You guys this school year is starting in a few short weeks (here in VA anyway, some others I know have already started) whether we like it (or are ready for it) or not. I have to say that no matter what the years bring (in-person school, pandemic, at home etc) I am just not one of those moms who can't wait for her kids to be out of the house and back in school. This is in no way a knock to those that just NEED to breathe and want their space~ I do know that feeling too.. I just need it more from the other room rather than completely out of the house. I love having my people with me. I love the sound of their playing and their giggles and their pattering feet running about. I love how well my kids play together, so having one in school just means the other one is more bored and lonely... and admittedly I'm only so good at playing super heroes.
This "summer"... I put that in quotes because other than hot weather and no school, it hardly feels as such for us over here, we have completely given in to all the things with our kids. Late bedtimes? eh. that's fine. (and I'm not talking like 30 minutes late. I'm talking hours. Like they go to bed when I do and I'm more of a night owl.) Now they sleep-in though, so I'll take it! Then there's the eating situation. Did we have dinner tonight? Have you eaten? Doritos at 10am? Snack no. 7362? Meh it's fine. Literally tonight they suggested popcorn for dinner. Then someone else suggested M&M's. My thought process? Well at least Popcorn is CORN y'all, so that one will do. Hard no on the M&M's. We have to have some sort of boundaries over here you guys. Plus that was lunch. Maybe I love this whole "anything goes" thing because I hate routines. Maybe it reminds me of summers as a kid where there was no bedtime and it just felt like this endless calendar of 'anything goes' (except my mom always fed us much better). Whatever it is, I kinda dig it, and it's going to suck pretty badly trying to get everyone back on track in some way in a few weeks~ even if we don't know what the heck that track looks like.
As soon as we decided we would not be sending our kids into a building for the school year (and then the county followed and decided no one would) I began creating their new learning space in my mind. Last year was pretty much a sh!t show for us and the whole distance learning thing. Sprawling out on the couch wasn't cutting it and I knew if we were going to get this right then we were going to have to have an actual "school zone" for the fall. (We'll see how this version goes or if I'll want to pull my hair out after the first week!). Or maybe it's the only part about all this distance learning (other than just loving having my kiddos home) that kind of gets me super excited... creating a new, adorable space! EEh!
So I cleared out the whole playroom... which in our home is the intended "office" that we made into a playroom from the day we moved in. Scroll through to see it's adorableness before the clear out:
I loved having the kids right by the main living space when they were so young, but as they've gotten a tad older and play less in the space, we decided to move their play room upstairs to the loft space which is much larger. The newly cleared out playroom quickly became my work space for putting together cabinets for a kitchen DIY (more on that one soon), so the school was on hold for a bit.
Then there was this whole IKEA debacle in order to get what I needed for the new desks~ that apparently the whole world wants right now for their home schooling~ or at least that's what I told myself in my IKEA site stalking to try and pounce as soon as these Alex drawers would be back in stock! After what felt like months of waiting I finally got what I needed and have been diligently working to get this little space all ready!
So stay tuned to see the transformation from a LOT of IKEA pieces, butcher block, and some leather... to an adorable school/office space to fit the hardest of workers~ big and small!
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