Some of you may know that I used to work in Corporate America before I "retired" to be a full-time stay-at-home Mommy and homeschooler. I was climbing the corporate ladder, loving the work I was doing. I would go into work each morning, I had my little routine, things got done and no one messed with me. I got a lunch break where I could either relax and enjoy the company of adults or I could hit the gym and work out all the frustrations of the day. I remember, vaguely, thinking that it would be super easy to be at home. I wondered what I would do with all my "free" time.
When I came home from work Hannah was 17 months old and Noah would arrive nearly 7 months later. 22 months after that, the twins arrived. 26 months after that, Caleb. 20 months after that, Micah. In the blur of it all, Hannah and Noah grew old enough for formal schooling, and we chose to homeschool them. We fumbled through the early "official" years, and we are thankful for their love of learning and energy.
Now that our youngest is two and I am coming out of "the baby fog", I am seeing patterns which developed when I was totally sleep deprived and clueless. This year is a big year for us, we are working on getting down a good schedule, no more bumbling through (well, at least not as a rule). We are trying to break bad habits and form new good ones. Part of that comes from being on a schedule, a daily routine more than a task master. There is only one problem. Micah.
Don't take that wrong, Micah is not the problem. But, then again, Micah is the problem. Here is what I mean: Micah, the child, is delightful and quite entertaining; but Micah, the age, is treacherous and requires near constant supervision. He was newly two years old when we began this year of homeschooling. He did not talk very much. He still loved being held and carried. He was compliant and relatively quiet. Now he is two and a half. He talks non-stop, has very definite opinions (and is nearly always STARVING), and prefers to run fast and jump off the couch to being snuggled by Mommy. We are spending a lot of time working on what it means to "obey" and when things get quiet, we all get scared.
Scheduling in my former life used to mean make a plan and execute it. After you get used to the schedule, streamline it and make yourself more productive. No so with little people around. Instead it means learning to be flexible. My schedule has times along the side of it only so I can make sure I am not over-filling it. We use it to give our day some "bones", even though most days we jump around and try not to skip too much. Elliott laughs at me, but I usually have to "tweak" our schedule every two or three months. It is not that there is anything inherently wrong with the schedule, more over, it is the little people have changed and grown and what used to have a good flow has been interrupted by a later nap, a shorter nap, a needed snack time, no nap, more outside time because the weather is lovely, and the list goes on.
That is where we are right now. The schedule that worked, even the week before Christmas, is in need of some revisions. The last two days have found us back into the bumbling mode instead of into the productive and streamlined mode. Some of that is part of getting back onto our schedule following a lovely Christmas break. Part of it has shown me some planning gaps which need to be amended. All of it reminds me that I need to take time each day, praying and seeking God's will for our day, asking Him to help us redeem the time and resting in Him for my strength. I remember that the goal in Romans 8:28-29 is my being conformed into Christ's image. Jesus was much better at "rolling with the punches" than I am, so He sent me six little blessings, stretching me and shaping me more into His image. It is good.
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