Please remove your shoes

So I have officially given up on dreams of my home someday being featured in Better Homes and Gardens.  One of the challenges of being a homeschooling family is housekeeping.
I often get that well thought out question - But, you are home all day, how could your house not be spotless?
Yes I know there are some who get up at the crack of dawn to get a jump on cleaning and others who manage to maintain a spotless home.  When you are a homeschooling family you use your home.  No, you really use your home.  Your home is your school.  Your children do not leave for six or seven hours a day everyday, they are in the house.  When the children do leave the house, I am the one driving them to the activity, program or whatever.  So, this would be  unlike a household where a stay at home mom will have some hours to clean up while the children are in school.
In my home, we have a room designated as the classroom.  But, it often spills over to the rest of the house.    The kitchen often becomes the spill-over area.  The kitchen also doubles as the science lab and extended art studio.  We can be growing crystals, making frescoes, melting crayons, building castles, whatever it is often occupies more than the classroom.  Not to mention the books and projects that accumulate over time. In a sense school never really ends. 
The kitchen does also gets a lot of use not only from being the spill-over area but also as its main purpose - cooking.  I cook.  I bake.  I really use my kitchen.  My family likes to eat.
When I have visitors coming I let them know ahead that if they have expectations of The Ritz then they will be disappointed.  Do not get me wrong, we do not live in a filthy mess.  It is just not what would be described as spotless.  The kitchen and bathrooms are maintained.  The rest of the house gets straightened up once a week.  "Straightened up" means the basics.  Major things like baseboards and windows become seasonal.  I also practice habits that I find helpful such as - we do not wear shoes indoors.  Most people go along with it but then there are those who I need to explain that I do not want them tracking every step they took into my house.  I do not understand why someone would wear shoes indoors, but to each his own.  Think of everywhere you walk throughout the day and then to take that into your home. (When visit someones' home I remove my shoes whether it is their practice or not, and so do my children).  I do laundry almost everyday.  If I miss two days, I fall behind. 
I am not exactly saddened that my magazine feature may not happen.  My husband said a while back that once the kids were happy and healthy housework came in second.  I also realizing that I did not enjoy cleaning suggested it would be one or the other - a spotless home or  home-cooked meals.  So when I have visitors, they know to expect I will feed them as long as they pretend not to notice the dust on the furniture.