A few panicked emails this week and some rearranging of my own had me thinking about this as a blog topic.
We started our school year a bit late this year between our move and working on the property that we fell in love with (it had been neglected for 10 years.) I kept thinking it was no big deal, we would just use December since I usually schedule it to be off. A week into December and I knew school would not work with my mammoth long to do list! I spent some time pondering the best course and just decided to halt regular lessons. Every mom knows though that this can quickly turn to chaos, lol... so my solution MAKE A PLAN.
I sat down with Erik and went over gifts that still needed to be crafted, parties that needed attending, food that needed to be made and household chores that needed to be done. With the big kids, they can really help. I went through my list and thought about what each one was good at and how they can partake in holiday preparations. Ellie is a great knitter so she's on board to help with knitting projects. The boys are ready to help their dad outside and around the house.
What about school? Well we won't be completely forsaking our plans - we are just pairing them down a bit. This is much easier to do with big kids... 5th, 7th and 9th are on our plate this year... so we looked at what reading could take place daily. My 9th Grader is working through revolutions with Kovacs book - 7th grader is working through Utopia and my 5th grader through Egyptian tales. I also combed Netflix for the bigger boys to see what documentaries could be useful - found Monarchy, season two was a jackpot for them both. Episode two in that season is great for Mom to learn about some of the inner politics of the time period (Renaissance religion - 7th grade, rebellions & conflicts - 8/9th grade). Lest you think I have lost my mind, lol, I am staying abreast of all their reading and we are using the down time to have open discussions about the topics. We will just be taking a break from our other work - math & writing.
Once I decided how we would pair things down, I just pulled out our wipe off calendar and started putting our to-do's into each day, keeping it reasonable. I have been so impressed with how much more relaxed it has made our month so far, I am not pressured to do it all at once. It is so easy to get into the mode of doing it all ourselves, asking for help or involving our children is so good for them.
What about little ones? We've got that element here too. There is nothing harder than trying to get gifts done and having a happy five year old jumping around. How to keep him busy while we are working on our mile long list?? I have to keep up my early morning rhythm, being ON and setting the tone for the day. Sam can help wrap gifts, he can help bake, he can help rake leaves... fold laundry...set the table...unload the dishwasher... he loves to help! He loves games too, I discovered that I can play Go Fish and knit, I can play Memory and ice cupcakes, I can tell stories while I sew. He loves to paint... these become great gift wraps sheets and holiday cards for friends and family. The biggest component is ME... I have to be patient and work to keep us on task.
Two hours of planning has saved me so much time. Breathe. It will get done.
Holiday blessings to you all!!
Love, Melisa
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