Sometimes I wonder if I have my priorities all wrong. Today was one of those days that I had conflicting feelings and thoughts racing through my mind. I’m thrilled the kids and I can have a relaxing morning and not rush off somewhere. Wait. No. It’s not good that we’re all still in our pj’s at 11 in the morning, right? I’m thrilled the kids are fully invested and excited about the start of the Iditarod in T-minus 2 days. We’re making banners for our wall, we’re writing out the names of the 24 checkpoints along the Alaskan route, talking about how the word ‘route’ is a homophone for ‘root’ (if you say ‘r-ow-t’ that is), we’re decorating dogs cut out of card stock as race markers to keep track of the progress of our personal mushers-of-choice, we’re emailing our mushers to wish them well, we’re reading books about how this great race ever got started, we’re figuring out how to take 10-feet of wall space and create a scaled map of the 975 mile race, we’re talking about the important features of staying fit. But wait. My house is a mess. A g-i-g-a-n-t-i-c mess! A tornado has stricken once again. Seriously. This is the part when my head starts spinning out of control. There’s glitter…..paint…..tape…..paper…..rulers….markers……a penguin being decorated by Natalie……my dogs walking in and amongst it all……piles of laundry……breakfast dishes……clothes from last night’s bath still strewn about in the bathroom…..unmade beds…..Jacob’s baseball gear in the hallway still sitting there from last week’s practice………..AAAAUUGH! This is when my mind starts to scream that I’m doing something wrong. What can I be doing differently? How do I keep the love of learning and the thrill of homeschooling alive and yet still find a way to keep my sanity and my house a sanctuary of order? Yeah, haven’t figured that out yet. If anyone has, pleeeeease let me know. But this is what I have to show for today. Doesn’t seem like much in comparison to the daunting and overwhelming messes of my house. But tonight I need to rest in the confidence that with time I’ll figure out the how-to-keep-the-house-neat piece and that I should cherish the time I spent with the kids and treasure this road of learning together. But boy do I hope I figure out the home-maker part!