The first is that everyone helps. All five of us live in our house and all five of us care for it and for each other. Everyone must contribute.
The second is that my husband takes an active role in our home. He is the spiritual head, the protector, the provider... and the principal.
The third, and the focus of this particular post, is that we follow a schedule. We stay home a lot. We sign up for very little. We do not feel that we're missing anything, nor do our children. Our lives are rich and the time saved in not rushing here, there and everywhere allows us to more greatly enjoy God, and each other.
We weigh very carefully what is important to us and what helps us to accomplish our life goals and the goals we have for our children.
Those goals, I might add, have changed drastically in the last ten years. The goals that once included picket fences and private colleges have been replaced. Replaced with things such as servanthood and selflessness.
We have learned- we have had to learn- we are still learning, to delight in the simple, the everyday, the ordinary. We have learned that having a schedule helps tremendously to accomplish that which does need doing.
The schedule is a guide that we do our best to follow, but contrary to popular belief it is not our master. Instead, it gives freedom in each day. We accomplish far more with a schedule than without, and still have hours of the day left for play and for exploration.
Just today, our first day of school and two boys with fevers, our language arts lesson was interrupted by a flock of wild turkeys in the backyard.
Try as I might to discourage weapons, boys are born hunters. The older sons ran to the yard - one wielding jack-knife and the other a trash can lid (yes, a trash can lid. Apparently he was the designated protector, to protect brother-hunter in case the plan went awry).
They didn't do much but upset the flock and cause a ruffle of feathers. They returned to their language arts lessons having blown off some steam, excitement building until lunch when they could fill me in on the details of their hunt, upset only that they'd failed to provide the turkey for Thanksgiving dinner.
God is a God of order. He is not a God of chaos or disorganization. We have just completed our schedule for our school year, and today began it's implementation. Even with a mid-morning backyard hunt, we were able to stay on task and school was done by noon, excepting reading (silent and read aloud) which we all prefer to do in the latter part of the day.
Our schedule is organized so that when appointments need to be made, I make them for just after lunch, whenever possible. The window of free time each afternoon allows for grocery shopping, appointments, errands, visits to Grandma and Grandpa, excursions, adventures, and occasional play dates.
When we are home - which is most days- the boys can play, read, do nature study, ride bikes... I can join them or catch up on house chores, computer work, or my own reading.
Our schedule will obviously not work for every family. In fact, our schedule is ever-changing. I imagine that by the end of the calendar year I will need to make a new one when Noah begins to take fewer and shorter naps.
Please use our schedule as a guide in making your own if you wish. A schedule, for many reasons, helps drastically in making life more intentional. You cannot live an intentional life if you're flying by the seat of your pants, living from moment to moment. How does your daily routine reflect your end goal? Where are you going? What are you doing? To where and how are you leading your children?
When used as a tool to make your daily actions reflect your priorities and point you in a direction toward accomplishing your goals, the Lord's goals, for your children, for your life, it's invaluable.
Daniel | Lisa | Isaiah | Elijah | Noah | |
7:00 am | Laundry/ Shower | Clean Room Dress Teeth Clean and vacuum “J” | Clean Room Dress/ Teeth/ Family Room | ||
7:30 | Chore Check Shower | Noah Up/ Dishwasher/ Breakfast Prep. | Devotions/ Dishwasher/ Laundry/ Breakfast Helper | Devotions/ Set Table/ Read to Noah | Up and Dressed/ Read with Eli |
8:00 | Breakfast | Breakfast | Breakfast | Breakfast | Breakfast |
8:30 | Kitchen Clean Up/ Clean Room/ Do Laundry | Kitchen Clean Up/ Daily Chore | Dining Room Clean Up/ Daily Chore | Play/ Water Helper | |
9:00 | Bible Work with Eli | Bible First Task | Bible Work with Mom | Bible Preschool | |
9:30 | Email Blog | Language Arts | Language Arts | Nap | |
10:00 | Daily Chore | Math | Math | Nap | |
10:30 | Spelling Geography | Spelling Geography | Spelling Geography | Nap | |
11:00 | Science Desk Work | Science/Art | Science/Art | Nap | |
11:30 | Lunch Prep. | 11:40-11:50 Math Drill 11:50 Help Mom | 11:40-11:50 Math Drill 11:50 Help Mom | Nap | |
12:00pm | Lunch | Lunch | Lunch | Lunch | |
12:30 | Clean Up until 12:50 | Kitchen Clean Up until 12:50 | Dining Room Clean Up until 12:50 | Help Eli Clean Up until 12:50 | |
1:00 | FREE | FREE | FREE | FREE | |
1:30 | FREE | FREE | FREE | FREE | |
2:00 | FREE | FREE | FREE | NAP | |
2:30 | FREE | FREE | FREE | NAP | |
3:00 | FREE | Math | FREE | NAP | |
3:30 | Read Aloud | Read with Mom | Read with Mom | FREE | |
4:00 | Settle/ Help Lisa | Dinner Prep | Book Basket | Book Basket | FREE |
4:30 | Help Lisa or Play with Boys | Dinner Prep | Dinner Helper/Set Table | Clean up Yard & Toys/Play with Noah | Clean up Yard & Toys/Play with Eli |
5:00 | Dinner | Dinner | Dinner | Dinner | Dinner |
5:30 | Dinner | Dinner | Dinner | Dinner | Dinner |
6:00 | Bath & Chore oversight | Dinner Clean Up | Dinner Clean Up/ Trash Out | Bath Put Away Laundry | Bath |
6:30 | 6:45 Family Time | Laundry 6:45 Family time | Bath 6:45 Family Time | Clean Bathroom 6:45 Family time | Play 6:45 Family Time |
7:00 | Family Time/ Kids to Bed | Family Time/ Kids to Bed | Family Time/ Read | Family Time/ Bed | Family Time/ Bed |
7:30 | Last Minute Clean Up | Last Minute Clean Up | 7:45 Bed |
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