Do you feel like a cloud is hanging over your head this summer? I don’t mean a typical rain cloud; I mean a cloud called “Planning.”

Sometimes that planning cloud casts a little shadow over all our activities. We know we have to deal with it sometime, but it’s so easy to push off planning to another day. We’re still trying to catch up on things that we didn’t get done last year and we have vacations to prepare for and summer activities going on and outdoor chores to do and. . . so we put it off. And that omission begins to wear on us.

Charlotte Mason wisely observed:

I suppose we are all ready to admit that it is not the things we do, but the things we fail to do, which fatigue us, with the sense of omission, with the worry of hurry in overtaking our tasks (Vol. 1, p. 146).

We’re trying something new in the Atlanta area to help dispel that planning cloud. We’ve scheduled a CM Planning Getaway for July 19. We’re inviting CMers in the area to come spend a day in relaxing surroundings and get their planning done. We’ll be going through the new Planning Your Charlotte Mason Education book together, sharing resources, and helping each other design schedules that work.

You can have a Planning Getaway yourself, no matter where you live. Just pick a date and a location where you can have some uninterrupted time. If you know of other CMers nearby and want some company, invite them to join you. The important thing is to schedule a day and put it on your calendar, whether you are planning by yourself or with a group. You can use the Planning Your Charlotte Mason Education DVD and book for guidance to walk you through the process step by step.

It feels so good to know that we have a day set on the calendar when we will accomplish our planning. We don’t need to worry about it any more; it will get done on that day. (And we’ll probably have fun doing it, too!)

We recently received this e-mail from Kim in Tennessee telling us about her own planning day:

I purchased the planning system a couple of weeks ago. Then spent a Sunday afternoon going through the entire thing. I am so excited and encouraged. Our year is all planned and set before us in the SCM Planner. For the first time in 9 years I’m actually enjoying a summer break of playing instead of stressing over the fall ahead of us. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!

Wherever you are, set a date for your own CM Planning Getaway and then relax and go do all those other summer things with a clear conscience and a sense of eager anticipation.

If you would like to join us for the July 19 CM Planning Getaway in Loganville, Georgia, you can find all the details here on our site.