I hate to fail. When I’m working on a project, my motto is usually “failure is NOT an option”. And that works well for me. Most of the time.
But it also means that I’ve had to learn – the hard way- that somethings are just not going to get done and let go, and accept it as a learning experience and not a failure.
Well, in the last six weeks, I’ve fallen on my face – big time. It feels like smacking hard into the floor or a wall. And I’m not happy with it, and definitely not happy the fact that I might of let others down. (I hate that almost as much as failing.)
But, in another way, it’s a good thing, especially the timing. December has always been a time of reflection and planning for me, a time to look at where I am, what I’ve accomplished in the last year, and where I want to go.
Because of my big fat SPLAT, I forced myself to set aside my normal planning and goal setting until I could recover, make things right with those that I needed to, and move forward again.
Now that I’ve done that, I find myself looking at this as a lesson and reminder that I am not perfect and never will be, but God’s timing and plan is.
The world didn’t end because I went SPLAT! Instead I realize that I need to do a better job at recognizing who I am, what my priorities are, and scheduling work and life in such a way that embraces that. Just because I can do something, doesn’t mean I should.
It is these lessons that come from falling down, that make them successes not failures. Because if I can learn from my mistakes, then that makes me better able to serve my family and others.
Sometimes we have to fall down to look from a new perspective at the opportunities before us. As long as we don’t let those falls keep us down, and we learn from them and pick our selves up and move forward, we’re succeeding. We’re growing, and we’re better able to serve those around us.
If I’ve let you down in the last few weeks, I’m sorry. Please forgive me.
The life of a homeschooler looks different for each family. Each family has its own routines. Some are more relaxed, others are very scheduled, and then there are those who are in between.
Here we are a mix,depending on whether it’s a full school day, light school day, or unschooling day. Today at our house it’s a light schoolwork day, with a play date, and a bunch of errands schedule. Plus a couple key deadlines looming this week for me. So what does our day look like?
Since I needed the car today, my day started at 6:15 to take my husband to the mass transit bus stop. Instead of going back to bed like I normally do, I decided to take the quiet time to get in some extra work and mapped out some thoughts for a coaching client.
As the kids started waking up, we talked, laughed, and spent some time together. Everyone was up by 8:30, which is very unusal for us. Usually my morning risers are up by 8:30, while K is usually up later because she and I stay up much later at night. But today it is necessary to be up and going much earlier in order to meet the commitments of the day.
This morning K made biscuits for breakfast, while I worked and answered questions from Little E and Z. J and K then started in on their chores and schoolwork.
K is on trip preparation duty for schoolwork this week, so she’s gathering things up and prepping things for me, and helping me with some adminstrative details. As a teenager, one day soon she’ll be doing this all on her own, so part of her education is to be proficient in all the things that go into putting together a road trip and running a household. All this goes under the category of Home Economics, entrepenuership, personal finance, and technology.
J is working on Fractions, reading, writing, and later will listen to an audio book while doing his chores. Plus he also has responsibilities in preparing for the road trip. Just not as many as K does.
Z and Little E and I will work on their reading a little later this morning. But right at this very moment they are watching Go Diego Go rescue some animals while I write to you. Both are studying animals, and I’m not really up for Animal Planet this morning (Little E’s favorite TV privelege!). So Deigo is a good compromise for TV Schoolwork.
Lunch is in the refrigerator defrosting. About 11:30 I’ll go down and get that going, after I get all the kids through their baths. During bath time, I’ll be working on some client work.
Around noon, I’ll ask the olders to start gathering up the library materials that we need to return, and remind K to renew anything that needs to be renewed. She does a great job as my libary assistant, and helps keep our library fines down and me on track with library visits.
We have a playdate with friends we haven’t seen in a while scheduled for this afternoon. Between their schedule and ours, especially since we are both WAHMs, sometimes it’s hard to get a visit in, so we’re looking forward to visiting in person.
After that it’ll be the libary visit, and then a stop off at the bank to take care of the weekly banking.
It’ll be a early dinner tonight. I’ll get that going and leave it for K to finish off while I go pick up my husband. Then we’ll be back to eat and get the kids ready to head off to youth group and AWANAs. While J, Little E, and Z are off at church, K and I will go do the grocery shopping for the Fall Road Trip.
Then it’s family time and then bed time at 10. I’ll talk with Greg, squeeze in another 2 or more hours of work, while K listens to her audio book and has her quiet time.
And then tomorrow begins another day, with different, at-home all day, schedule. But that’s part of balancing life as a work-at-home, homeschooling mom and staying sane – creating a schedule that works for you.
…Shannon
P.S. As you can see K plays an important role in keeping my life balanced. It is part of her education, her training, but it is also something we pay her a small salary for. A couple years ago, when she started taking over some of the work her daddy used to do and doing it well with a good attitude, we decided then that she should be compensated for it, and that works out well for both her and I.
Well I tried to get out of Halloween again this year, but it didn’t work. Awana’s had a trunk or treak, Girls Scouts went to a Fall Festival, and dear husband agreed to take the kids trick or treating. So, I had to pull my head out of the sand.
But my sewing machine is broken, so this year I was not going to be able to sew any costumes, and I surely wasn’t buying any costumes. So I told the kids they had to make due with what we had. And once again, they surprise me.
Here’s a glimpse of what they came up with:
Z recycled a Ninja costume that he wore last year and J wore three years ago. All he needed was some minor seam repairs, which K handled beautifully. Unfortunately I didn’t get a picture of him this year, not sure how that happened. Maybe my head was in the sand…
Anyway, Little E also recycled a costume, the one I made for her last year. This actually was a pattern and fabric that K picked out ten years ago, and it had sat in my “to do” sewing pile forever. Last year K and I made it up for Little E, intentionally making it big so it could last a few years. And it ended up being what Little E wore again. Doesn’t she make a sweet Cinderella?
But it was J and K who surprised me most. I took video of this, but forgot and had it on the side, so it didn’t turn out as I wanted. To get the full picture of this, understand that J is very expressive and animated, what he is feeling through any emotion comes across clearly. But he has this wonderful infectious laugh, and can do these crazy expressions that just make you laugh. So he used that to his advantage, and was a “nut job”, acting out an over the top wicked laugh.
But it was K who took the cake for acting out a costume. She bought her self this ball and chain, did up her make up, and acted out this whole scene dragging the ball and chain around. If you asked her what she was, she said “I’m a shackled teenager. I’ve been chained up in my room for the last 8 years and haven’t seen the light of day.” It was hysterical, and so proves that she is indeed an actress, even if she denies it. Again, I messed up the video, so I’m afraid we’ll have to suffice with this picture.
Now that Halloween is over and we are well endowed with sugar (thank goodness it freezes!), it’s time to start concentrating on our holiday plans: Shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child, a Fall Road Trip, and of course Thanksgiving and Christmas await!
(oh, and work and school… but the other stuff is more fun!)
So, October didn’t turn out exactly as I imagined. I had asked Jennifer Tankersley to do the Holiday Planning guest post series, with the complete intention of blogging along side her and sharing my thoughts on the topic, and well…
Jennifer has done a fantastic job, and I’m so thankful that she was willing to take over the blog for a little while, because, well, I’ve been at the ball park.
Yep, my boys played Fall baseball, and it took over our lives – again. Just as it will again in the Spring.
I think I’m just going to have to learn that just as I lived through the season of parenting that involved diapers and children who needed to be supervised every minute of the day, I have to accept this season of parenthood that is spent running children to scout meetings, field trips, activities, baseball practice, and spending hours each week hanging out at the ball field.
Don’t get me wrong, I choose for my kids participate in these activities and I believe they get a great deal from doing so. Otherwise we wouldn’t do it. I just need to learn to adapt my schedule - including blogging - and my mindset to accomodate the temporary take over of the schedule.
At the end of the day, I am grateful to Jen Tankersley for stepping up and sharing her Holiday Planning tips with us, and now that baseball seasons is over, I’ll try here in the next few weeks to share some of the thoughts that her articles triggered for me.
In the meantime, I hope that your holiday planning is coming along better than mine, and that you are enjoying the Fall weather!
…Shannon
P.S. Had to share this picture of Jazzy with you, she’s been coming to the ball park since K got her, and LOVES it! …. if only I could learn to love the ball park as much as Jazzy does
Balancing life as a busy at-home mom is an interesting juggling act. Between managing a household, planning meals, getting the kids to where they need to be, and being a wife, there’s not a lot of time left over. Add in working from home, and possibly even homeschooling, you’ve probably got more on your plate than time to do it all in. I know I do.
Jennifer Tankersley from ListPlanIt.com with her family
In this week’s podcast episode, I had a fun chat with Jennifer Tankersley, a busy work at home mom to three kids, ages 5, 7, and 9, on how we can be better organized as busy at-home moms.
Jennifer is not only a busy mom and wife, but she is also running an online business from home.
Jennifer’s website, ListPlanIt.com, shares planning and organizational tips for professional organizers and moms a like, and she has over 500 lists and worksheets for her members to use to be better organized in all areas of their lives.
In our interview, Jennifer and I talked about:
How she turned her natural talents as a planner into an online business
Ideas on how to plan your time and manage multiple schedules and priorities
How you can to save time and energy with menu planning and shopping lists
An idea for budgetting on a 26 week schedule
Overcoming the guilt and anxiety of not having a perfectly “clean” house
Goal setting and defining success as an work-at-home mom
Ideas on how to manage your plans and lists, and keep it all organized
Jennifer gave us a great glimpse into how she manages life as a busy work-at-home mom with three kids in school, and I shared a few tips on how I manage life, business, and the household as a work-at-home, homeschooling mom. I hope that you enjoy meeting Jennifer and learning from her as much as I did chatting with her.
To listen in, simply click the play button below. To download the recording to your computer, right click on download link below and choose ‘Save Target As’.
P.S. Be sure to check out Jennifer’s site for more orgnaization and planning tips. Her blog has some great information.
P.S.S. Prefer to read the transcript? Download the Transcript. It’s free and loaded with great tips!
In the meantime, I hope that your holiday planning is coming along better than mine, and that you are enjoying the Fall weather!
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