I'm listening to this right now. It's a personal favorite, not only because it's a great song but also because it's Gavin and my wedding song.
I'm also cooking dinner for us and another family at our church. I've been in the kitchen all afternoon and it got me thinking.........how do you do it?
Between keeping the house and the kids and the baking bread, making all our meals from scratch, culturing/fermenting foods for us, gardening and all the other million things I do in a day, I wonder how anyone else does this? I often feel like I'm behind in everything! The thought of adding homeschooling in 2 years has me slightly worried. Although by then, I won't be nursing any babies or changing many diapers.
How do you make it work?
Any tips are appreciated!
Sunday, February 21, 2010
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11 comments:
You wake up every morning and remember to breathe. And when you go to bed at night, you let go of all the things that you didn't get to and know that you did all the things that mattered.
Where do I start... Boy, do I WISH I could do it ALL. I always feel behind and wish I had more energy, more patience, more money, more craftiness, just more..... Right now there are dishes in my sink, sewing machines on the kitchen table, clean laundry on my bedroom floor, and the house always needs dusting. Agghhh!! It feels like madness sometimes but one of the reasons I like blogging is to take pictures of the little (and big) highlights of everyday life. Today, I made a good dinner, made gingerale, heard my baby laugh (so sweet!!), and have taken care of sick boys. We can never do it all but we can strive to be the best version of ourself and keep a balanced perspective. :) Being a mom and wife is such hard work! So much pressure- I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one whose overwhelmed sometimes.
i fall dangerously short in many of the household areas....so i homeschool and sew and do laundry...i just try to do one thing at a time and when it is school...just focus on school
Boy, o boy. It is all about priorities. Separating out what needs to be done, and remembering to do fun and interesting things every day. Finding absolute joy in the day to day things. If anyone figures it out, it won't be me... ever.
Don't panic about homeschooling right now. They start out pretty easy... just be sure you set the time aside and do what needs to be done. Then, the next year.... it is only a little more, then one more child.... you grow stronger and better over time.
Your priorities just shift around as time goes by. You figure out how to do math while working in the garden. Sometimes we set our schoolroom up in the garden. It works.
None of this is probably helpful, but just don't allow yourself to be overwhelmed, be sure to take time for God, hubby and yourself. Don't worry about a perfect house. or even close to perfect.
Pray, pray, pray. It's good.
Cindy
I'm certainly glad to kow I'm not the only woman who feels this way! :)
Bobbi- your house sounds like mine!
Prayer is always good advise Cindy!
My house right at this very moment looks like this: 2 dinners to clean up after (my itty bitty kitchen is COVERED in dishes,) the laundry to be folded is on the couch and there's more in the dryer, the washer and the hamper, my desk (where I do hubby's bookkeeping) is piled with papers and books and pacifiers and toys and bills and napkins and.......you get the point. There are toys on my living room floor, DVD's and videos all cramed haphazardly into an entertainment center, the kitchen floor needs sweeping, SD starter needs fed, my granola is sprouting in a bowl on top of my washing machine (becasue there's no room in the kitchen from the 2 dinner mess) my bathroom needs a good scrub down and I need to reorganize my fabric stash. And that's just the inside. Don't get me started on the outside of the house or on things that need done around the property. That's a whole nother ball of wax.
Two things:
1. How did women back 100 years ago do it all when they HAD to do all of those things plus do laundry by hand? (maybe that's why people died young)
2. How do people that don't know the Lord cope with life and stay sane? I certainly couldn't do it without Him!
And now the kids are all in bed and I'm going to go brush my teeth and get into bed- tomorrow's another day!
hope you get some rest tonight and that "Little Man" gives Mommy time to recover and feel refreshed in the morning.
I wonder the same things every day. And I don't homeschool. But I don't let the messes get to me (most of the time). Today I looked at the floors and thought, "How can they be that filthy in only 2 days!!"
I was having this thought as I was on my knees wiping up chewed up jelly beans that Lindsey decided she didn't like. Do you know how sticky chewed up jelly beans are?!!!
But then I was able to go outside in the sunshine and relax with my family as we jogged down the road for a bit. I believe God provides those peaceful, restful, fun moments for us to really enjoy and to recharge for the mundane everyday tasks. The only problem is, that some days we don't take them when He offers them. Like when a chubby little 2 year old says, "read to me, Mommy" and I say, "I can't right now, Mommy is trying to get some chores done." And then later, it's like, why did i pass on that opportunity to cuddle up on the couch and take a break with my baby?
Just take the opportunity when God provides it.
I have a mountain of laundry ALL. THE. TIME! Usually dishes in the sink at some point. Dust. Crumbs on the floor. I haven't had the chance to sew for more than 10 minutes this past week. You just can't do it all. But you know what, all of our family knows we home school and how much time it takes. So if the house isn't tip-top, oh well. School is really the most important thing to me as far as my daily to do list. I realized a long time ago that the blessing of homeschooling is incredible, seeing them learn to read, and add & subtract, multiply, fractions, everything, seeing them light up and you know they just got it! I love it! I still get to feeling overwhelmed about housework sometimes, but you know it doesn't really take that long to take care of it in the evening or the weekend. I truly believe God provides too. Sometimes we just have too much on our "own" lists. As a wife and mother I believe my home is my mission field and my most important job is loving and teaching my kids. All the rest will fall into place.
The only tip I have is waking up early. It's my way of getting things going before the day begins. And involving the kids as much as possible, but I know you already do that. I always think that someday they will be grown and living their life and I'll be bored with nothing to do but clean and sew. I'll miss the busyness and mess!
My recent big discovery has been to SLOW DOWN. I've been doing everything you do for months and months without pause (or, really, even feeling the need to pause, because I love what I do!), and over the past month I've got more and more ill, and have been absolutely wiped out with every little infection and bug under the sun for 3 weeks now. I know perfectly that it's my body telling me to slow down - sometimes we have to remember that, actually, it's OK to not do everything, and just because we love what we do, it doesn't mean we can do ALL of it EVERY day.
Back to my sick bed for a few more days now...
Prayer, prayer, prayer. With the Lord's help, you can do anything.
i spend lots of evenings in a chair binding quilts or knitting, it STILL amazes my husband that i find it so relaxing. there's definitely a certain satisfaction that comes from just getting an ounce of my to do list done so i can mark something from my plate. i love that you don't feel like you're always on top of everything. falling short every now and then helps us remember who we are, and Who we aren't :] leaves room for Jesus to take up the slack.
love your blog, your outlook, your life is inspiring- thanks for sharing!
When one who has little babies and toddlers around, homeschooling can seem so daunting. But when you begin this homeschool adventure in a couple of years, then your children will all be older and you will be in a new season of your life. Your kiddos will be able to help out with many of the tasks that only you are doing right now. My kids help clean the bathrooms, set the table, fold the laundry, etc. so I don't have to do it all. They are great little helpers and they actually love doing chores (since I have always tried to make it a fun thing to do together). In fact, just today, they were begging me to let them clean the baseboards. What mom will say no to that?
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