Small Steps

I really did not remember how much a tiny person disrupts plans! The baby is still too little for a regular napping and eating schedule and I know that will come soon enough. But not having some idea of a plan makes me feel like everything is out of control. I feel like I am losing ground in the area of personal diligence if I don't give some thought to planing our days. I am making flexible goals that I will not let myself stress over. These are ways to help me, not hurt me! Some short term goals I am working on are:
*researching the "workboxes" idea to see if it will work for us and to see how we can adapt this idea to help us stay organized and on task during formal schooling days.
* regular time away to collect my thoughts and plans about homeschool. Or to just have some thoughts :-) These will be short, one hour or less.
* longer periods of time to plan ahead and research for homeschool.
* time to work on long term things like an amended school calendar. The pregnancy and birth of Jeremiah kind of blew the last school calendar to shreds! In a good way, of course.
* my most important short term goal of having Bible study every day. I would like to add to this some family worship time at home. That is a little more out of my control because of Gaylen's work schedule. I want us to always take responsibility for the spiritual instruction of our kids. It becomes too easy to say, "oh, we go to church regularly and the kids participate." That is not enough.
* I want to stay current on homeschool news. This can be a source of fear for some, but I want to be informed so I can voice my concerns to representatives and senators for our area.
* reexamine my habits in the area of housekeeping. Am I being diligent to help my home be a place of refuge for my husband and kids? Am I keeping a servant's heart and an attitude of cheerful obedience in this? I know my attitude affects the atmosphere of our home. I know I can get so lazy in this area and blind to clutter that should and could be taken care of. Although there is an infant in the mix now and standards can be more relaxed- I should not take advantage of that and use the baby as an excuse for laziness. This is an area the Lord convicts me of, because I am so good at coming up with excuses for my laziness!

One great site for the nitty gritty details of home and school management is Donna Young. She has great free printable calendars, lists etc. that are so helpful. There are also lesson ideas listed by subject. Anyone reading should feel free to leave comments about sites you find helpful for anything on the above list!

Although its not an exhaustive list, I will be reading that myself in the coming weeks and months as a reminder to myself. I want to add to the list as God gives more direction too.