Stressful Mornings

Mornings in our home tend to be stressful.  I think it is because we have things that need to be done in the mornings and they need to be done efficiently so the rest of the day can run smoothly.  Tasks need to be begun before we can start our "formal schooling" part of the day. The day works more smoothly if we can get "school" started by 8am... Except it takes a lot of (non-literal) whip-cracking to get children to fulfil their responsibilities in time (they have plenty of time to do their tasks, they just get distracted easily or completely ignore what they are asked to do).

Can I make mornings less stressful?

I think working to the clock less (ie everything must be done by 8am) will help although there still needs to be the sense of routine for the day.  There still needs to be a sense of "these tasks need to be completed by x time" or else they will leave all their tasks until the end of the day and not get them completed. 

I've made new charts for their responsibilities and I am hoping that will help motivate them and keep them "on task" while not feeling like we are at the mercy of the clock.

My name is Liz and I'm a cranky mummy

I have an anger problem.  I get angry and take it out on my children by yelling and screaming and by smacking in anger.  For the last six days (today is day seven) I have been working on staying calm, not screaming and yelling and not smacking.  Day one went well although I was completely exhausted by the end.  The rest... has been more and more of a struggle.  My eldest daughter in particular is really trying to spark my anger and is not coping well.  I think we've (I've) taken the power away from her because her old tricks aren't getting the same result.  She's chucking many tantrums every day and trying as hard as she can to make the day miserable, or so it seems.

Yesterday a *lot* went wrong over the first few hours of the day.  I can't say I managed to keep my cool - inside I was very angry.  However, it didn't come out of my mouth or come out via smacking... so from that perspective I kept my cool.

I need to find a better balance between getting angry (which involves yelling and screaming) and just being a bit too calm and not dealing with misdemeanours properly.

Will update with how my struggle is going.

My Incredible Life

On pondering what my incredible life would look like, the computer did not rate at all.

  So why do I spend so much time on the computer?

FYI What my incredible life looks like is: (in no particular order)

Healthy body, healthy mind.  Time and desire to play and read with adults (particularly hubby) and children (especially mine).  Clean house.  Good food.  Good friends.  No debt.  8 children (I don't know why but that number keeps popping into my head).  No clutter.  Mentoring and mentored.  Love.  Well behaved children.  Energy.  Peaceful.  Passionate.  Fun.  Learning, always learning.  Godly.  Well done good and faithful servant.

Linky Parade

I wanted to link back to a few articles I've written, rather than republish them here.

Babies, Sleep and Sleep Deprivation


The Benefits of No, The Benefits of Yes


Hard Homeschooling

And a general link back to my Articles page.

Happy Reading!

The attitude of *potential* deprivation

There is an attitude I see floating around home schooling parents a lot. That is the attitude of potential deprivation.  It's not that we worry that our children are deprived - that they are missing out on some essential experience or learning, that their future hinges upon.  It's that they *might* miss out on something or that they may feel that they missed out on something, when they become adults. 

Certainly, some of our children may feel they were deprived of the classroom experience.  They may be jealous of the hours other get to spend in the company of children-other-than-siblings.  It's quite likely that some will feel that way.

It's also quite likely that some schooled children will feel they were deprived of their parents' attention, that they may have gotten had they been home schooled.  Or feel deprived of endless hours to read or pursue areas of interest that their school and after-school-activity schedule doesn't allow.

It's also likely that some of our home schooled children will feel deprived of the experiences that other home schooled children have had.  Some families will be able to afford to extend their cultural studies by visiting the country they are learning about.  Some home schooled children have a very full schedule of classes and out-of-home activities that may be the envy of students who have a more home-based life.

Then again, schooled students may feel deprived of experiences afforded to other schooled students due to location, parental income, school attended, parents' working hours, a multitude of siblings or a lack thereof...

In fact, we humans are capable of feeling deprived in just about every situation.

The problem is not a dearth of educational experiences or social encounters.  The problem is not going to be what you provided for your children educationally.

The problem is sin.  It is a lack of contentedness.  If Paul the Apostle can learn to be content whatever the circumstances (including imprisonment, stoning, shipwrecks etc) then surely we can.

So if we teach our children anything, let's start teaching them contentedness.

Post The Eleventh: My Girls, As Promised

Not the best photo of my gorgeous girls but it was the most recent one with both of them in it I could find on the computer.  This was taken just before Christmas.

Post The Ninth: My Boys

Just a little pic of my wonderful husband and my two "little men", taken back in October.  It's such a nice photo, though.  I had to share it. :-)

Will add some pics of my gorgeous girls tomorrow, time permitting.

Post The Eighth: An Artistic Photo-As-A-Standalone-Post Post

Post The Seventh: In Which Liz Plays With Photo Uploading

Three of my four beautiful blessings splashing in a puddle :-).  Don't you sometimes wish you could be a kid again and splash in puddles completely carefree?