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Moving into a new house; still dealing with the old house; starting a new year of school and trying to be more organized than before. It’s been all I can do to keep up. I haven’t taken the time to keep my interests and this blog up to date. But I want to do better. I actually wrote this post two months ago, but the stress of the moment kept me from finishing it.
Moving was a long process for me. The first two weeks in our new house was spent driving to storage or the old house everyday to pack up another load of stuff and/or clean another room. I never had time to unpack any boxes or make any extra room, I just kept piling them in. I managed to unpack my kitchen — a grand necessity — but that was it. I was going crazy! I was exhausted and going mental. Everything was chaos! Plus, I felt out of the loop. I hadn’t been to my ministries or church and hadn’t spoken with friends in what seemed like forever!
As the third week began all I saw was an ocean of boxes.
Day one of our third week in this house. Time to take action!
Day two: I took it one box at a time and by the end I had made some order out of the chaos.
By the 3rd day, I was able to unpack or relocate all of the boxes! What was left was all these stacks of curriculum! This is what happens when you have been homeschooling eclectic style for over a decade! Now to make sense out of them!
Letting go of perfection
I had an ideal situation in my head. I wanted to get all moved in, and completely unpacked. I was going to plan my entire school year. I was going to do all this before starting school. Of course, I also wanted to move in a month before I actually did! As God planned it, we closed on our house the same day public schools started. I found myself at Labor Day weekend with a half unpacked house and barely having started planning school. I didn’t even have the weekend to work because life doesn’t stop for unpacking!
But I knew I couldn’t make my children wait another 2-3 weeks to start school. If we wanted to have a summer vacation we would have to start soon.
So … I decided to let go of “perfection”. That picture of the ideal that clashes with reality. It’s ok.
My Creed
Its ok if I start school while the house is still in chaos. I wanted to have the house completely done so I could put all my concentration on school and not be split. But I can ignore it in the morning and unpack one or two boxes in the afternoon and it will be ok. And, honestly, if the unpacked boxes weren’t attempting to steal my attention, something else would be! That’s life. But school comes first!
It’s ok if I take my time to get the house “just right.” I have nothing on the walls. I don’t even know what I want there. What I do know is that I don’t want why I had in my old house. I decorated with Boyd’s bears and lighthouses for 15 years and I’m ready for a change. I just don’t know what yet. But I’m taking my time to figure that out.
Our study area now: My 9th graders desk, middle school daughters desk and my elementary students workboxes. My 11th grader works at his desk in his room.
It is now two weeks into November. We’ve been “doing” school for seven weeks now. I’m planning a month at a time, instead of doing the entire year in one fell swoop — but at least I’m planning! The school area(s) are mostly put together, but still waiting on another bookshelf and a bit more organizing. But we are able to function. Life is happening!
