Blogger Friend School - #103

Assignment: How do you keep energized so you can get it all done? bouncy music? treat it like a workout? Do you use a schedule?, a housekeeping binder system? luck of the draw system?.. or is this an area where you need encouragement? Do you need God’s help to keep order and beauty in your dwelling place? Take this week to tell us how You diligently keep going with your housekeeping chores.

I am a fairly new mother of five children.  I told a pal the other day that I was still trying to get into a groove with it.  My youngest is 9 months old.  Motherhood makes us holy, right?  Yup.  And it's also very humbling.  I am one of those Born Organized Gals.  I love multi-tasking and everything in its place.  A clean house really contributes to my sanity.  But I've had to call "uncle" at this point in my life because I just can't keep up with everything and it's hard to take.  But I've got an 8th grader, 5th grader, 3rd grader, a 2 year old who is already pressuring me for school (I've been gathering lapbooking stuff for him to do and that kid eats it up!) and that Very Squishable 9 Month Old I've already mentioned. 

This afternoon, the oldest three were out in the backyard pelting each other with acorns and I thought, "I can dust the living room!"  Not!  :-)  Enter that 2 year old, wanting to do "my schoolwork."  As an aside....I spent a good 4 1/2 years as a homeschool support group leader rolling my eyes at ladies who were trying to homeschool their kids at 3.  Really, I still think 2 and 3 is too young to be stressing over "school" but this kid begs for it, and he loves it, and I'm keeping it simple with lapbooks.  SOOOO......I got to dust the living room a little bit, but Henry and I got a lot of coloring done on his blue, red and green car for his transportation lapbook.  We also counted a lot of wheels.  A lot. 

It goes like that for me every day.  Just when I think I'm about to have a sec to fold some laundry, or clean the kitchen floor, something comes up.  Not that our house is completely crunchy.  The thing that saves us is chores.  The three oldest really contribute quite a bit to the cleanliness of our home.  They really are a blessing to me!  And I do set aside time in the morning to complete at least one self-assigned chore before we start with the official business of schoolwork. 

It's difficult.  I'd like everyone to think that I run a tight ship with a perfectly clean house.  It's hard when my neighbors stop in for a chat and the house looks like a tornado swept through leaving all the piles on my desk intact.  ;-)  Very, very humbling.  I have to remind myself that I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing.  Spending time teaching my kids, hanging out with them, developing a relationship....that's my goal.  The clean house will come later - I think?  ;-)

Here's Henry hacking away on a piece of paper.  He could sit and do that all day...

But that picture is to stall the uploading of the other pictures.  Here are my laundry piles that I get to once or twice a week.  Here's the pile in the corner of the living room.

The corner of my bedroom....

And here's the lovely laundry room.

A verse that comforts me when I think about all that I am not getting done is Isaiah 40:11.  "....He gently leads those that have young."  I read on a blog a couple of weeks ago this sentence: "The Lord is being merciful to me."  That one sentence hit my heart hard.  And every day since then, God has recalled that to my memory, and I've been able to look around and see His mercy towards me.  I may not be able to keep up with life the way *I* prefer, but God's way has been much better - especially on those days when I give in to His way, rather than fight it.

To view other Blogger Friend School entries, go HERE.  :-)