A Clean House

I find I have a new worry about homeschooling.  Cleaning the house.  What, pray tell, does one have to do with the other? you might ask.  I have been thinking a lot about my inability to manage the regular drudgery of housework as it is, not to mention what happens when I undertake a new (full-time) job.  Now, in theory,I am able to keep up with the dishes, laundry, straightening, putting away stuff and all that other mindless junk that must occur daily.  But, the reality is, that something  will happen causing a backlog in one area, resulting in a backlog of another area as I fix the first one and so on and so on.  My mother recently visited  and helped me fold 7 (yes seven!) loads of laundry that had accumulated following a camping trip.  I kept piling the laundry in baskets and thinking to myself, OK I’m gonna fold that tomorrow,  well after 3 days of that and a growing unwashed pile I began feeling overwhelmed.  Finally, Mom came to visit, and helped me fold, pile, and put away (and we did another 2 loads while we accomplished that).  So, it got done, and the relief for me was almost palpable.  I felt lighter and freer, out from the heavy load (literally) .  But it only takes an off day to get behind.   It then gets so easy to say Eh I’ll do it later. In a way it is kind of like debt.  Once you get into debt, and you feel like you can’t pay it off, it gets easier to slip deeper and deeper (an experience I have had in the past and is much harder to get out from under than than a dirty house). 

So the house cycles, it gets dirty and things build up.  The shortcuts I take when cleaning become larger problems to manage (piling things into a drawer to hide them from company only works for so long before you have to spend a considerable amount of time to clean out the drawer- only to start stuffing it again the next week).  Eventually,  I lose my mind, scream and yell, and break child labor laws in numerous states, to whip things back under control.  But how am I going to get it all done AND homeschool?  Should be an interesting adjustment.  Suffice to say that we all will have to  put up with a bit more, pitch in a bit more,and overall try to let go a bit more. 

Thanks Mom and Dad

Anyone who has ever been on the internet comes across many many You Tube videos.  There is an awful lot of stuff floating around out there ( I get scared when the boys want to watch them as you never know what kind of language may be hidden in “crazy pet videos”). But, every now and then one really speaks to me and today it was this:

Amazing, wonderful, and uplifting.  I am proud to say that I belong on that list as well.  My thanks and love to my mom and day for picking me and giving me everything that I needed to become who I am.   I love you both.

Graduations: Big and Small

I went to two graduations in the past week.  First was for, hmm I  guess I ought to call her Schnuckie21 as she is my beautiful stepdaughter whom I have watched grow into a fine young lady.  The whole bunch traveled down to Virginia (Radford University) and were able to celebrate this very momentous achievement.  A big step for a very smart young woman.  It was a very nice time, with efforts made by the graduate to try to accommodate many different families, people, and personalities.  She hosted a nice lunch on her special day and made great effort to ensure that everyone was happy, all the while she ought to have been selfishly celebrating herself. I can’t say enough about her character. Unfortunately, she is struggling to find  a job in this market but we are very very proud of her and her achievement. 

My second graduation was slightly less spectacular but very special as well.  Schnuckie5 graduated from pre-school.  All the kids were moving on to Kindergarten and Jenny proudly announced, when asked that she was going to be homeschooled.  It was a very sweet and small little cceremony.  Grandma and Grandpa dutifully traveled from NJ to bear witness as they did for the older boys, and it was a very nice time.  It has bought my nostalgia back for schools and ceremonies, for marking of accomplishment and achievement.  Little Schnuckie3 may never go through a graduation with a class but perhaps I ought to try to make sure I mark passages with pomp and circumstance as much as I am able.

 

Congratulations to the Graduates

New Computer

Well, I had a really fun post on my new computer but somehow in my excitement, I lost  the whole posting.  Papaschnuck came home on Monday with a new laptop.  It was a Mother’s Day/ Homeschool gift. Never underestimate that man’s ability to multitask.  (Hey it really beat the “It broke and we really need another one”/Christmas vacuum that I got a few years ago).  At any rate.  The Schnuck’s have a new computer, (actually 2 as we also have another desktop that was given to us by a good friend) and Papaschnuck is busy making a home network for the (now) three computers.  The goal is to help in homeschooling as we want to be able to utilize technology to make things easier.  And with everything that is designed to make your life easier it requires an enormous effort to set up and use effectively.  So we are off and running in our new home network, well maybe we are limping along at this point as things are not fully functional, but it is exciting.  In the meantime I am busy exploring my new toy.  By far, the most fun, besides the mobility, is the built in web camera.  Here let me show you:

there I am, at the kitchen table, typing away.  And Schnuckie8 is down on the other computer and I do not even begrudge giving it up as I now have my own.  I hope that this new toy I mean tool, will allow me the ability to better blog, better organize, and more effectively teach (not in that order).

wheeeeeeee!!!!!

Happy Mother's Day

I was getting out of my car the other day at a store, parked next to another minivan (I know people have baggage with minivans but what other vehicle can carry 5 kids or a couple of sheets of plywood?? Come on, it really is the perfect, albeit ugly, vehicle) But I digress, so I happened to look into the front seat of the van next to me ( yes, yes, yes, I am a Nosy Nellie as well, but you would be amazed at what people leave in plain sight in their cars), and stuffed into the drink holder was a handful of wilted dandelions. I myself just tossed a couple of butter cups and those purple lawn flowers out of my car an hour earlier. I had to smile as it is a spring ritual. I will always take them happily as it will only be a few more years till it stops completely. The kids get such joy out of picking the dandelions. Their bright faces beaming as they hold those flowers out are so pure and sweet and have a look of such selfless joy and pride. A task and accomplishment that is all self directed.



I forget about this annual giving process every year until one of my monkeys toddles up to me (well OK they are not really toddling anymore but I'm painting a picture here) and holds out a grubby little hand clenching a handful of broken dandelions to me. "Here mommy, for you." (Now the white ones are never shred they get blown but the yellow are for giving. I take them with joy even when I am bogged down with the carry bag, gym bag, roll mat, lunch box, glitter picture still wet with glue, a juice cup, a water bottle and my keys.



Here's to all you moms out there we have an impossible yet fabulous job, and while it is most often under appreciated, here's to hoping you get a handful of weeds this year.

Happy Mother's Day