So how do you travel to 22 states in 3 months with your kids and still stay on top of the school work, house work, ranch work and business work you ask? 

Well, you don’t. 

You see, there really is no way to do it all. Something has to give.  In my case, several somethings.

Yes, we did the travel.  Yes, we learned a ton.  Yes, we met interesting people and saw our nation’s landmarks.  Yes, we combined our business with fun.  Yes, we are behind in everything else.

Ahhh, there it is. I’ve admitted it.  I am not super mom. 

You see, week 33 in our school year just ended and my 5th grader is somewhere between week 27 and 32 on his lessons depending on the subject, and the kindergartener, well, he hasn’t fared as well – we are still slogging through week 26 with the hopes that we will finish it today and then cram a shortened version of weeks 27 and 28’s lessons into these next few days as we hit the road again.  Am I worried? No, not really.  He can read over 100 words, adds numbers like 63 plus 5, has almost finished his first handwriting book and is soaking up facts about history, science, and geography from his older brother and our travels so I think he will be just fine.

Oh, but my house?  The dining room resembles a holiday shop in the middle of a “Going Out of Business Sale”  more than a place to eat meals.  The decorations are stacked up on the table and the buffet from various holidays all the way back to Christmas.  It’s a jumble of Snowmen, Valentine’s Hearts, and Easter Rabbits all collecting dust and waiting for their turn to make the annual trip to the attic.

My yard is in various stages of chaos; dead, almost dead, terribly in need of pruning, in full bloom, desperately in need of water, and “Wow! Where did all those weeds come from?”.  And I have to wonder every time I go outside, “Do I start with the weeds, the water or the winter dead stuff?” 

Ranch work, well, let’s just say that it’s a really good thing R.W. does most of this or it would be in the same fix as my yard.  But I still have a few mares that need to be bred, a filly that needs handling and spring is quickly getting away from me.  The desire to go ride with the kids and R.W. is certainly there, but do I really have the time?

Business; well there are CDs to ship, bills to pay, invoices to create and send out, bookwork to balance, blogs to write, new projects to work on and papers to file… the list never ends, even without the travel.  Eventually it will all get done, unfortunately not as quickly as I would like.

So how will I ever get caught up?  I probably won’t.  I will work at what I can, I will stay up late and get up early, I will try to put my family first and my house last and somewhere in between I will attempt to get to all of the rest.  We may have to do some of our school lessons over the summer or even try a “year-around” system, especially if we decide to homeschool again next year.  I am probably going to have to look for help with the office work or with my yard, or I may have to just skip some of it altogether.

But, what I HOPE I won’t do is drive myself crazy with guilt about not being super-mom and worrying about what I haven’t finished, because in reality we have done a lot and the weeds will grow and the dust will gather whether I’m here or out on the road with my family.

So I am curious, how do you fight the “super-mom” guilt trip?  Do you have any secrets about how to “get it all done” without losing your mind?