When Good Planning Goes Bad

When we decided to homeschool, I did a lot of research on planning and organization. I would love to live in an organized house, but I lack the follow-through to really make a success of many organizing projects. I knew my time would be limited, what with teaching a kindergartener and wrangling a toddler at the same time. I decided to devote a week (which turned into two) to plan out the entire year, make library lists, tear apart workbooks, and file all papers into weekly folders. It took hours and hours of work, but at the end of it I felt confident that we were well prepared for our school year.

Well.

The major flaw in the plan was that it didn't allow much wiggle-room for unexpected things. Because history, Bible, copywork and unit studies were all coordinated with holidays and seasons and trips, it wouldn't take much to upset the balance of things. (The math curriculum is pretty forgiving; with 160 lessons spread over 180 days of school, we have quite a bit of flexibility.) I was so careful in my lesson planning. Things would overlap beautifully, creating a perfect opportunity for maximum learning and retention.

Well.

Then we started working on some projects.
Then we got behind on those projects.
Then the kids got sick.
Then I had a two-week headache. (Ouch.)
Then we had family visiting.
Then I got sick.

Which brings us up to date. Because my beautiful, intricately-woven schedule didn't allow for flexibility, I had to make some major changes. I reworked all of our lesson plans for November, and we will be caught up by Thanksgiving. We'll have to double up here and there, but we will still focus on the important things and enjoy ourselves.

Today we learned about the Middle Kingdom of Egypt, were introduced to subtraction, and practiced handwriting. After Wendy takes a much-needed nap, we'll work on reading. We're going to keep plugging along, day by day, and we will make it work!

Lots to Do...

Before we start our school year, there are several big items on the to-do list:

• Plan out school calendar - decide on length & timing of breaks
• Finalize decisions about curricula & purchase
• Move kids' bedroom upstairs
• Set up playroom/schoolroom downstairs

That doesn't sound like much, does it? Those last two items, however, are going to be rather complicated. I'd like to paint the room upstairs before we move the kids up there, but all the way around the room, below a chair rail, is thick painted-on wallpaper. I hate wallpaper. I hate removing wallpaper, and this looks to be the worst I've ever had to work with. We also need to do some baby-proofing up there and add a light in the stairway.

The playroom/schoolroom won't be as difficult to set up, although we'll be painting there, too. It was Wendy's first bedroom, so the walls are currently two lovely shades of lavender. We'll be painting them a nice vibrant orange-y yellow, and it's going to make the room look so bright and cheerful! After painting, we need to figure out some cheap-but-sturdy, easy-to-use storage furniture. I'm hoping to get things organized in such a way that the kids can clean it up by themselves pretty easily.

So, considering all of that work, and considering that we don't really have any workable budget, we're going to have our hands full.

Who wants to come help me remove that painted-on wallpaper?? Anyone?

Eleven Goals for 2011

I won't call these "resolutions," but rather things I would like to accomplish in 2011. These aren't in any particular order; I'm not sure what I'll tackle first!

1. Get the kids' bedroom moved upstairs.
2. Set up the playroom/schoolroom downstairs.
3. De-clutter wherever possible.
4. Paint the bathroom.
5. Paint the kitchen.
6. Strip & repaint old porch swing.
7. Paint porch railing.
8. Establish a regular Bible study schedule.
9. Establish a regular exercise schedule.
10. Take more pictures.
11. Do something creative every day.

What's on your list this year?

Where Did All These Toys Come From, and Can I Just Throw Them Away?

Before I had a child, I had definite ideas about how my children would be raised. A few educational toys, lots of books, very little TV, lots of good exercise, good nutrition, etc. We've done pretty well with a few of those ideas - Wendy has lots of books, even though she only ever wants to read her favorite two. Her nutritional status is pretty good, as long as no one expects her to eat the lima beans. Good exercise - she does that all on her own!

The toys. Oh. The toys.

I've stuck to my plans and have spent maybe $150 in toys over Wendy's lifetime, including birthdays & Christmases. Most of these toys are ones that require a lot of imagination, and some are great activity toys (like the Bounce & Spin Zebra I wrote about last week).

However.

Wendy is the first grandchild on James' side of the family. She's the first granddaughter on my side of the family. I'm not going to put all the blame on her grandparents, but at least one set has bought her way too many toys. (Not the set that lives close by.) Wendy also has several aunts & uncles who like to see her face light up when she gets a new toy - especially if it flashes or moves or sings or otherwise requires batteries.

Somehow, between 2 birthdays, 3 Christmases, and many "I just had to get this for her" moments, Wendy has enough toys for a whole day-care center. (I think there may be some toy hanky-panky going on during the night, because some mornings I'd promise there are more toys than there were at bedtime.) Something has got to be done. I don't think it's good for children to be swimming in toys. I know for sure it's not good for my tiny house and my pitiful attempts at organization.

So what should I do?

Do we just get rid of about 85% of her toys?

What about the toys she's outgrown, that we want to save for David?

What should we do to maintain a reasonable amount of toys, when people keep giving us tons of stuff?

Lots To Do

Somehow (I think it has to do with my muddled mind & nauseousness) December snuck up on me. And here we are, almost a third of the way through the month, and I'm not ready. We have our tree & stockings up, but that's it. I haven't done any baking, shopping, Christmas cards, nada. To top that off, we're hosting some friends for a couple of days in less than two weeks, and our house is NOT company-ready.

And so, on that note, here is my to-do list for this week, in no particular order:

• Steam-clean dining room carpet. Again. Threaten cats within an inch of their lives.
• Take Wendy for a haircut.
• Schedule long-overdue 2-year pictures for Wendy. Hopefully get them done this week.
  
• Make Christmas card list. Order/make cards.
• Work on Christmas budget. Yuck.
• Make Christmas gift shopping list.
• Plan a rough Christmas baking schedule.
• Make grocery list for baking supplies & Christmas dinner supplies.
• Figure out how to fit everyone who is visiting into our tiny house.
• Generally work on straightening/cleaning house.

I'm off to a great start - it's almost noon on Monday and I'm still in PJs, having accomplished nothing. Sigh.

But I don't want to end on a downer - here's a cute picture of Wendy from a few minutes ago. She was really playing with her baby doll for the first time! She changed its diaper (even wiping its little vinyl bum!), then had me dress & swaddle it so that she could rock it to sleep. She's a good Little Mama!

Projects

In roughly 6 months, JellyBean will make his/her arrival. On one hand, that seems like a loooonng time from now, but with all the things I want to get done, I know time will fly. We have a large bedroom upstairs that we've been using as storage since we moved here. We want to convert it into Wendy's bedroom/playroom. Several things need to happen in order to accomplish this:

• weed through storage stuff & get rid of as much as possible
• find another way to store the stuff we want to keep
• remove defunct chimney from the middle of the room
• patch hole in roof from defunct chimney
• build shelves on either side of the window
• paint
• new carpet
• move Wendy's stuff upstairs

That's a pretty substantial list. The first 4 items will be the most complicated, especially finding somewhere to store things. We've been working on paring down our belongings, and this will be another time to get rid of a bunch of stuff.

One thing I wonder about, though, is the Christmas stuff. Where do you store your tree & decorations & wrapping paper & stuff? Do you have any hints for me??

Yard Sale Advice

Once again I'm asking for your advice! We're going to be having a yard sale on May 2nd & 3rd, weather permitting. (We were going to do it last weekend, but storms were in the forecast, so we postponed it.) We've been getting things together & pricing, but I could use any suggestions you have.

Here are some specific questions:

How much cash should you start off with in the box? What's the breakdown?

What's the best way to sort/display clothing? We've got a LOT of clothing to sell.

How do you get everything set up by the time you want to open? (Getting up earlier than 5 a.m. is out of the question.)

How do you handle a toddler while you're having a yard sale??

I'm no stranger to yard sales; my family had several while I was growing up, and I had to help with them. I'm good with a cash box, and I'm a pretty good pricer, too. But I have yet to have a yard sale that I think went smoothly. There's always something - extra trips to the bank for more cash, doing without lunch because I didn't plan ahead, or not being able to keep things organized during the sale.

So please, share your wisdom with me. And stop by my yard sale May 2nd & 3rd...

It failed before we even started...

I wrote a week and a half ago about my need for a routine and organization to help me accomplish what I need to and keep us on track. Well, that day was the last day we had before we all got sick. It wasn't the flu, but a cold severe enough to almost be like the flu. Wendy was hit the worst, I think; it's pitiful to hear a toddler laugh weakly and then go into a five-minute, red-faced coughing/gagging fit. Poor baby.

Today is the first day we've all been well. And so, today I deal with the aftermath...the toys that didn't get picked up, the tissues and half-drunk tea, the sweaters and afghans that were pulled on and then pulled off of feverish bodies. And the kitchen...sigh. Sometimes I despair of ever having a truly clean kitchen.

In the midst of this, Wendy has apparently outgrown her morning nap. She's only taken afternoon naps for the past three days, and even those haven't been very long. This makes me very sad. I'm not ready for her to be done with her morning nap!! I really look forward to those couple of hours of peace & quiet...I guess I'll learn to manage, as all mothers have since the beginning of time!

I guess my whole point in sitting down to write today was to give an update. Not only have we not tried out the new schedule due to illness, but the schedule will have to be revamped, if Wendy is really going to give up her morning nap. Sigh. As soon as I get the house/laundry under control, I'll work out a new schedule, and we'll give it a go.