “Bed Buddy”

Wearing sunglasses (yes in the house)

Not drinking too much coffee

Watching my diet for triggers

Drinking Electrolyte water

Keep a migraine journal. You can find free ones online. Print one up, staple it and get to work recording when you have a migraine and what you  did differently or ate differently.

Ask for Help from friends and family

If you are able, ask for help from trusted family and friends. While others may not fully understand your migraines, those that love you are there to comfort and help you in your time of need.

If you suffer from Migraines or chronic pain, I hope that these homeschooling tips and tricks have helped you. If anything, I hope that you know that you are not alone in your suffering. I am right there in the battle with you. While I have found many ways to cope with Migraines, I still have room to grow. If you have any suggestions of what helps you, leave a comment below. We are in this together!

Living With Migraines- MY STORY

I wanted to include an excerpt from my Migraine journal. It hops around and is disjointed, but that is because it is straight from my journal. I hope that it is encouraging to know that you are not alone.

“It’s one of those days… again.”

You know how it is. You wake up and something is not right. Your brain isn’t quite working like it usually does. You’re crankier than usual. That wrinkle between your eyes is a bit more obvious, the light is hurting your eyes, the fact that your kids didn’t put their cereal bowl away annoys you more today. There is a dull pain in your head. It is bearable; nothing to write home about. But, you know that the other symptoms you are beginning to experience are none other than a prodrome. —a migraine is brewing, like a storm.

“If you are like me, then the fear begins to settle in. You know today might get pretty bad. Do you stay home, or do you ignore the symptoms of your migraine and go about your normal day?

“You hate that this is another one of those days. You end up laying down and closing your eyes because the pain is increasing. It has become unbearable. Your brain feels like it is on fire. You want to sleep, to try and pass the day as quickly as possible, but the reality of sleeping is a joke. There will be no sleep with a migraine like this. You can’t read, your eyes hurt too bad. You can’t watch T.V. because that light that emits from the screen seems to penetrate your eyes like a laser beam. You can’t check your phone for the same reason. Your kids seem so loud to that it also hurts your brain (even though they are just being normal kids).

“I cry sometimes during a migraine episode (even though it hurts to cry). I see how much my children and husband love me and it makes me cry. You see, they lose out on days too. Not because of pain or an aura, but because they lose their mama. I cry because they come to my bedside to comfort me. My 6 year old son quietly kisses me on the cheek and does his best to massage my neck. I cry because my 8 year old daughter has become accustomed to keeping things quiet in the house when mom has a “headache.” I pray that my children do not inherit this misery. I want them to have a brain that doesn’t fight them with pain and inconsistencies.

This is part of my migraine journey

*** Side Note***

It was interesting that During the couple of days that I was writing this article, I came down with one of the worst migraines I have had in a long time. It was a staunch reminder to me how horribly these affect our lives. While each person’s migraine has differences, the consistent aspect is that they impact our lives.

What things do you do to cope with Migraines when you are homeschooling?

Do you think that putting together a Emergency Migraine Kit for your kids is helpful? What are some things that you do to cope with migraines when homeschooling?