My kiddos are gone for the day. Grandma picked them up yesterday, a bit early for a weekend w/ family for Easter, and we'll be following later today. I am taking advantage of the time I have and attempting to insert some major productivity w/ the clutter and laundry monsters that constantly need battling.
I don't know about others, but I just don't do well in keeping everything in order w/ kiddos under foot. As hard as I might try, I just don't tend to keep things very well cleaned up and organized when they are around. Of course, they are almost 4 and 2 1/2 so I'm sure that has something to do with it. While I might tend to get discouraged by this sometimes, I figure it's the season of life we are in right now so I do my best to live with it.
Along with that, I do my best to try and be a 'yes' mom. This doesn't mean my kids don't hear the word no, because they do on a daily basis, but what it does mean is that if I can say yes, I try to as much as possible. I heard this encouragement for moms on the radio one day, and it gave me so much relief and freedom as a stay at home mom. For me personally, this often means letting some things go and saying, "Yes, I'll play with you, read with you, help you, etc." even when I might prefer to do something else. As long as the major things in life are taken care of, I try to be flexible, even though in some ways this is not my nature. I am not a neat freak or the type of person that likes to be over-scheduled, but when I get my mind set on something, it does tend to be 'my way or the highway' (working on that one by the grace of God, btw). In light of that, I am learning to let go.
Conversely, this does not mean that I am never productive or that I let my kids just do whatever. Since they are getting older, and because one of them is particularly strong-willed, I am also learning that it's good for us to have a morning routine. I'll be honest. After a few years of babies and pregnancy (and with the realization that we could re-visit that stage at almost any time, Lord willing), I have really gotten out of a morning routine. Of course we've had a routine to our day..we wake up, eat, take naps, and do certain things at roughly the same times from day to day, but I have not been in the mode of going beyond that for a long time, if ever. I am not the most naturally organized person, but I am learning the benefit of learning to be that way, at least more-so.
All that to say...I have begun to establish a morning routine over the last several weeks and we are learning together. My goal is to teach them that I can be even more of a 'yes' mom and we can have more fun together if we understand that our day goes a little easier if we plan our day and make certain things a priority. That way, we recognize the importance, blessing, and balance of work, rest, and play. Additionally, it teaches them that there is a healthy balance to the times when Mama says, "Now we are going to do this," or, "I need you to do X while I am over here doing this." I think, too, that it will be good preparation for our homeschooling days which loom ever nearer day by day.
For now, this is what our routine looks like:
Get up and get dressed.
Eat breakfast.
Read the Word and pray as a family for the coming day.
Memorize scripture together (presently Eph. 6)
Morning clean up (10-20 minutes of general pick up of living room and kitchen)
'School' time, which consists of a reading lesson for the almost 4 yo and letter/sounds lesson for 2 yo if she wants to that day
play (could be outside or inside, games and/or crafts, varies day to day)
snack
play
late morning pick up
lunch
naps
My present goal is to get this down to a roughly timed schedule, and it generally is (wake up, meal times, etc), but there are certain parts of this that are new to us and so we (truly all of us) are just learning to be willing to stick with it for now. Yesterday is a good example. It was the first day in the couple of weeks since we started this, that the 2 yo didn't present some kind push-back at my insistence that: yes, we are going to have Bible time now, and you must at least remain quiet (and you are encouraged to pay attention to the best of your ability).
**Side note: Some might wonder why I insist that a 2 1/2 year old stay quiet and pay attention during Bible, prayer, and memorization (yes, of a whole chapter of the Bible, this is a long-term goal, even if it takes several months). Although she is young, we have been reading, reading, reading since Day 1 (literally), and have watched very little television (which has been proven/understood to shorten the attention spans of our children today). She often, on her own, will sit and read with me for at least 30 minutes and sometimes more. I don't expect her complete rapt attention, but I do believe that children are capable of much more than what we tend to expect of them these days.
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