In Which I Praise The Lumberjack's Wife
Thursday, October 4, 2012 at 10:04PM This is the first thing people would see if they came to the door and knocked, and I actually opened the door and let them in.
You might think this fact would motivate me to keep the back half of our house picked up a little better.
It does not help.
The state of the house does not improve if you go around the corner, either. This is our homeschool environment a lot of the time. (I will say that most of this particular mess was made after Christian got home from school and they were playing.)
I should add housekeeping skills to the curriculum, I'm sure. I might need a book to teach it, though...Housekeeping for Dummies. Not because my students are dummies, but because I am so inept in this area.
This is not entirely true. I can kick my house's behind when I really make an effort, and I did just that before we left for the summer. Isn't it sad that it sat here looking so awesome while no one was home?
I know my mom is shaking her head right now. I'm sorry, Mom. I'm going to clean it up this weekend.
Moving on. You're going to love this. Michaela wrote up notes for her presentation this past Tuesday. Each student had to share what their favorite animals are and why. She chose bull sharks. (Please note: I have never heard her talk of or express fascination with bull sharks. This girl is so interesting to me. Out of all the animals in the world, she wanted to talk about the sharks that are most likely to attack humans. ??) As you can see, she did some abbreviating.
Toward the end of her page of notes, "bull shark" was even more abbreviated...
I had a little talk with her. I informed her that "BS" was not an abbreviation that she was allowed to use in general, and especially in talking with other kids (or grown-ups, I guess!).
The things you never imagined you'd get to teach your 11-year-old...
So, to my dear blog friend Taylor, I have no chickens to chase, nor do I have wood to cut, nor do I have bunnies to gender-identify, nor do I can fresh produce, nor do I handle raw meat that my dear husband has killed himself. I hardly touch the meat I buy at the grocery store. We have no pets. I do not garden (see previous post...I kill plants, but my daughter has a green thumb). Therefore, you should feel, EVERY DAY, as though you are the super woman that you are because ALL OF THE ACCOMPLISHMENT! I have a hard time making it to the store (which is seven minutes away) or doing math with Eliana or getting my laundry out of baskets and into closets or drawers. I'm praying that you find joy each day in knowing that you bring joy to a lot of folks around the world, as well as recognizing all that you get done on your homestead. Which is a lot, in case you forgot!
Now I need to go clean something up...
Reader Comments (3)
I love the Lumberjack's Wife, too! And if you find that "Housekeeping for Dummies" book, would you pass it over here when you are finished. I SOOO need it. I do NOT homeschool and my home still looks much like your pictures. Every. Single. Day. Le sigh...
About the abbreviations, we had that talk the other day when the kids were singing "What's New Pussy Cat" which they heard in a movie, and took, unfortunately, to the P word for cat. Another Le Sigh...
"B.S." is definitely a hazardous abbreviation – and I trust that you fact-checked her presentation on Bull Sharks to ensure it wasn't a specimen of that hazard. (I do suspect a related ulterior motive in her choice of "favorite animal": who would be equipped to "call B.S." if it was, well, a rather creative report?)
In the end, though, I'm just glad you alerted her to the problematic abbreviation. Not knowing precisely what she said about her chosen creatures, I would've worried that any use of the abbreviation may have misled some kids into thinking she was referring to Britney Spears.
Oh, goodness, you are too kind! My house looks eerily similar at multiple times during the day. And my child wrote about "raping" presents. And there is rabbit poop and chicken feathers on my carpet.
So, no praising! But thank you for wanting to :)