(This is a cross-post from my more-frequently updated blog, but I thought I might get a lot of very helpful answers over here at homeschoolblogger!)

Ladies, I'd like some advice from as many of you as are willing to share it. We are a homeschooling family with two kidlets aged 6 (7 in August) and 3 (4 in September). We live near a large metro area, where there is always stuff to do... parks, playscapes, museums, friends. Really, as long as we've lived here (8+ years) the running joke in the homeschooling circle here is that in our area, it would be very simple to over-socialize and under-educate your kids due to all the stuff constantly going on. (Take that, you naysayers - your socialization arguments aren't acceptable here!)

It seems that I am always going here and there, each day I'm trying to do something with the kids. I don't want them to be bored, so between the errands I have to run for the household and the things I try to take them to do, well, I'll be perfectly honest - I'm run ragged and the house is always in a state of disrepair.

I had an epiphany at my chiropractor's office the other day, though, leading me to this post. I've been having some major health problems the last few months, due in no small part to helping my in-laws move. Not that I wasn't more than willing to help - it's just a fact that when I overexert myself, my immune system gets very mad at me and goes kaput. Then I crash and burn and my family suffers for it. Yet, I still want to go and do with the kidlets, and I have to continue with what needs to be done around the house.

That doesn't always happen, though. Take last week, for a great example: a disk slipped in my upper back, causing unbelievable pain. I spent the weekend before last on my back, reading and doing nothing trying to make it feel better - before finally conceding that I needed medical attention and visiting the chiropractor on Monday. She helped me a little, but the disk was stubborn... I returned to her office on Friday afternoon, and blessedly she was able to get the disk back into place so the muscle spasms subsided, leaving only the pain in my shoulder and arm. Another visit this past Monday made that subside a bit, though it still aches - I'm scheduled to visit again on Friday if need be.

All of last week, I could not do anything because of the pain. Lifting the laundry was impossible, twisting up and down to do dishes (loading the dishwasher) would trigger spasms - and I couldn't even use a broom. The house fell apart around me - my only goal for the week was to take the kids here and there to entertain them. We'd go places where I could sit and read while they played, so that I didn't have to do anything hands on that would aggravate the pain.

This past Monday, when I went to the chiropractor, I was lamenting the fact that I desperately wanted things to be the way they used to be, before I had children and horrible miserable pain coursing through my body (though I'd do it all over again for my children, be certain of that). She chastised me for doing too much the last couple of months, knowing that it was something I felt I had to do and knowing why I did the stuff. She told me, once again, to take it easy on my body - and ordered me to be kind to myself for the rest of the summer, so my body has time to heal itself.

I told her I would, save for the things I need to do with the kids... she asked what kind of stuff, and I listed the usual - Family Fun night, basketball, the splash slab, the park. She looked at me and smiled, and it dawned on me that those things don't have to be done (well, basketball, yes, because we coach the team, but not the other stuff). I told her that I had just realized, at that moment, that I've been running the kids around to entertain them each day for so long that they now expected it. When we hit the floor in the morning, Michael or Emily will ask me where we are going or what we are doing that day, so my brain immediately swirls around wondering about the days activities.

No wonder my house isn't clean! No wonder I'm always exhausted! I'm not a SAHM - I've become a chaffeur to my children's whims. My childhood was not like that... matter of fact, I can probably remember each and every time we were taken somewhere (the park, the pool, a museum) because it was such a treat, not an every day occurence. I'm thinking that we do too much, all the time - and that I need to back off and let them enjoy being home more, teach them to love being here. Even the days that we are home, Michael doesn't make it two hours before asking to go next door and see if his friends can come over to play - he always has to be entertained.

So, my question for you ladies is, what do you do with your kids each day? What does a typical day look like for ya'll? You can post it in a comment here, or put it on your blog... but I'd really like to see what others do on a daily basis.

Currently, we have basketball for an hour on Thursdays and Saturdays. In the fall, we will also have 3 hours one afternoon dedicated to choir class - and sometime between now and then, we are adding an hour away from home for guitar lessons for David & Michael. This past year we gave up our homeschool park day because it conflicted with another activity (choir) - but it would be nice to attend if we can.

My head is swirling just thinking of those 3 scheduled activities, how to work around them and still stay at home much more often than we do now. Can you see my dilemma?

I appreciate any advice that ya'll would care to share with me. Some of you run circles around us from what I read on your blogs, and some of you seem to be home 24/7 though I know that is probably not the case... I look forward to seeing what ya'll write! (Oh, and if ya'll choose to post it on your blog, could you let me know? I have many of you on my blog reader, but some of your blogs don't have feeds - and I don't want to miss your answers!)

Have a blessed day, ya'll.