You cannot do it all. Let me repeat that in case you didn’t hear me the first time. You cannot do it all. It is impossible!! So, don’t wear yourself out trying to. Don’t stress your kids and your hubby out trying to get everything done every day.

In your home

It’s okay if you can’t get it all done every day. Between the cooking and the cleaning and the errands that need to be done, it can be hard to find time to tackle everything on your to-do list. Figure out what’s most important and start there. If your family is running out of undies, it may be time to throw a load of laundry in the wash. If you have enough clean dishes to eat your next meal on, the dishes can wait a bit longer. I’m not ashamed {anymore} to admit that weeks may go by before my bathrooms get a deep clean or my kitchen floor gets swept and mopped. As long as my feet aren’t sticking to the floors or funk is not growing in my toilet, it can wait another day – or more – if necessary. 

We are busy around here! Hubby works. I work from home and homeschool my daughter. My oldest is in college and works. My middle one is in high school, president of his debate team, racking up service hours, and working part time. My daughter dance 5 days a week so one of us is driving her to and from. Busy. So, sometimes, in our busiest season, we have to put some of our smaller chores on the back burner for a bit. We do what needs to be done to have a “picked up” house, but the deep cleaning has to wait. 

In your homeschool

We can’t do it all here, either. I enrolled Emma in a co-op this year. She goes a half-day once a week. In order to get her basics done every day {and what I consider our “essential” subjects}, we put a couple of things on the back burner for now. For instance, we started the year working through a music appreciation curriculum. I had intentions of having her do fun art projects once a week, as well. Those have both been dropped from her schedule. She doesn’t take music lessons. She isn’t fluent in another language {although she does do Latin}. We don’t do tons of field trips or extensive {messy} hands-on projects. 

If you feel yourself getting stressed out about being “behind” on your chores or in your schoolwork, look at your life. List everything you feel obligated to do. Figure out what is most important to you and your family in this season, and adjust your tasks accordingly. Honestly, I have to do this frequently as our schedules change with the seasons. Lighten your load wherever you can so that you can breathe. 

What do you do to lighten your load – either at home or in school?