Homeschool Mom Confession: I Haven’t Dusted in 2 Months!!

It’s about time I come “clean” about something I’m not very proud of:

I’m terrible at keeping house. Really, really terrible.

Admitting this isn’t something that comes easy to me. In fact, before I started homeschooling, I was a total neat freak. I remember one of my kids bringing home a paper asking about what her parents like to do, and she wrote that her mom likes to clean. Sigh. I was so proud of that. 

On the refrigerator it went.

My, oh, my, how times have changed. In eight years of homeschooling, my house has gone from being perfectly vacuumed (the lines in the carpet had to look a certain way), perfectly polished, and perfectly dusted to, well…

Okay, okay. Close your mouths. I’m just kidding. It’s not that bad.

But…I honestly haven’t dusted in two months, probably more…and that’s just the downstairs. Ask me when I dusted upstairs.

Go ahead. Ask me.

Never. Not once in the two years we’ve been living here. To be fair, I have had the kids dust their bedrooms maybe once or twice…ahem…but my bedroom? Nope.

It’s not that I don’t want to. It’s not that I don’t try. A few months ago, I even went so far as to type up a weekly-cleaning printable, and it kept me on track for a week or two.

And that’s probably the last time my house was dusted.

But you know what?

I’m okay with it.

I’ve come to a point in my life where I’ve finally realized that there is no such thing as having it all.

Homeschooling is hard work. It’s time-consuming, messy, and tiring. Add to that the fact that there are kids in the house all the time, and that they’re likely destroying one room as soon as you’ve moved on to the next one.

Those pictures you see of spotless houses that belong to homeschoolers? They’re not reality. At least not for those of us who are human. 😛

There has to come a time when you take a step back and prioritize what is- or should be- the most important to you: Those memories you’re making with your kids? Or an immaculate, quiet house without kool-aid stains on the carpet?

(I can help you out a bit with this one- your house will be quiet and spotless all too soon when your kids move out and are no longer there. I’m going to venture a guess that you’re going to be missing the mess more than you think you will.)

So, yeah. I’ve come to accept seeing cobwebs on the ceiling.

Because they’re no longer something to be ashamed of. They’re a visual reminder that when it comes down to what is important, I choose my kids.

Every. single. time.

 

This post is a part of iHomeschoolNetwork.com‘s: