Keeping my head above water.

I have recently reconnected with an old friend on facebook and in the course of our online conversation I received the usual response I get from people when they hear I have four kids which I homeschool. "I don't think I could do that it just seems like so much work. You must never have time to yourself." My usual response to that is "Parents get time to themselves?"

Some days it seems like I am just drowning in things to do. Between four kids, soccer, homeschooling, cooking, my new little craft business, and keeping up with the mess that a family of our size makes, many things fall through the cracks every day. To make matters worse I am not a scheduled person. I don't like being tied down to a routine, and , I hate making lists. Its like setting myself up for failure before I even start something. I have seriously had days where it seems the only thing I accomplished was making a list of things that never got done. So I make mental lists instead. That way there is no little scrap of paper at the end of the day reminding me of all the things I should have done but didn't.

This time I decided to answer honestly instead of sarcastically. Homeschooling is a ton of work, I don't get time to myself until they are in bed so I stay up way too late and am rather sleep deprived as a result, and I often feel like I'm failing miserably at everything I do, but I wouldn't send my kids back to school for anything. Every time they get excited about something they read, create a masterpiece, their eyes light up with pride at a job well done and every time something surprisingly profound and beyond their years comes out of their mouth, I am there. I can have a clean house, a shiny clean car, a hard to maintain awesome hairstyle, clothes I can wear all day without getting boogers and food wiped on them, and time to do whatever I want to do when they are all grown up and on their own. I do not feel deprived at all today. I love my family and the crazy life they provide for me. Bring on the Chaos!

Speaking of Chaos....take a look at this. This is what happens when I let my two littles finish breakfast while I try to get laundry going. H decided that S needed more cereal and gave him the whole box. Ooops!