Bookshelves in the hallway

We live in a small townhouse. Very small. All of us. All ten of us. And all of our things. All of our things including our books. All of our books. These books need places to go. About a year ago we bought four bookcases from Ikea. We really didn't have "the perfect spot" for them. We decided to try lining the hallway with them. There was still enough room to get through, our books were nice and neat, and we used the bottom two shelves on each case for little kid toy storage. These are all good things, right?

Well, after a while some books started to hang off. Toys would get knocked off onto the ground. When walking by with a laundry basket books would get knocked off.

What was meant to serve us became something we were serving. We were constantly picking things up, moving out of the way for other people, getting trapped in the bathroom, and it got so I actually held my breath when walking through because it frustrated me so much.

Our homeschool life is incredibly similar to my bookcase situation. Co-ops, book clubs, extra classes, etc are all good things. But. If they get in the way of our purpose, if they become something we are serving to the detriment of our family, if we find that we are holding our breath just trying to get through it ... we need to let it go.

I've moved my bookcases and breathe a sigh of relief when I walk through my hallway now. Don't let your outside activities make your entire homeschool life miserable.