living in the balance

5/31/2007 (3:58 AM 6/1/2007)

To add to the interesting dynamics of our home right now, we are in the process of moving. This means that at any time a realtor may call and ask if the house is ready to be shown. We, of course, are going to say 'yes'. But to have the house ready all the time is taking a toll on family life, especially for Mom. Where does a mother find the balance between keeping the house ready and daily living with the kids? Some families would prefer to move out of the house to another temporary arrangement. The market isn't sizzling hot right now; our house will sell, but it might not be for months (or even a year).

Our solution so far has been to minimize and simplify. That alone has gone a long way to helping the issue. With not as much to mess up, it takes less time to clean up. Still, JE is feeling quite a bit of stress.

A few days ago JP saw a flying insect and asked, "What's the difference between a hornet and a bee?" That has launched a learning thread that has continued all week. Yesterday we learned about what bees do, including how much honey they create, the different flavors of honey and the honey bee calendar. During family reading last night, there was mention of the Killer Bee. Of course, my boys were curious as to what exactly those were. I went to the Internet to get a quick answer and we read over that. I love learning this way. Using this topic, we can also pursue the other areas of education -- math, writing, and history.

Our efforts to really focus on our relationships with our kids seems to be having a positive effect. We are definitely doing more with our children than we have in the past. For me, I spend a good hour with the kids outside and then 1.5 hours with them during reading time. RE took a bath without panicking and MC accepted JP's dumping water on MC's face without demanding a towl to wipe the water from his face.

Soon we will be putting more focus on the Environment of Inspiration. It looks like they may be ready for it sometime next week.