Somewhere between the laundry piles, feeding animals, cleaning up the kitchen for the fourth time today(handwashing every dish because the dishwasher broke), and realizing summer is somehow already here, I started thinking about how strange this season of life really is.
Motherhood feels like constantly closing one chapter while preparing for the next one before you even had time to process the current one.
Homeschooling is almost wrapped ( testing is done, praise the Lord), but somehow the house is messier than ever with books and endless laundry.
The freezer needs to be restocked again.
The garden weeds need attention.
The kids are barefoot outside again (always).
There are dishes in the sink that I know I already washed once today.
And honestly? I think this is just what a full life looks like.
The House Is Never Fully Done
I used to think good housekeeping meant eventually reaching a point where everything stayed clean and organized.
Now I realize home care is less about “finishing” and more about rhythms.
There are seasons when the house feels peaceful and manageable.
There are seasons when every surface somehow collects clutter overnight.
Farm life definitely humbles you in that area. Just this week, the bathroom toilet hung up and water flooded the entire left end of our house. The water went under our flloating floor causing us to have to tear up the floor. We are still deciding on what flooring to put back. A couple days later a water pipe to our well was broken and we had no water at all. One extreme to another, lol. That took all day. It gets chaotic over here regulary.
You can sweep the floors, but someone walks in with muddy boots.
You can organize the mudroom/laundry room, but suddenly, there are baskets of fresh eggs, feed buckets, random garden tools, and sometimes a chicken just sitting in there with one of the girls as if they live here.
And somehow, it still feels like home.
Farm Life Teaches You to Slow Down
There is something grounding about farm chores.
Even on chaotic days, the animals still need fed. The garden still needs watered. Life keeps moving at its own pace whether you are caught up or not.
I think that is one of the biggest lessons this lifestyle teaches.
Not everything has to be rushed.
Some of the best moments happen in the ordinary:
- Kids collecting eggs in pajamas
- Watermelon slices eaten outside
- Watching storms roll in from the porch
- Dirty little feet running through the grass
None of it looks Pinterest-perfect in real life, but somehow those are the moments I know I will miss someday.
Ending One Homeschool Year Always Feels Emotional
Every year I think I will get used to it, and every year it still surprises me.
You spend months working through math lessons, read-alouds, science experiments, handwriting practice, field trips, hard days, breakthroughs, and all the tiny moments in between.
Then one day, it is just… over.
The books get stacked away.
The schedules disappear.
The kids suddenly look older than they did in August.
Homeschooling has a funny way of making you realize time is moving faster than you thought. I’m so thankful that I have another year to homeschool all my girls. I don’t always know what the best next step is but I love figuring it out with them.
Preparing for Another Year Already
Even though this year hasn’t ended, my brain has already started thinking about:
- Curriculum choices
- Organizing shelves
- New routines
- Supplies
- What worked this year
- What definitely did not work
I keep telling myself I am going to simplify this year.
Less pressure.
Less overcomplicating everything.
More reading together on the couch.
More life skills.
More time outside.
More room for childhood.
We will see if I actually stick to that by October.
Motherhood Is a Collection of Ordinary Days
I think social media makes it easy to feel like everyone else has figured out the perfect system.
Perfect homeschool rooms.
Perfect routines.
Perfect homes.
Perfect sourdough bread cooling on spotless counters.
Meanwhile, I am drinking my third coffee while trying to remember where I put next year’s planner.
But maybe the ordinary chaos is actually the good part.
Maybe these messy, loud, busy days are the things we will someday miss the most. I know I will.
And maybe a good life is not built from perfectly managed moments, but from faithful little ones repeated over and over again.
