The early months of nausea and fatigue in this pregnancy have given way to some pretty strong impulses to clean, sort, organize, and re-arrange. Previous experience has taught me that every bit of weeding out and making more efficient pays off during the first few months of bringing a new baby home. Now that we are taking a hiatus from routined homeschooling, the schoolroom was the first to undergo this overhaul. The room which was formerly bright yellow has been repainted in a most perfectly non-latte-non-makeupy khaki that soothes and grounds an otherwise busy room. The big boys and I grouped all of the puzzles and made a home for them in the closet where tiny hands can't seek and destroy. Last year's homeschooling materials were organized and stored away. Buckets of crayons were picked through and sorted; artwork filed and/or archived and parted with. My six year old vacuumed, the four yr. old scrubbed the table with a Magic Eraser, while the two yr. old did his part by pulling things back out of the trash can! Why so eager to help, you ask? Train sets that were stored for a time were promised to come out retirement once the schoolroom was clean. Amazingly, once all was organized and clean, the boys, themselves, were motivated to tear the set back down and put toys away, and I was more free to enjoy getting in on the action!
