I had already written a complete post with the same title as above on my phone yesterday, while Anne was asleep in my arms and the two older kids were watching Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium, but for some strange reason, it didn’t get published! BOO! Anyway, it’s high time I told you guys what’s been going on with me/us! 🙂

I read a post yesterday on my friend Martine’s blog and I couldn’t help but relate to it — she wrote about stuff she has yet to write and stuff she’s been doing. I wanted to give her a virtual high-5 (and a hug too!) because I knew that she was (and still is, most likely!) as busy as I’ve been. (Right, Marts? Right?!)

Ever since my maternity leave ended, I feel like I’ve been “running” non-stop to beat deadline after deadline after deadline. (Sadly, I know I’ve missed a few — eek! Peace to all my teammates at the office!) It’s no joke working from home and taking care of a baby and attempting to homeschool homeschooling two kids and trying to keep your home clean and chaos-free. Seriously! How do those work-at-home-homeschooling-moms-of-more-than-three-kids-who-seem-to-have-it-all-together-and-then-even-take-the-time-to-document-everything-on-their-blogs-and-pin-stuff-on-Pinterest do it all? Ha, ha! (No offense if you’re one of those moms, OK? Seriously, you ladies rock!)

I certainly don’t. Do it all I mean.

And lest you have been deceived by my Facebook posts or tweets, take a look at what part of our bed looks like on a daily basis:

In the photo above, you’ll see my office-issued Mac, where I do my editing and writing, a book I’m proofreading that needs to be submitted by Monday, a brown envelope that contains more stuff to be proofread, two Language Arts books (readers) that I have Tim read from (when I remember to do so), my Bible (helps keep me sane most days), and an assortment of stuff that babies and kids need. Oh, and of course, a cute little baby who usually doesn’t sleep long enough ON the bed during the day for me to do chores and other stuff! (Yep, I took this photo earlier in the evening!)

Chores? Did you read that right? Yes, chores. The two helpers (or kasambahays to us Filipinos) we had hired last month (I mentioned them in my post about the Kasambahay Law) left one after the other. They stayed less than a month. (Long story, which I will not tell you anymore as it’s just a waste of time!) So yes, we are yaya-less and helper-less! Which, upon hindsight, may be a blessing in disguise after all!

However, let me be perfectly honest and tell you all that I have been letting things “slide” on the homefront, though we are “managing” so far:

The apartment has not been cleaned properly ever since our helpers left two weeks ago. You see, the last helper left one day before Anthony was to leave for Australia for the Hillsong Conference, so the kids and I ended up staying at my mom’s place first so I could focus on work (remember, deadlines!!!). We came home just before this week began and were only able to do the laundry and some light sweeping. So now, since we haven’t really cleaned the floors, etc., I just tell the kids to keep their house slippers on and avoid touching the floor with their hands. 😉 It’s a good thing no one in our family has asthma! (Oh, I was able to clean the bathroom this week though, so YAY ME!)

There are piles of clutter everywhere (again, see above photo). There are piles of books on the bed, and an assorted jumble of toys too. To avoid being buried by books and toys, I have the kids pack away their things in reusable bags and these multi-purpose bags we bought at SM. Hee hee! (I told myself we’ll finish de-cluttering one of these days! Hmmm… I wonder when that will be!)

Homeschooling, on GOOD days, consists of reading practice, writing practice (copywork/dictation/spelling), math exercises and religion lessons. Unfortunately, these past two weeks, good days have been few and far between. Most of the time, I have the kids listening to free audio stories or exercising their imaginations (i.e. engaging in pretend play). Oh to be brave enough to plunge into unschooling!

There are also days when the baby is given only a sponge bath — so thank God for the heavenly smell of babies, even when they’re all sweaty! Hee hee! 🙂

On a more serious note, we’ve been having discipline and behavior issues with one of our children, and this has also contributed to my stress. Ironically, I think the issues have come up precisely because of my stress (in trying to “manage” everything on my plate, which is already very full). So yes, I need to de-stress, not just de-clutter!

I also have many posts I need to write, especially for my AWESOME blog partners, including my newest one, Halo Philippines! Plus more homeschooling-related and parenting-related posts that I hope will be helpful to you all. 🙂 I’ve been receiving emails and Facebook messages again, particularly about homeschooling, so I want to write posts that I can direct people to in the future.

Ok… the baby’s awake now! That’s my signal to go. I have to get back to proofreading anyway. (I have successfully mastered the art of proofreading while nursing!)

But please, please believe me when I say I’ll be back. 🙂 In the meantime, feel free to leave a comment on my  page or connect with me on !

Have you had a busy week too? Do you find yourself letting things “slide” sometimes? Leave a comment and let’s talk!