I couldn’t keep myself from sharing this awesome advice from veteran homeschooler and Bridgeway Homeschool Academy Advisor, Annette Faust.

Do you sometimes feel that there are just not enough hours in the day?  Do you roll out of bed at the crack of dawn, fall back into bed long after the entire neighborhood has gone off to sleep and still feel like you need a few more hours to get everything accomplished that you set out to do? Read More. 

I remember when my 3 children were all under 8 years old. I felt as if I really could use a few more hands and another set of eyes. The house was always screaming that it needed to be cleaned or at the very least, straightened up. The dishes would pile up so high in the course of a day that the dishwasher wouldn’t hold them and I’m not going to burden you with the woes of my laundry situation. I have not even mentioned that there were meals to prepare, school to accomplish and sometimes I just wanted to check my email!

I had friends who were so thrilled that I was now an “at home”  mom that they would call me “just to chat” in the middle of the school day!  I was so starved for adult conversation that I would leap over the toys, the dog  and the children in order to grab the phone. This would be some kind of covert signal to the children to leave their school work and  run rampant through the house. I think you can guess all the different scenarios that occurred after that!

Daily Chores:
I want to encourage you in this season of busyness. Take a  little time over this  weekend and get away somewhere quiet with scheduler, or daily planner or big block calendar, a note book and a pencil.   Then:

1. Write down all the “at home” things you think must get done in one day.
2. Now, number them in order of importance to you.
3. Try to schedule  “10 minute tidy times” twice or three times each day in which everyone helps to straighten up and put things in order  before you all transition to a different activity.

Keeping Up with that Ever Looming Laundry:
Vow to do only 1 load of laundry either before breakfast or before bed – Toss it in the washer before you go to bed and ask your husband to turn it on before he leaves in the morning. It will be ready for the dryer when you are finished with your shower. Toss it in the dryer and forget about it till the kids are in bed.

Make Lunch Easy:
Use paper plates for lunch during the week, or have your children help pack their own lunch in brown bags each evening after dinner. Pop it in the fridge and when it is lunch time  just have them grab it and go. This is a huge time saver.

Special Days:
Pick only one afternoon  during the week to schedule those dentist and check up appointments and stick to it. Make that the day that you plan to clean up the house. This is a good day for the children to work on art, read on their own,  or work  with their enrichments kits.

Make Sure You Get a Break:
If you have close friends or grandparents nearby, pack the kids up with a back pack full of educational fun or send them off for a few hours one afternoon a week. You can clean (take a nap) or catch up with a friend and they can get a change of scenery.

The joy of homeschooling your children is that they learn not only from books but from experiencing day to day life with Mom and Dad.

Take a few minutes to make  memories with your children today.

The laundry will be there tomorrow!