How do you balance running your household and homeschooling? - Page 2

[ILoveMyBabyBird]

i am having a hard time in this area too. Ds is 3 going on 4, and i was hoping to have a better routine now, but it is not happening and honestly i am doubting my ability to homeschool because of it. I think 3 main problems, the gym daycare times don't mesh with our routine, but dh gets an awesome discount and i am really enjoying going to the gym. They are closed from 12:30-4:00 which honestly i would love to go in there at 2:00 and get schooling and chores done before lunch. Then dh has tuesday/wednesday off days so a lot of times that is when we go to the movies or zoo etc. Lastly ds is a late riser, so sometimes i am waiting on him to wake up to go to the gym, so having morning schooling is normally out. Right now i am doing bare minimum, we work from his hooked on phonics workbooks about 3 days a week, so probably about 30 mins a day, and do some reading and board games. I am really hoping to get a better routine established in the next few months or it may have to be public school for my ds in 2011...

[WCM]

I've always wanted a thread like this, but never posted, and over the years our home has taken on a rhythm of its own, sort of.

After a decade as a mama and homeschooler, my house is a disaster.


And I'm okay with that.


I do laundry everyday, and at least 2 loads of dishes a day. but the couch is forever piled with folded laundry, every counter surface in the kitchen is covered with: dirty dishes, clean dishes, cutting boards, bits of toys I need to glue, mail, things I've bought that need to be put away, scrap paper (and pens that are out of ink), seasonal stuff we try to set up but then crowd them out with bags of fruit and the morning paper . . .

Years ago, I was still trying to maintain MY own personal level of cleanliness in a house made up of more thanjust ME. I like tidy. I like clutter-free. No I'm not talking washing the windows or the baseboards here folks, no way. But nothing like it is now. but back then I was also stressed, cranky and forever yelling at my kids/dh to help/clean up. I would bang around at night, not hanging out with anyone, because I wanted some sense of order. I'd make lists, create schedules, meal plan, go on the roller coaster of how-do-I-find-a-way-to-Run-this-place madness.

Now I have disorder, and I'm a much calmer, nicer mama. I'm not saying this is the answer or that is looks good to others. I look around at the disarray though and I am proud of how far I've come, how much I focus on my relationships now and not my house. When it comes down to it, I'd rather have time for ME, for dh and for our kids than a clean house. but I'd never invite anyone over with it like this.


So we meet at the park.


We do not follow any curriculum nor sit down to learn together (so what on earth do we do with our time all day? beats me). We follow our own seperate interests, and I'm not interested in cleaning all day. I'd love a tidy house, but I figure eventually I'll be the only one here (besides dh) and I can keep it as tidy as I want.

Not sure if it helps, but that's how it is.

[Adasmommy]

Originally Posted by WCM

I do laundry everyday, and at least 2 loads of dishes a day. but the couch is forever piled with folded laundry, every counter surface in the kitchen is covered with: dirty dishes, clean dishes, cutting boards, bits of toys I need to glue, mail, things I've bought that need to be put away, scrap paper (and pens that are out of ink), seasonal stuff we try to set up but then crowd them out with bags of fruit and the morning paper . . .

ME TOO! Thanks for making me feel that I'm in good company!

OP, thanks for this thread because I've gotten some good inspiration from it! I wanted to ad the suggestion of learning several crockpot recipes for dinner. I'm working on that and it will change my life!

[rebeccalizzie]

Just1more, is there *any* way you could take pictures of your laundry room? Pretty pretty please? That's almost the exact size of my laundry room, and I can't picture how everything fits in the room.

I want to do that SO badly, I think it would be perfect for us

[rootzdawta]

Originally Posted by WCM

I've always wanted a thread like this, but never poste, and over the yars our home has taken on a rhythm of its own, sort of.

After a decade as a mama and homeschooler, my house is a disaster.


And I'm okay with that.


I do laundry everyday, and at least 2 loads of dishes a day. but the couch is forever piled with folded laundry, every counter surface in the kitchen is covered with: dirty dishes, clean dishes, cutting boards, bits of toys I need to glue, mail, things I've bought that need to be put away, scrap paper (and pens that are out of ink), seasonal stuff we try to set up but then crowd them out with bags of fruit and the morning paper . . .

Years ago, I was still trying to maintain MY own personal level of cleanliness in a house made up of more thanjust ME. I like tidy. I like clutter-free. No I'm not talking washing the windows or the baseboards here folks, no way. But nothing like it is now. but back then I was also stressed, cranky and forever yelling at my kids/dh to help/clean up. I would bang around at night, not hanging out with anyone, because I wanted some sense of order. I'd make lists, create schedules, meal plan, go on the roller coaster of how-do-I-find-a-way-to-Run-this-place madness.

Now I have disorder, and I'm a much calmer, nicer mama. I'm not saying this is the answer or that is looks good to others. I look around at the disarray though and I am proud of how far I've come, how much I focus on my relationships now and not my house. When it comes down to it, I'd rather have time for ME, for dh and for our kids than a clean house. but I'd never invite anyone over with it like this.


So we meet at the park.


We do not follow any curriculum nor sit down to learn together (so what on earth do we do with our time all day? beats me). We follow our own seperate interests, and I'm not interested in cleaning all day. I'd love a tidy house, but I figure eventually I'll be the only one here (besides dh) and I can keep it as tidy as I want.

Not sure if it helps, but that's how it is.

Maybe I'll get there someday but right now, I literally cannot think if things are disorganized. It stresses me out so much. I realize I'm a very regimented person. I thought I would go the way of no curriculum but I started using a curriculum for reading just by happenstance since I was able to get it for next to nothing and I can't believe how much I like it, how much it just jibes with my personality. I live for lists. Love them. I make lists for everything and (I know I'm a geek) I get such a thrill keeping track of things, ticking off things on my checklist. (((sigh))) But this thread has given me a lot of support and insight and I feel like I'm doing a whole lot better than I was.

[rootzdawta]

Originally Posted by Adasmommy

ME TOO! Thanks for making me feel that I'm in good company!

OP, thanks for this thread because I've gotten some good inspiration from it! I wanted to ad the suggestion of learning several crockpot recipes for dinner. I'm working on that and it will change my life!

I need to find some good vegetarian crockpot recipes. I've found a few veggie casseroles where all I have to do is dump a few things in a baking pan and bake for an hour or two and voila! A delicious dinner. I love the days when that's all I have to do.

I'm thinking about getting another hamper and having a designated laundry day (for clothes at least since my littlest in still in diapers). We currently have one laundry hamper and so I basically do the wash as soon as it gets full (that's about two loads and I end up washing about 2 times a week). With another hamper, I'd do 4 loads once a week and that would be that.

[mommy68]

Originally Posted by rootzdawta

Let me preface: I'm the one mainly responsible for running my household. Cleaning. Cooking. Laundry. Taking the kids to activities. Grocery shopping. Errands. I am finding it difficult to find the time to homeschool the way I want to. I'd like to get an hour of work in with my son daily but I am really finding it difficult. I've tried to multi-task--folding laundry while reading, cooking while doing math work. You get my drift . . . but then I feel like I'm doing everything so haphazardly. And then my 2 year old complicates things even more . . .

I guess I'm not looking for advice exactly because it is what it is. I'm just kind of frustrated and wondering if I can realistically do this. (((sigh))) It sometimes feels like one.more.thing on my very long list of things to do.

: I know how you feel. I help my husband run a business and it's neverending. We also have a 7 month old. I'm recently separated and working on stopping the work I do with my husband, but it's going to be a process.

The best thing for me is to set aside the time first thing in the morning. That's the only way anything will get done. I start housework early, around 6am when I first get up (laundry, dishes) and it seems to go well as long as I keep my mind on what I need to get done, which can be very hard most days.

[MamaMonica]

I lowered my standards because I don't think anyone can do it all. I have a routine to get laundry and basics done first thing in the morning and the kids have chores like vacuuming, folding laundry etc. If they make me clean up something they can obviously do, I charge them $1. (My youngest is 8). I don't give them a lot of chores but they need to help in a reasonable way.

I also use the crock pot a lot and we eat sandwiches for lunch.

We are on the go a lot so the crock pot ensures that dinner is there when we get home.

[WCM]

I'm not saying anyone should be like me. I too have kept lists my entire life, even adding things I did that weren't on them, just so I could cross them off!

But it just became too much, as PP said. I cannot do it all AND be happy and calm. I was forever going, doing 5 tasks a night between their bedtime and mine, and never spending time with my dh.

I used to make tasty, interesting meals each night, taking cooking classes and buying and storing crazy new ingredients.

just recently we've switched to this: nachos night (with beans), sushi night, BBQ night (org. dogs for them, steak for dh, tofu and veg for me), stuff-you-dip night (tofu and sauce, veggies and dip, yam fries, edamame), burrito night, pasta night and homemade pizza (in the breadmachine) night. all of it is stuff the kids will eat (at least some of each night holds apeal for all 3) and they can help make it, so we can move towards letting them start it, or help with it, and eventually they can do a night themselves. these things are fast and easy, and therefore skip the 'I'm cooking please leave or things will burn' master-chef stuff I was aiming for before. Which they never ate anyway.

[Just1More]

I'll email pics to anyone who wants them...

I've been putting meals in my freezer, and it's been awesome. We're having lasagna tonight, and all I did was take it out of the freezer yesterday evening and pop it in the oven tonight. Lots of things can go in: tacoes, chili, stuffed chicken breasts, chicken pot pie, meatballs, etc. Oh, and of course, the endless list of casseroles. I don't do many of those because I don't really care for them much, and ds can't have wheat and it's a pain to make them GF. I like stuff from the freezer better than the crockpot in the summer because it still tastes like "summer food" instead of all day roasted something or another.

[PGTlatte]

I aggressively tackle the things that drive me over the edge...overflowing hampers, dirty dishes, stinky full garbage can, unmade beds, dirt and hair floating around on the kitchen floor, rings in the toilets, toothpaste in the sink, and anything left on the kitchen table. The things that don't bug me so much I let go or just deal with once or twice a week.