Weary Homeschool Moms – need some help?

Weary Homeschool Moms – need some help?

Do you need some help? Not with homeschooling – no, THAT you LOVE (at least you do if you use Heart of Dakota)! It’s the other “stuff”, right?!? If only you had a cleaning lady, a chef, a personal assistant, an errand runner… if only there was another ‘you’, right?!?  But there isn’t. There is just one of you. So what can one weary, spread-too-thin, well-intentioned homeschool mom do? Look no further – here you go!

A Cleaning Lady

Most homeschool families cannot afford a cleaning lady. If you can, by all means, get one! But if you can’t like most of us, here are a few things to try…

• Pick One: Pick one day, one time, and one hour to clean. On Saturday at 10 AM until 11 AM, everyone cleans his/her own bedroom and one other room. Mom can “train” the youngest. Next week’s “Pick One”, clean whatever rooms didn’t get cleaned last time. Continue to “Pick One” each week until the entire house has been cleaned. Then, “Pick One” family movie to watch as a reward!
• Pair Up:  Two people pair up to clean two rooms for two hours. The two need to coordinate their schedules to do so, and it must be done within one week by Saturday night or it will have to be done Saturday night. Next week’s “Pair Up”, clean whatever rooms didn’t get cleaned last time. Continue to “Pair Up” each week until the entire house has been cleaned. Have a special “Pair Up” treat to celebrate as a reward (i.e. popcorn and M & M’s, chips and dip, crackers and cheese, root beer and ice cream for floats)!
• Go Solo: Ask hubby or grandma to take the kids somewhere for one morning, afternoon, or evening each week. “Go solo” and clean like crazy while they’re gone! Throw up your hair and put on your tennis shoes – because this is going to be a workout, friend! Listen to your favorite music – LOUD – no one is home… have your favorite beverage… munch on your favorite snack… and move like lightning! “Go solo” and make cleaning as productive and fun as you can!

A Chef

Most homeschool families cannot afford a chef. If you can, by all means, get one! But if you can’t like most of us, here are a few things to try…

• Take Five: Take five EASY breakfasts and five EASY lunches and assign each a weekday. Monday – Toaster waffles/whipped cream/berries for breakfast and mac and cheese/cut apples with peanut butter for lunch. Tuesday – yogurt/berries/granola for breakfast and nachos/applesauce for lunch. Wednesday – oatmeal/berries for breakfast and fish sticks/green beans/box of yogurt raisins for lunch, etc. Pick different meals each day, but every Monday is the same, every Tuesday is the same, etc. Post the menu and “Take Five”, so you never wonder what you’re making for breakfast or lunch again!
• Double Team:  Pick a child to be on your team. Katie helps double team with you for breakfast, and Jason helps double team with you for lunch. You are the captain of the team, and team members help with whatever! Set the table, prep/help make the food, make the side dishes, clean up, do the dishes at the end, etc. Take a “Double Team” approach and teach life skills at the same time!
• Fly Solo:  Send children outside for “recess” to play together or to their rooms for “quiet time” alone while you fly solo to make quick meals. Older children can play with younger children. Try to give yourself a time limit though – this won’t work if your “flying solo” drags on. Any meal that takes over 20-30 minutes to prepare probably isn’t worth it because it will only “may day” your homeschool day later!

Personal Assistant

• Division of Labor: Give each child one assigned, unchanging daily chore. Young children can take the trash out to the garage and put in fresh trash bags. Not-so-young-children can unload the dishwasher and put away dishes. Older children can feed the pets or do a load of laundry (i.e. towels on Monday, whites on Tues., colors on Wed.). It’s important for you to teach the chore well, and for the child to keep the same chore for quite a while for “Division of Labor” to work!
• Double-Duty:  My hubby and I tried to get a babysitter once a week, so we could date each other. We didn’t spend a lot of money, and we weren’t gone long, but it was so good for our marriage! We often had the babysitter come later and put the kids to bed ourselves – it went better. While the kids were sleeping, our babysitter did “Double-Duty” for us. She made spelling cards, folded laundry while watching t.v., loaded/started the dishwasher, made muffins/cookies, prepped “tomorrow’s” meal. She put on her favorite music/t.v. show while she worked, she learned a lot, and she’s an excellent mom herself today!

Errand Runner

• Divide and Conquer: Get together with the cousins or another homeschool family with kiddos who are similar ages as yours. Set up alternating play dates with the other mom to “divide and conquer”. (Obviously, make sure you TRUST leaving your children with her and her children!) My sister and I did this with our 7 sons. I had them Tuesday afternoons, and she had them Thursday afternoons. I ran errands when I didn’t have them, and she ran errands when she didn’t have them. We found about 3 hours to be good. Less time – we didn’t get anything done. More time – the kids had had enough.
• Wing-Man: Take all the kids with you, but have your oldest be your “Wing-Man”. For example, give him/her half the grocery list. I remember literally ripping my list in half and giving half to my oldest son! Make sure your oldest is “old enough” to do this – safety-wise and responsibility-wise. Or, put baby and toddler to nap on the weekend with hubby or grandma, and take your oldest along on errands to be your “Wing-Man”. If you have multiple middle/older children, you can alternate your “Wing-Man” each week. Let your “Wing-Man” pick a treat at the end – a small way I said thanks for them being my “Wing-Man”!

One Final Thought…

Just like you wouldn’t hire and train a cleaning lady, a chef, a personal assistant, and an errand runner at the same time, don’t try all these ideas at once!  Start with whatever task is bothering you the most!  Pick one area to work on with one of the bulleted ideas, and give it a good month or two. There will be training and planning involved to make these ideas work initially. If you can conquer one area, move on to the next and give it a good month or two. If you do your due diligence in the training/planning phase, you may just end your homeschool year with a cleaning lady, a chef, a personal trainer, and an errand runner!  It will be worth the time. Looking back at the past 25 years – the homeschooling – I always loved. It was the “other stuff” I needed help with! Hope this helps another weary, spread-too-thin, well-intentioned homeschool mom enjoy the journey like it did me – God bless!