Here’s information about a little known disease (actually, I just made it up), called Brainmusha Materae.

That’s the Latin name, of course; an English translation would be roughly, “A mother’s brain that has turned to mush.”

It starts sometime after a woman becomes a mother, the symptoms escalate dramatically when the mother begins to homeschool, and while there is no known cure, 7 Sisters would like to offer some hope in the form of tips for coping with the symptoms.

What are the symptoms of Brainmusha Materae?

* You know that you are an intelligent woman with many academic and vocational accomplishments to your name, but you can’t for the life of you think where you put your car keys.

* You remember the name of the kid who sat next to you in 3rd grade Sunday School, but you regularly call your own child by the dog’s name.

* Your children win prizes at the homeschool geography fair, and you get lost driving home from the event.

* You find the salt shaker in the refrigerator and the butter dish in the cupboard, and YOU’re the one who cleaned up after dinner last night.

Here are some fun ways to stimulate your brain cells JUST FOR YOU.

Homeschool moms do tons of thinking for the rest of their family members; it’s good to have little moments of brain activity that are for your own benefit.

If one of these ideas sounds like torture instead of fun…don’t do it! Different things are positive stimuli for different people. If ALL of these ideas sound like torture instead of fun…don’t do any of them! Ask yourself what would work for you, and share the idea with the rest of us.

Oh, and be sure to comment and tell us what stimulates your brain cells, and fights the effects of Brainmusha Materae.

* Check out dictionary.com’s word of the day. Find a way to use it in your Facebook status. (Vicki is a fan of this one!)

* Play the piano (or guitar, or….) if you know how. Play for 10 minutes just for the love of the music, not to prepare for worship service, or choir practice.

* Work a Sudoku or a Crossword puzzle, or do a Word Search.

* Write in your journal.

* Sketch the scene out your kitchen window, or the bowl of fruit on your table, or the pile of laundry in the basket.

* Re-read a book you loved as a child or young adult. Just read it for yourself. If you want to share it another time with your kids, that’s great. But just for the moment, lose yourself in that familiar old story again.

* Paint your toenails a fun color.

* Spend some awesome time in prayer, maybe with an activity from one of Vicki’s Prayer Journals.

What ideas can you share that might refresh and encourage another victim of Brainmusha Materae?