Big hopes for the bigger house...

I have grandiose dreams of having a lovely schoolroom in our new house that is all organized and pretty and not combined with any other room. We'll see if finances allow for a fancy room like that, but regardless we will have the space!

Even with the space though, I'm finding it very difficult to run the house, take care of the baby, and school both kids. Things have really slowed down in the school department, which I guess is okay since they are "ahead" anyway for their age. But it leaves me feeling disorganized and scattered and questioning whether we even got anything done in a day (and dreaming of what I had pictured their school years to look like). Having a child on the autism spectrum only adds to the stress because he has so many special supports that need to be in place to have a smooth day. Add to that that we have some curriculum burn out (at least for me), and I'll say I'm not in the best place (as far as homeschooling goes) right now. I don't even want to think about what my life is going to be like when this new little one arrives at Easter time!

In the past we have used the workbox system on two separate occasions. We used it, loved it, dropped it, and then came back to it briefly. It does keep you on course, but it is SO much work, at least in my mind. By the end of the day, all I want to do is spend time with my husband and go to bed. I don't want to think about filling the boxes and making centers for them to do. But, I know I need to do something because what we are doing now (aka flying by the seat of our pants), isn't working. It was alright when we had a newborn on our hands, but Mimi is almost 4 months old now, sleeping through the night and (mostly) napping during the day. When I think about the last 4 months, I just keep thinking about all the wasted time....sigh.

We have found we can really only school when Mimi is sleeping. And right now she is sleeping alright during the day. But it means we have to break our schooling up into chunks with playing in between while I care for her. We aren't used that, so that's been an adjustment. The kid's toys are in the school room and during breaks they wreak havoc on the space and make it difficult for me to come back hours later and pick up where we left off! Unfortunately, I don't have another place to put the toys even if I wanted to move things around. I also don't like knowing I only have a certain amount of hours to get all their schoolwork done in a day, since we are only working while Mimi is napping. I end up having to pick and choose what we will get done each day, and never feeling like we got it all done.

I know, poor me! But I'm writing hoping someone will have some been-there-done-that advice for me. :) For the first time in a long time I'm feeling like I can't do this well, even though I'm trying! Help!