Mrs. Homeschool

Archive for the ‘Busy-ness’ Category

"It's going to be DIFFERENT this year!"

It's something I often muttered or even shouted to myself every year.  I want the focus of the holidays to be Christ-centered, not gift-centered.  But the days and weeks leading up to December 25th all pretty much looked the same.

Rushing through stores crowded with holiday shoppers filling their carts with toys their kids don't really want and REALLY don't need.  (I know kids don't need much because we have 3 children – 8, 6 and 3 yrs old – and ALL of their toys combined fit into a 20" suitcase.)  I scramble to try to get some Christmas cards sent out, but end up just doing some at the last minute.

"It is ok for kids to be a little bored from time to time."

That is the overall assessment a new friend and I came to while chatting in the car the other day.  It's not often I spend time with other moms, practically one on one, but our conversations inevitably revolve around our children or child rearing.  We were talking about escaping from the "rush, push, consume" mentality that so many of us have become part of, often without knowing it.  Getting into another culture has taken us both away from it and given us an interesting perspective on the topic.

If there's one thing we can always spend recklessly and never get back, it is our time.  As a parent, doesn't it seem like just YESTERDAY that you held that teen as a newborn in your arms OR does it seem like just last week when you got the call that the adoption papers were finalized?  Gosh, if I spend too much time dwelling on how fast the years have gone, I'll end up a basket case!

Time is SO precious, yet it is something we handle very lightly, losing minutes here and there.  So, I thought about some ways I try to save time homeschooling.

As I’ve been planning our homeschool schedule for the coming year, I got to thinking that I *may* be biting off more than I should.  So my question to you is, do you start of the year with too much on your schedule and then, when you’re about burnt out, cut back?  Or do you take it slow, add on one activity at a time to keep from being overloaded?  OR do you keep going at full throttle, even when life seems to get too busy? I’d love to know your thoughts.

As I’ve been planning our homeschool schedule for the coming year, I got to thinking that I *may* be biting off more than I should. 

So my question to you is, do you start of the year with too much on your schedule and then, when you’re about burnt out, cut back?  Or do you take it slow, add on one activity at a time to keep from being overloaded?  OR do you keep going at full throttle, even when life seems to get too busy?

I’d love to know your thoughts.