Livin' each day

I started titling this entry but couldn't come up with the right words...so whatever it says now I came up with after I got out my thoughts...

About 6 weeks ago I wrote out a weekday schedule for me and the boys. I explained to them that schedules could be changed but that they were there to keep up focused on what we think is most important to do during our days. Here's Monday for an example:

Monday:

930am Learning Time

1030am Music Class

1130am Lunch and play

130pm Naps

330pm See a friend or run errands

I realized this is important for me and the boys for 2 main reasons:

1) Sanity.

2) Putting my values into action

Sanity. Important. I need some structure. I get very down when I wake up every morning thinking 'what the hell am I going to do all day long?' Even if its a simple outline of a plan, it helps my mental state. It also lets the boys know "there is something bigger going on in this house than what you want at any given moment." Now I also change things sometimes and Andrew is beginning to understand that sometimes we have opportunities that are absolutely worth throwing the schedule out the window in order to pursue. And we do. But that's the exception.

Putting my values into action.... Here's what I mean. I realized that there is a list of things I place value on for me and my kids. Many of these were flying under my radar. If they didn't happen, I'd get restless or irritated. It was important to get this stuff out on a piece of paper so I could talk to Bill and we could say "yes that is important" or "no - let that one go...not now." Here are a few in no particular order:

1) Loving our friends in action

2) Playing outside

3) Learning how to swim

4) Being in environments around other children

5) Learning to read and loving books

6) Having experiences together- getting out and about to see new things

7) Mom getting to exercise regularly

8) Cooking meals and keeping our home running smoothly

9) Having unstructured time (irony? I think so) to play together as brothers

So I listed out what these were and they have found their way into our schedule in a structured way. This is to make sure that I am acutally living out what I think is important in how I spend our time together and how I prioritize what happens each day. It's helped me to paint a picture of my week with purpose. This way I don't lose sight of why I stay home with them and what all these small things are really about. Otherwise when I'm chasing Luke around while Andrew is in his swim lesson, I could start to think it's not all worth it. And then I remember - "oh yeah -- it's really important to me that he learns how to swim at a young age...so it's worth a sacrifice for Luke for 30 minutes."

In my next entry I am going to tell you about what we do on Tuesdays. It's fast become my favorite thing. And it's definitely come under some resistance (not from the kids -- from me!). But it's my favorite. More to come on that.

I've never had trouble adopting discipline or routine. But the longer I stay home with little ones who aren't yet in school, the more I realize that it's ME who needs to infuse the structure into our days according to what Bill and I value for our family. Livin' out what we think is important each day - even if it's super simple.