One of the phrases I've heard more than once as an excuse against homeschooling: "The only time I can clean is when the kids are in school." I wonder about this. I'm sure there are some homeschoolers who have managed to keep their home in order and their kids happily pick up after themselves. I'm not one of them. For a short period in my homeschooling career, I could do that. I followed the Flylady system. It worked well until my youngest entered her toddlerhood and the older two got busy with classes and activities. Then I decided I needed more than a house that was ready for the cover of a magazine. I needed time to be creative. I needed to draw and write. I needed to express myself. Those things take time. If I'm devoting my free time to a neat house, I'm too tired for anything else. So I compromised. I prioritize laundry and dishes. I make my bed (almost) every day. And I try not to beat myself up when the house looks like a hurricane flew through. And as they grow, there are less toys on the floor. Now I am more likely to pick up books or art projects. And if I ask for help, I know one of them will step up and put away dishes or sweep the floor. They are growing. As hard as it is for me to see it now, I know there will come a time when I straighten up the house and it stays neat.
5 comments:
It's interesting to see the changing nature of the clutter we pick up over the years.
I agree, if you tried to keep the house spotless at all times it would really cut into the available time for those good activities.
I would rather see your great comic strips and enjoy your writing than see a spotless house. After all, a house just gets dirty again but creativity is forever! You've made a good choice. Love, Mom
Yay! Creativity wins!
I also try do the Flylady scheme on the most important areas of the home and then spend time with my kids, living and learning with them, creating, baking, cooking,or gardening.
We all climb in once a week for a big clean-up. Each person has a section and we all whizz around for an hour and then it's done! The rest of the week it is just maintainance. I train my kids to clean up after themselves each day and things stay relatively "together".
I completely agree with you about the house thing. I have a "lived in" house. It is a nice one, but definitely has the lived in look. I like for everything to be in its place, but that is rarely the case, and I only have one child. :)
Life is truly about more than making sure the house is picture perfect. Making good memories is higher on the list for me and I don't want my daughter to only remember me griping about picking up the house (Ouch! Do you think her room counts??? I do kinda nag about that. HA HA)
Joyfully,
Jackie
My Attempt at Blogging
Quaint Scribbles and 3 D Learners
You have no idea how badly I needed to read this today! My house always looks like a hurricane blew threw. I do what I can, but laundry, dishes, lesson planning, grocery shopping, paying bills, and other things have to come first plus a wee bit of time for me (thus my tkd adventure). My boys are lazy. Truly they are. No amount of chore earnings or otherwise can convince them to help out.
Post a Comment