Holmes Beach resident Brooke Svoboda wears a lot of hats as a mother — teacher, coach and constant presence in her children’s lives.
Svoboda homeschools her kids — Parker, 11, and Caroline, 8 — coaches their sports teams and keeps the household running, all while her husband of 20 years, Michael, works outside the home.
Svoboda told The Islander on April 30 that her average weekday begins with breakfast for her kids before homeschooling them over the course of the morning.
The decision to homeschool was made when Parker was about to begin kindergarten during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Svoboda said they didn’t want Parker to spend his school time in front of a computer for hours on end, so the decision to homeschool him was easy. Then, when Caroline was ready for school, they decided to do the same for her, even though the pandemic had passed.
She added that, between activity and lesson planning, homeschooling can be challenging, but she is happy to take on that challenge for her kids.
“It is (a task) because it’s like you’re the teacher, you’re the mom and you’re the chauffeur,” Svoboda said. “But I did it because I wanted to be the one to raise my kids and to instill their values and morals.”
Homeschooling also allows her kids the time to explore other ventures, like a 3D printing business, Print Wizards, where they design and print toys that are sold at stores across the island.
She said the kids often spend their afternoons working on the business, which has been successful enough to donate $5,000 — roughly 50% of its earnings — to the Center of Anna Maria Island.
Svoboda said their evenings are then spent participating in activities at the community center, where she has coached cheerleading, dance, soccer and flag football for eight years.
She also created the nonprofit’s cheerleading program three years ago and its all-girls soccer and flag football teams last fall.
With Parker playing flag football and soccer and Caroline playing soccer and tennis, Svoboda said they spend just about every weekday participating in sports — her coaching and them playing.
After sports, Svoboda then takes on her least favorite chore of motherhood: What to make for dinner.
“Especially when we have no fast food on the island. You can’t just go pick up Chick-fil-A. You have to figure it out for the rest of your life,” she said.
While Svoboda spends much of her days taking care of her kids in one way or another, she said it allows her to enjoy the best part of motherhood: seeing her kids grow up.
“I’m with them all day long, constantly doing things without much of a break, but I love it. I do it because I love being around the kids,” she said.
Svoboda added that one of the greatest lessons she learned is to appreciate her time with her kids.
“The days are long, but the years are short,” she said. “You only get one summer with your child at 8 and one Christmas with your child at 5 and every time you go to a different season, it looks different. So you just have to soak it in and enjoy every moment of it, even when it’s hard.”