My messy house montage!






My Room~ read on.........


There is a discussion out there in homeschooling land about the state of our homes. Are they messy? Clean? How do you get it all done??
My daughter got into the act this morning and thought we should add pictures of the picking up process. So you have me doing my morning dishes chore, and my ds picking up his soldiers. There are also a couple of clutter areas, where books, mail and such collect. (oh and my steeping tea! you'll read about that below)
Yet, our house is not nearly as bad as it used to be. I contribute most of that to purging. We have gotten rid of so much crap it is unbelievable. Balance is a wonderful thing. I know that when we started embracing the less is more metality I pulled nearly 30 dresses out of one of my daughter's closets. Freaking THIRTY. Many hand-me-downs, many from a loving grandma who shops way too much. We kept seven. Clothes are the worst, tee shirts multiply like crazy! My kids all have six or seven pairs of shorts and that is plenty. The girls do their own wash now once a week (11 and 6) and believe it or not they like it. The 6yo thinks it is cool and the 11 yo is glad that I'm not harping on her for the disaster area her dresser usually was. Now that she is doing most of it, she seems to want it a tad bit more organized. huh, imagine.

Toys.....we bought those cloth organizers at Target. Asking the kids to pick up when they are done playing really works. There has only been once or twice that I have had to grab a trash bag to enforce "if you don't pick up I will throw it out".

The thing I hate worst is dishes and I do let them go overnight most of the time. It is my first chore of the morning, as the tea is steeping I unload the clean, reload the dirty, handwash what wont' fit and start the day. Meanwhile the kids are playing or watching t.v. and everyone is happy.

My husband adds, "Homeschooling is a huge commitment and it takes both partners to make it work." And this is true for us. I know it is different in every household and I do not mean to imply that everyone's partner will do this or want to, but mine does. He cleans on Saturday, he mops, vaccums, does his laundry (I guess I'm a laundry Nazi! LOL) and will even make dinner occasionally while I skip out to Starbucks.

One last thought. For the last three years or so I have kept the living room as my room. That is just what I call it, but it is actually for everyone. There is currently this computer but that wasn't always the case, musical instruments, sterio, couch and chair. That's it. No toys, no t.v., no books , no food allowed ever, no junk. It is where guests may come and visit at any time, it is clean always. (Perhaps dusty, but no clutter). That helps loads. I try to do the same with the kitchen, but that isnt' a guarentee. If you have the space, try it!