Spring Break Update

Spring semesters are always hectic for me.  It's great that I work in the education field, like my husband, so I get holidays when my kids (and husband) are home.  It's convenient to have the summers off with them and to always have weekends free.  It's nice to get a long break over Christmas to travel and spend time with family.  It's even better that my semesters are shorter than the public school system's so I have a few weeks to myself each semester.

But, it also means that I cannot find a routine that always works for me.  One thing works when everyone is in school and not when they are home.  Another thing works in the fall when I'm only tutoring but not in the spring when I'm also teaching.  It's a constant battle for me to adjust to housekeeping and working and mothering and being a wife and taking care of myself all at the same time.

I had a pretty nice routine established before Christmas.  Yes, the house was more than a little messy, but I was more forgiving because the baby and I spent a lot of time nursing and sleeping.

I'm working more than twice as many hours this semester and Chris is coaching (read:  gone most nights until 7 pm or later).  I'm not adjusting well.



 

So, instead of deep cleaning and freezer cooking this year during spring break, I'm doing something a little different.  I'm focusing on homemaking instead of housekeeping.

I used to think they were the same.  They aren't.  I struggle to keep my house clean.  I am stressed and overwhelmed when my house is unkept.

But, that is because my house is just a house in my eyes.  A never ending chore.  Decor collecting dust.  Spots that need scrubbed.  Carpets that need vacuumed.  Piles that need decluttered.

This week, I stopped housekeeping and started homemaking.  I'm trying to see this place as the foundation of my family, a place where they want to come home to. I bought pretty curtains for a room we had been neglecting.  We bought a new end table that opens up to hide Landon's small toys from Raegan.  I put a fresh table cloth on the dining room table.  I bought fresh flowers and put vases in several rooms.  And I'm making a honey-do list that is a mile long-  pulling up carpet, painting old panelling, installing vents to heat the second floor, refinishing old kitchen cabinets, moving the range, installing a new doorbell, refinishing the dining room set, enclosing the first-floor bathroom, painting the basement floor and walls, installing more lighting in the basement, installing an attic ceiling, painting all the bedrooms, rearranging the master bedroom, painting the kitchen... and on and on.

Somehow in the process of decorating and rearranging my house ends up clean anyway.  :) and I'm more excited about the projects than stressed about the chores.



For the first time, ever, I can sit in the living room with the TV off, just soaking up the sun from a nearby window and listening to the sounds of this old house.

Hopefully I can keep the house at a tolerable level until May when my summer break begins.

Until then posts from me will be sporadic because cooking and cleaning will be sporadic. But know that we are all well and doing our best to soak up the moments we have together as a young family.

On a side note, I'm posting this from my new phone...so maybe I will be able to post more often "on the go".