We don’t live in a large house. In fact, given the amount of people in our family, our house would be considered small by most. Our house is roughly 1500 square feet. We have 11 people in our family. That means that there really isn’t a lot of extra space. Thankfully though we have figured out ways to make it so that our house is big enough for our family. Sometimes we use some creative ideas to find more space, but on the whole we have room for us all. We use every nook and cranny.
Since the birth of our 9th child at the end of June, I found myself wondering what to do with our homeschooling books and supplies. Up until Madison was born we were storing it in Caroline’s room. All the other bedrooms were filled with children and her room was perfect for homeschooling “stuff” plus our extra computer. When Madison came we had to move it out of that bedroom to make room for more baby things. It left me scratching my head on where to put it all. The only place left was the garage.
I started gathering homeschooling books and supplies that were neatly packed in Rubbermaid totes and together with Garrett, my oldest son, we took over a part of the garage. Let me preface this by saying that the garage was (is still!) a mess. Because we lack room for storage the garage is our catch-all. It houses lawn mowers, weed eaters, bikes, boxes of trinkets and memorablia that we don’t want to get rid of yet, old uniforms for Mike’s job, an upright deep freezer, our second refrigerator among so many other things. Still, I knew there was room to be had and we started cleaning.
After several days we made a clearing and the above picture is what resulted from our work. We moved an old bookcase/desk in, bought some extra shelving and got what books we were keeping put up. We lined the shelves with tubs of new pencils, crayons, glue, test tubes, math manipulatives, magnetic letters and books on teaching. Looking at it I knew we had done a great job! I was proud of us both. Not only had we moved all these books downstairs, cleaned a space for them to go and gotten them on the shelves, I has also gone through all our books and purged ourselves of over half of them! What a huge accomplishment!
Looking at the garage I smiled at my accomplishment until I turned around and looked at the rest of the garage (and this isn’t the “bad” part!) …
At first I was disappointed and overwhelmed at the sheer amount of work I still had ahead of me. But suddenly it dawned on me… things don’t have to be perfect. They need to be accessible but I don’t have to have everything absolutely perfect. I could walk to the bookcase, I could get any book or supply I needed without difficulty and the kids could as well. I realized that I can finish the rest of the garage when I have the time and energy, it didn’t have to be right at that moment.
You would think a seasoned homeschooler like myself would have learned this previously but it seems, just like our children, we are constantly learning. We are constantly learning what works for our family. We are constantly learning not to sell ourselves short and that things don’t have to be perfect. We are constantly learning what worked last year might not work this year. Be it the space where we store our homeschool materials or the manner in which we homeschool, when our situation changes we are able to change with it!
This year I hope that I remember that lesson… things don’t have to be perfect. Things will change throughout the year and we can change with them. I just need to figure out what is going to work this year. What will work in our new family situation? Will where we store our homeschooling books be the only thing that changes this school year? I’m not sure, but I do know that we are able to change as needed and that is a great perk of homeschooling!
What changes do you foresee happening with your homeschooling year? Does change scare you or do you go with the flow and change easily?
Michelle can be found writing about her family and their newest life changes over at her blog, Pass The Flu Bug Please. Stop by and say hi!
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WOW! doesnt it feel good tolook at it and be able to see what you have accomplished?? I often feel that we – as moms and teachers – rarely get to see our accomplishments! I think that is why I reorganize so much – it is instant gratification!!!
I so love that you have 9 kids!!! Big families are such a joy!!
I love your new space. I am also totally with you in that nagging feeling of having to accomplish it all NOW. I am so glad you overcame and are now able to tackle the garage a little at a time. Isn't it funny how we try to organize to reduce clutter and stress, yet it always seems to create some more? I think it is the perfectionism. I also have to say that I was encouraged to hear that your large family lived in a "normal" sized home. Our family of 4 has a 2 bedroom, 900sqft ranch, and we love it. You just have to be purposeful on your use of space.
That's great that you made a nice area in the garage for your homeschooling needs.
Small changes are fine, but big changes are hard for me!