Three's a Crowd - This Must Be A Homeschool House

Three's a Crowd

Mar. 31, 2009

This Must Be A Homeschool House

This is one of those typical articles about how the homeschool house looks the part. You know, "face it", your home will never be the same until the kids graduate. Books, science experiments, various artwork in more various stages of completion, Legos, more books, papers, papers, papers! Sigh!

Which wouldn't exactly bother me much except I'm married to a man who used to be a perfectionist (I think I've rubbed off on you, Honey!). Not only that, he used to build European cabinets in homes one might see in Architectual Digest. He's seen a lot and would love to have his home just like he'd like it. Except he happened to marry me. And then we had kids. And then we decided to homeschool those kids. End of "perfect home" dream.

Oh, he has lots of ideas, and many of them have actually become part of our home. Like our new carpet in the living room. It's terrific. But right now, it's covered with over half a dozen cereal boxes that have been made into pirate ships. Great battles have been enjoyed (stuffed animals make great pirates, did you know that?) I have to carefully move them aside just to get to the woodstove out there. Heaven forbid I should drop a log of firewood on one of them! Which brings to mind the new hearth Todd made. It's lovely and can be seen best when I don't have laundry hanging around it (the only dry place in this wet climate I live in.)

I could go on but I think you get the idea. I'm sure you can relate on one level or another. On the other hand, if your house is fully organized and spotless, send me some pointers. I'm all ears.

Oh, I have some exciting (to us) news! If you get the lovely magazine "Nature Friend", flip to the Bonus Pages with the drawings sent in by readers. On Page 16, look in the upper right corner. You'll see my daughter, Carmen's name! This is a section of the magazine that thay show how to draw a particular subject (in this case, a blue jay) and children are encouraged to send in their drawing. We've been waiting since December and we were so thrilled to see that her drawing was in there! What a nice thing to happen to her (thank you, Lord!)

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Comments

Apr. 1, 2009 - Untitled Comment

Posted by appleleaf

I loved the sound of your house. Any home with kids who are allowed to be kids should have a slightly unkempt look. And homeschooling homes should be even more so. I love your comment about how Todd used to be a perfectionist.
Congrats to Carmen! I'd love to see that magazine page. She must be thrilled to see her art and name in print.
And about your comment on my blog, I originally had Jeff knocking on the door to sweep Abby off her feet! Yes, a lot had to go (sigh). But I hoped having her answer his phonecall would give the idea that there might be a future for them.

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Apr. 4, 2009 - Untitled Comment

Posted by 40winkzzz

My hubz grew up with a single mom who worked two jobs and still kept the house spotless, so I've always lived under that shadow. And then he did remodeling for a while and was constantly in and out of the fancy-schmancy houses, so I can relate with you there! We lived a long time with 6 people in an 800-sq-ft-plus-basement house, and considering that most of us are creative types and that we homeschool, well... yeah. Now we have fewer people and more space, but our house *still* looks as though it is inhabited by... um... creative homeschoolers. My friend says creativity and clean house don't go together, but I think Hubz thinks that is an excuse. Until he looks around at his own office & shop, b/c he has that creative/disorganized thing going as well!

Sometimes I look at my "nice" house, and think that the people who built the house would be mortified to see it now, esp the lower level where most of our creative & homeschool stuff is. That nice 1970's wet bar at which they entertained their friends? The counter is covered over with craft materials that didn't get put away and leftover remnants from science projects, and there is always paint in the sink... oh well. Not their house anymore.

My tip: Clutter is inevitable for us, but I at least try to keep it confined to a few spots. (Key word "try"; not saying I succeed all the time!) I tend to focus my cleaning & decluttering efforts on the main floor where we do most of our living and keep the school/creativity clutter downstairs. (This year, we actually do most of our schooling upstairs, even tho the "schoolroom" is downstairs, but I still try to keep it pretty organized upstairs and put the stuff we're not using down in the schoolroom, esp on the weekends.) Having areas where I "allow" us to be messy helps me in my efforts to keep the other areas neater. Altho' I still feel guilty abt the messy areas. :-) I do clean them up every so often.

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Apr. 4, 2009 - Untitled Comment

Posted by moreofhim

How exciting about your daughter's drawing! I'm sure she's thrilled!

I can't help you on that home organization thing. Still struggling with that one myself. LOL My hubby was a perfectionist, too, and then he married me. I'm better than I used to be, but I'm just more relaxed about things than he is. Thank goodness, he loves me and accepts me anyway.

God bless you - Julie

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About Me

Learning and living with my husband and three children on the northern-most tip of the Oregon Coast.