by Tessa | Homemaking
Do you every get overwhelmed when you read all those wonderful and amazing blog posts written by people who are already at the destination of organization? Me too.
If you follow my Pinterest boards, you’ve likely noticed my recent stint of pinning a bunch of links related to organization. I’ve been scrambling to get my house and mind and family all in order before the baby comes. Creating rhythms and routines and setting up a reasonable housekeeping schedule is tough when you’re dealing with unpredictable mealtimes (my husband’s schedule is not consistent right now), unpredictable children (because kids are like that), and unpredictable health (fatigue, morning sickness, other pain and injuries). I don’t have it all figured out.
I know that everyone says to not compare yourself to others but let me tell you a few things that I’ve learned about people (and myself) through doing all this research:
Many people have way higher housekeeping standards than I do. Some even clean their baseboards and windows weekly! (Did you know that no one will notice if you clean them once per year? Or never?) Unfortunately, this means that when people tell you to lower your standards when you’re finding it hard to keep up on housekeeping, that doesn’t apply to me. My standards have already been lowered enough.
Many people feed their children way more than I do. Lately we have peanut butter sandwiches for breakfast, yogurt or oatmeal with fruit and cheese n crackers for snack/lunch, and then simple, homemade dinners (that can be made in 30 min or less). We also drink a lot of milk during the day which fills their tummies with lots of long-lasting protein. The only thing I (currently) plan is dinner and my children often make their own sandwiches for breakfast.
Not everyone needs as much sleep as I do. I look at some of the evening and morning routines of other bloggers and I know for a fact that I could not survive with that little of sleep. Some people can thrive off of 6 hours of sleep. I’m not one of them. I need at least 8.5 hours. I need to go to bed at (at least) 10:30pm and need to sleep until 7am. My children also sleep until 7am. I have no morning solo quiet time. My sleep is also interrupted several times through the night so I’m still tired during the day. I can often be found napping on the couch in the early afternoon while my children watch an episode or two of Transformers Rescue Bots or Magic School Bus. I’m okay with that. This is where I am at right now. Plus this is actually getting us into a good rhythm for when the baby comes and I’ll be needing a daily nap even more.
Everyone has a different perception of organized. Some people love to have open cabinets with everything on display; some people love to have lots of wall decor and knick knacks; some people prefer a minimalist view with lots of empty space and everything hidden behind cupboard doors. This was helpful to find out because I grew up in a home with a lot of knick knacks on display but I haven’t unpacked any of mine since moving 11 months ago. I don’t need to feel guilty about it because my personal style leans more towards minimalism and white space. I also learned why my kids’ book and toy shelf in the living room drives me nuts, even when it is tidied up. I need to get something with doors I can close so I don’t see all that stuff.
I know that I’m not the only one comparing and learning about this sort of stuff otherwise those blogs wouldn’t have so much traffic. Please leave a comment because I’d love to hear what lessons you have learned about yourself while on your journey to organization.
Also, subscribe to my weekly blog post roundup because I will share next week what I’ve learned about setting up a home management binder through this journey. (You can subscribe by filling in the simple form on the right.)
by Tessa | Faith
Welcome to this week’s Word on Wednesday post!
This is a verse that I’m reflecting on this week. It is a great reminder to me at this “back-to-school” time of year that neither my children nor I will learn true wisdom by sitting in a classroom. If we are open to the Lord’s guidance and instruction, nothing will be able to take away from us the Wisdom from the Lord.
It goes hand in hand with Romans 1:20 which states that “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – His eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” My primary role as a mother is to teach my children about God and this will be understood from what He has made. So we will continue to spend our time in His world and learning about Him through the life He has blessed us with.
by Tessa | Motherhood
My interpretation of unschooling is that it is a form of learning from life without imposing a specific curriculum or forcing a specific method of teaching on my children.
A lot of information about unschooling that I have read talks about how it is just letting life teach your children the things they need to know to live and thrive in this world and culture. This method of learning has always made perfect sense to me. If you need a skill to survive in your current role or career, you find a way to aquire it. Sometimes this is done through extensive reading and research, other times through hands-on trial & error, and other times it requires us to take a course specifically set up to give us the proper qualifications and information. At the end of the day, the outcome is the same: the new skill is learned because you chose to learn it. Why should it look any different for our children?
Many radical unschoolers forgo the practice of schedules or parent-imposed learning or even restrictions on anything that many other children have limits on. While I understand how this can work really well for some families, I feel that unschooling gives my family and I the opportunity to set up our household in a way that works for us. My family runs better when we have a regular rhythm to our days. This also means that we require certain things from our children and have certain rules for them.
Here is a bit of a framework for our family:
* We require our children to participate in the family, including the family work (household as well as farm).
* We expect them to show the love of God through their actions and attitudes. We do no allow them to disrespect us or each other.
* We believe that our children must respect us as authority figures (which, in turn, means that we must prove ourselves to be an authority worth respecting).
* We teach and expect them to treat their bodies as temples of God, which includes healthy eating habits, an active lifestyle, and healthy sleep habits.
* The condition of their heart takes precedence over all else.
Those are some of the boundaries and expectations that we have in place for when our children live in our home.
The Alberta School Act even states it’s goal for students become a “self-reliant, responsible, caring and contributing member of society.” It seems that even the Alberta government believes that character is important. Many employers realize that while skills can always be taught, character cannot. In fact, out of the 46% of job failures that happen within the first 18 months, 89% was due to attitude issues, only 11% was due to lack of skill. So, in order to give my kids the best foot forward, our main focus will be to develop their character. We believe that these things are essential to our children becoming capable and well-adjusted adults. And isn’t that what unschooling, or any other educational method, is all about?
by Tessa | Faith
I have often tried to live by Paul’s word to “Be content in all circumstances.” I’m not. Content that is. There are certain things that I am content with and others things that I wish I could change (or fast forward). It’s very difficult to find the balance between being content and striving to move ahead. I also believe that dreaming and goal setting is important.
One of my goals is to increase my scripture intake over the year. I have been reading Exodus lately. I read the part when the Israelites were grumbling about not having any water. (Ex 17:22-27) In my mind it seems like a legitimate complaint. They were in the desert and hadn’t had any water for 3 days. I’d be thirsty too! The part that really stuck me today was the part where it says that the Israelites were not grumbling against Moses. They were discontent (to say the least) with their circumstances and complained to Moses. But God said that their grumbling was to the Lord. That was a bit of a slap in the face to me. How often do I complain about certain circumstances in my life? Right before I wrote this (and during the writing of this) I have complained and grumbled. Some internally and some out loud. It doesn’t really make a difference who hears it because the One who it is against hears it all.
So here is my prayer:
Dear Lord, Please forgive me. I try to be content in the circumstances and situation you have put me in but so often I fail. I really need your strength to stop grumbling and please extend Your patience toward me as I take steps backward. Help me to appreciate every day the gifts you have bestowed on me. Lead me to the balance of contentment without complacency.
Amen.
by Tessa | Faith
I have all but given up on rising early. I know that the early bird catches the worm and I would love to start my day with an hour of Scripture and prayer but it’s just not happening. Instead of trying to guilt myself about it, I’ve found another strategy.
I really like the idea of morning quiet time with God. I used to be an early bird. Then I had children. I now really love (and need) my sleep. I still sleep-share (co-sleep) with my littlest and he has a sixth sense. As soon as I try to leave the bed in the morning he will wake up and want to nurse for an hour. So I remind myself that he’s only young once and we snuggle in for an hour of dozing/nursing.
Here are some alternatives to rising early yet still getting into God’s Word in the start of my day:
- Set an alarm and go to bed on time. For me this means at 10:15pm my phone starts jingling and I start getting ready for bed. This is often step one to getting a good start the next day.
- Set an alarm for the morning (mine is at 7am). This one drives my husband crazy because he’s usually the one turning it off while I roll over to go back to sleep. But every once in a while he will be unavailable (i.e. outside working already) and I have to jump out of bed to turn the alarm off. Most of the time the littlest wakes up, but sometimes he doesn’t. And by that point I’m out of bed anyway so I (try) to stay awake and read.
- Another alarm perk: they are on my smart phone. My smart phone also has a Bible app. Since I have my phone in my hand anyway I can flip open the app and start my daily reading while laying in bed.
- Sleep through the alarm and wake up around 8ish with the kids. This has been my usual routine as of late. They run around in jammies while I grab my already made coffee (did I mention I have the best husband ever?) and sit at the table.
I have started grabbing a journal to jot down my thoughts on my daily reading and I click “play” on my phone and Max Lucado reads the Bible to me. Sometimes it takes me half an hour (or more) to get my 15 minutes of reading in. Sometimes they play so nicely that I allow myself a bit of extra time to delve further into a verse that really spoke to me. Or write a quick blog post to tell you that, even if you have little ones and sleep is too precious to wake up early (can you say “multiple night wakings?”), you can still start your day right, with the Lord.
C is now back in the house and will be wanting some breakfast (or probably a cookie as I gave Biscuit one while he was playing outside to buy me a few extra minutes) so I’m off to get everyone dressed, fed, and out the door to do chores.
Do you have any other tips for getting in a few minutes of God-time before you start your day? I’d love to hear them!
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Many people feed their children way more than I do. Lately we have peanut butter sandwiches for breakfast, yogurt or oatmeal with fruit and cheese n crackers for snack/lunch, and then simple, homemade dinners (that can be made in 30 min or less). We also drink a lot of milk during the day which fills their tummies with lots of long-lasting protein. The only thing I (currently) plan is dinner and my children often make their own sandwiches for breakfast.
Not everyone needs as much sleep as I do. I look at some of the evening and morning routines of other bloggers and I know for a fact that I could not survive with that little of sleep. Some people can thrive off of 6 hours of sleep. I’m not one of them. I need at least 8.5 hours. I need to go to bed at (at least) 10:30pm and need to sleep until 7am. My children also sleep until 7am. I have no morning solo quiet time. My sleep is also interrupted several times through the night so I’m still tired during the day. I can often be found napping on the couch in the early afternoon while my children watch an episode or two of Transformers Rescue Bots or Magic School Bus. I’m okay with that. This is where I am at right now. Plus this is actually getting us into a good rhythm for when the baby comes and I’ll be needing a daily nap even more.
