Lies "you" believe

I’m reading this at 10:30a.m. in my pj’s!

My experience is similar to sheraz. Our family absoluely thrives on routine. We aren’t clock-watchers, but we are very consistent to do things in the same order just about everyday. My children thrive as well, and our days usually go smoothly from one thing to the next because it is second nature to just follow the routine. 

Today is one of the few exceptions we have. We’re going to pick up my husband at noon and “go to town” for errands, grocery shopping, and dinner out tonight. We almost never go to the big city during the week, but it just happened to work out this time. Usually we go on Fridays when dh is off, since we don’t school on Fridays.

I, too, find it immensely helpful to really focus on school by having a dedicated schoolroom. I know this isn’t possible for many families, but I’m so thankful that our home has a room that works perfectly for school for us. We recently moved our schoolroom from our finished attic to a spare bedroom in our basement, and it has been great! When we’ve had school at the dining table or in the living room in the past, I find that I am the one who gets distracted easily. The kitchen is just too close by and convenient for me to get work done (unload/load the dishwasher, mop the floor, work on a new recipe, etc.) By having it out of sight, out of mind, I don’t get tempted to leave school work “for just a minute”. 

We aren’t involved in any extracurricular homeschool co-ops or groups. We might get together for a homeschool party with a local group twice a year, but I have found that our days run much more smoothly, and we are all less stressed by being home together and not having a 1,000 places to be. Dd takes piano once per week, and ds plays baseball. His baseball schedule is a little crazy, but I keep reminding myself that it’s only for a short season, and it will be over soon. We all love going to his games, so it’s been a fun family activity anyway.

Keeping my home simple is another key for me. We don’t have a lot of stuff, so it doesn’t take long to put the house back together after a day of playing, dragging toys out, or making blanket forts. The room that takes the longest to clean is the kitchen, but that’s because it’s used 3-4 times per day, as we make all meals and snacks from scratch and RARELY eat out (maybe once per month–my current diet is too limited, so eating out becomes more stressful than anything). We don’t have shelves full of knick-knacks to dust or cabinets that display collectibles. I’m not a collector–the opposite, actually. My son is the one who dusts the living room weekly, and it’s just easier on all of us to be able to wipe things off without having to move a bunch of stuff around. Lots of white space and blank surfaces in my house.

We typically start school between 9:30-10. If we start closer to 9:30, that’s what I prefer, but today we started right at 10.

We are not a pj-wearing family, outside of sleeping time. We just have a standard in our home that, once you wake up, you get dressed and don’t come to the table wearing pj’s. Now, on a Saturday morning when we’re sleeping in, it’s different. But for a regular day, we are dressed and ready to go. We all function better and our day is much more efficient when we’re not slouching around all day. I feel much better when I put on clothes, fix my hair, and maybe some mascara. I don’t wear a full face of make-up everyday, but mascara and earrings do wonders for helping me feel put together and ready to begin a productive day. 😉 Even if I just put on a long maxi skirt with a solid t-shirt and flip-flops, at least I know that, should i need to run an unexpected errand or go by the library at any point during the day, or should someone stop by unannounced, I’m ready for whatever comes my way. That’s just me and my family though; you have to decide what works best for you. 

Dh and I workout together four mornings a week for 15 minutes of HIIT. (Trust me, you can’t do much more than 15 minutes without feeling like you’re going to keel over!) We try to have our workout completed by 8:30 so we can shower and get dressed. He leaves for work at 9:20. I make him a protein shake on his way out while the kids and I make/eat breakfast. 

If, for whatever reason, we don’t get school work done or at least started in the morning, it won’t get done. Period. That’s just me. I think I have some sort of mental block against school after 1:00. LOL I just can’t do it. I know this will have to change as my kids get older, and honestly, I’m trying! 

Like sheraz, our routine is the same everyday, even if times aren’t the same. School always begins right after breakfast. Lunch is always after school. Chores are always after lunch. Free time is always after chores. Etc., etc. It just works for us to be consistent!