My Messy Homeschool

 

I often find myself perusing blogs, my Facebook news feed, and the like while nursing the baby at all hours of the day (and occasionally night), and since I’m a relatively new homeschooler, I read a LOT about homeschooling. Many of the pictures I’ve seen have these beautiful homeschool rooms, children looking ethereal as they sit calmly at an uncluttered table working dutifully at their studies. …

Homeschool in my life looks different. A lot different.

And I’m ok with that.

For the most part.

Ok….

I admit that I’ve been coveting a bigger house with more space so I can get everything in “its place” and THEN SURELY all of my homemaking, homeschooling, too-much-mom-stuff-to-do problems will be resolved…. RIGHT???

Seriously, though, if you’re feeling bummed that your homeschool looks different than ones you see on the internet too, perhaps this blog will make you feel a little bit better…

This….

is what my house looked like today.

Dirty dishes everywhere, applesauce and the making-gear covering pretty much every surface in the kitchen…a hamper full of dirty clothes IN my kitchen… (Why? Because every kid gets undressed in the living room just about every night and I was tired of the dirty clothes laying on the floor, the kitchen rags piled up on a counter, etc., so the basket found its home there in my kitchen. Unsightly? Yes. Practical? Yes. Lazy? Yes. But I don’t care! I can move it – or not – when company comes over.)

And the picture at the top? That’s my 4-month old watching TV upside down… with our living room clutter all around her… because that’s what the 4th child does. LOL.

This is the unedited version, Friends!

My stove….

looked like this.

Oh and then there’s the table…. which was cluttered with school stuff… AND NOT A CHILD IN SIGHT!!!

That’s because it was Wednesday after two long days and late (for my schedule) nights of making applesauce. Mommy was tired, the kids were tired (of school) and we all just needed a break…. for 3 hours… while we had lunch, the kids played, and I tackled some dirty dishes and tried to get the two youngest kids to nap at the same time…unsuccessfully.

And yep – my back yard is as cluttered as my house.

We DID get some school done today… mostly just the “three ‘R’s'”… reading, writing, and arithmetic. (Ok – for REAL? Who came up with that saying? I mean, yes, the three words all have “r” in them, but… come on… anyway, I digress.) Science, Bible, History, Read-A-louds (all of our favorite subjects) will be there tomorrow…and the next day….

Yesterday was an amazingly productive day. We got ALL of our school done AND made a bushel of applesauce – WHAT?! We did have a few “picture perfect” moments, which were, by many a blog’s standards, still horribly short of post-worthy…

But even then, we know how to be real…

YES! That IS a poopy diaper! Because you know what? EVERYONE POOPS! (Just like the book!) And in my life right now, there’s a lot of messy poop! We get excited when there’s poop around here because as dirty, and gross, and un-talked-about as it is, it’s IMPORTANT and if we don’t do it, we’re gonna be VERY SICK or even DIE. (Hmmmm, I wonder what other important, messy, and toxic-when-left-inside-your-body/mind/society/etc things are un-talked-about…. That’s a topic for another day, though.)

There are days when we all have poor attitudes…

When I say “It’s time to do school,” I want my kids to look and feel like this…

But the reality I get is this….

If you haven’t gotten my point yet, here it is:

I’m not perfect, my kids aren’t perfect, our homeschool isn’t perfect, my pictures aren’t perfect, but we are all authentic, living in the here and now and trying to soak up every blessed moment of this mess.

And if that poopy diaper picture didn’t seal the deal for y’all, it’s messy!!

Just like you, (please tell me I’m not alone!) I’m tired and cranky and feel overwhelmed by the clutter, the chaos, and the way my shoes make that awful “your-floor-is-disgusting-and-sticky-and-needs-to-be-mopped” sound as I walk through the kitchen.

My oldest child just told me the other day that she doesn’t want to have kids because it will be too hard… I’m guessing the fact that I often yell, slam my hand down on the table, get frustrated with them and myself, and have to take about 5,000 deep breaths throughout each day may have contributed to this.

Like I said, it’s messy.

But it’s also beautiful…and I’m blessed…

I have a home to get messy in, and five wonderful people to help me make (and occasionally clean up) those messes.

I have the freedom to educate my children at home.

And sometimes that education is making food, taking a break when we need it, playing outside when we need it, and learning to live life together on a daily basis.

My kids get to spend time together, laugh together, make memories together. (And they also argue with each other, fight with each other, and make each other cry.)

So when your day doesn’t look – or feel – like what you thought it might or what the internet tells you it should… know you’re not alone, and know that the only time my place is gonna look picture perfect, with my kids sitting angelically around our kitchen table working diligently at their studies, the pictures is STAGED and I’m probably about to host a party because that’s the only time my house is put-together for a couple of hours! LOL!