Ever since we started selling soap, I have occasionally received phone calls that go like this:

Caller: “I’d like to buy some soap, can I come over?”

Me: “Absolutely, we’ll be home all day.”

Caller: “Ok, I’ll see you soon.”

Click.

Me: “FRONT AND CENTER CHILDREN NOOOOOOOWWWWWW!”

(Children come running from all directions)

Me: “Ok, we have someone coming over to buy soap.
Brett – you clean up the living room.
Cole – you clean off the counters
Emery – you sweep the floor
Fletcher – clean off the front porch
Greyden – finish washing the dishes
Hewitt – finish putting away the dishes”

Indigo: “What me do?”

Me: “You put the shoes away.”

Indigo: “I don’t want to do that.”

Me: “OK, clean your room.

Indigo: “Me don’t want to do that.”

Me: “What do you want to do?”

Indigo: “Can I eat a cookie?”

Me: “No, now put these shoes away now.”

Me: “Let’s go people! Move! MOVE! MOVE!”

You get the general idea.

The good news? I’m keeping the house consistently much cleaner.

The bad news? I have to keep the house consistently much cleaner.

Afterall, we’re not talking about friends popping over unexpectedly. They know me. They don’t judge me if the house is trashed because we’re in the middle of canning tomatoes or something like that.

But we’re not talking about friends. We’re talking about potential customers. And not all of them will understand that homeschooling 8 children on a homestead involves a lot of mess. Not a little mess. A lot of mess.

So, I’m having to adjust. Instead of one big cleanup at the beginning of the day (our normal pattern), we’re having lots of smaller cleanups throughout the day.

I’ve also implemented a new chore system (another post) that is working great.

So overall, I think having in the back of my head that a customer could arrive at any moment is a good thing.

Maybe.