Homeschool Goals Brain Dump

It won't be pretty.  This is just a list I made one day when inspiration hit after reading a home school book.

Before school is done I want my boys to:
- know a good range of word roots that are common in English and Science
- know where countries are and what basic history they have... language, culture and politics and current language, culture and politics
- understand the basics of political outlooks e.g. socialism, communism, democracy, dictatorships, etc
- be able to observe their world, to be able to focus on the details when necessary and to be able to discern the beauty and the patterns of life
- be curios and to ask questions, to know who to ask, how to discern which sources are trustworthy
- appreciate nature
- by physically capable of using their bodies for fun e.g. rock climbing, tall trees, swimming, cycling, obstacle courses, trampolining
- recognise art and music that culturally significant
- be able to communicate effectively with the written and spoken word
-appreciate art by learning calligraphy, basic free hand drawing - perspective and lighting, and basic drafting
- be prepared for a technology-based world e.g. internet safety, online manners, typing skills, word processing, databases, spreadsheets
- have read or listened to some of the great books
- be able to prepare at least 5 different nutritious dinners, 2 desserts and a variety of lunches and breakfasts
- be able to the clean the centres of yuk in a home - kitchen, bathroom and laundry
- be able to wash clothes and take care of them well
- be able to create a budget and manage expenses within the income they have

Sometimes just letting it all flow out brings out up thoughts I had never consciously considered before.  This is a list I will be coming back to again.

Best wishes
Jen in Qld

Home to Public School - 28 days to go

So I have been thinking about why this whole homeschooling idea didn't work out so well for our family.  I want to understand why so that I can return to it in the future.

Some factors that have had an influence on how well (or not) it has gone:

1. Tiredness due to extended breastfeeding, usually 4 years per child, longer in 2 cases
2. Tiredness and mummy fog due to a pregnancy every 3 to 3.5 years, yup, the pregnancies overlap the breastfeeding
3. Tiredness due to headaches and fogginess due to chronic grass allergies that flare up into seasonal sinus headaches that really knock me down (so very thankful I don't have migraines though so I don't see this as a whinge at all, just the facts as they are)
4. Inability to direct my kids to do what I want them to do as I don't like confrontation
5. A definite lack of funds for about 6 of those years, which tends to make me freeze up mentally and not use anything in case we don't have the resources to move on, also meant there was no funds for organising all the things that come with homeschooling and 4 children's worth of toys and clothes
6. Depression due to tiredness, guilt, feeling of low self worth, messy house with no tools to organise it all due to lack of funds
7. Having an oppositional Aspie child as my eldest (remember I don't like confrontation!) threw my self confidence out the window, no idea on how to handle him 
8. Lack of confidence in my ability to teach when everything I tried didn't help my eldest to learn to read (he finally got it on his own around 9 years old and I felt like nothing I did contributed to his learning at all)
9. No family support close by although my mum and dad are supportive of homeschooling!  TG!
10. No time off, as in None for a very long time!  For basically 12 years, until the eldest was old enough to be left home for short periods with younger ones to mind, I did not have a single break from parenting and household responsibilities.  If I went out while dh looked after the kids it was solely for jobs like shopping, library visits, or actual income work at a local supermarket.  I didn't get to go anywhere on my own.
11. My introvert nature gets overwhelmed by managing all the noise associated with 4 children who I haven't had the energy/confidence to teach to act in a way that doesn't overwhelm me.
12. Moving interstate and between towns several times - no feeling settled, no friends, no networks of support!
13. Self discipline that could really do with some work (But as most of my self discipline issues also hinge on directing others to fit into the life I envision for us, it doesn't help that avoiding conflict is an issue for me too.  It is enough that I need to have conflict with my own comfortable but not useful ways but to then also try to direct others to move out of their comfortable but not useful ways is just too much especially when I am tired - see above.)

Wow!  I hope that covers everything.  I need to see what I can do to "fix" some of these.  Hopefully some things are just seasons and will soon be off the "problem" list.

1. For example, no more kids to come, and only 1 last child to wean.  
2. Dh fully understands that a family our size needs a steady income.  He will be doing his utmost to ensure we don't have long periods of low income again.   
3. I have found a combination of natural remedies and homeopathic remedies that seem to be reducing my reactions to my grass allergies.  
4. We will be moving closer to family again with the next job. 
5.  I will be making sure to establish some support networks for myself very quickly when that happens.

And I am really hoping that as the tiredness and depression from the guilt, money stresses and loneliness lift that I will have the courage to try again, to do what I need to do to homeschool my kids again after this break.
Best wishes
Jen

Quote about Goals, New Year coming and all that!

The reason that ‘a good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving’ is simply that to focus on the destination is to focus on an illusion. There is no destination, only a journey, and to become fixated on a point in the future which never arrives is to miss the journey itself.

From  http://changeyourlife.net/living-without-goals/

The article lays out what is wrong with goals and then gives some great ideas for a better way to live.  I think I will be re-reading this one a few times.  Very thought provoking!

Best wishes
Jen

Home to Public School - 70 days to go

Someone I was talking to today who works in the special ed part of a high school said they have to be insistent, persistent and consistent with kids with Aspergers.

I googled it (as you do) and came up with this article which was very relateable to how I have mismanaged things so far and gave me a much clearer idea of how to manage my children.

Today the middle boys, 10 and 7, went to their school for the morning.  They went well although my 10 year old, late reader, only reads at level 14 whereas the 7 year old reads at level 18 (don't know what scale they are using).  This will likely mean remedial work for the 10 year old and maybe a grade jump for the 7 year old.  They are thinking of putting DS3 (now 7, 8 in February) into Grade 3 instead of 2 as he would normally be expected to be.  I am not sure how that will go, just hope they keep him challenged.  (Nice to know for me as mum/teacher that they can't say I didn't teach my kids if one can do so well while another not so well!)

The 10 year old just wants to make friends and have kids his own age to play with.  I hope they don't dump on him for his lack of skill in some areas and that he can have a good school experience.

In discussing it all, sometimes at high volume and speed I must admit, dh and I have decided to make a check list of the things that we will not tolerate happening in school for our kids.  If too many criteria get "bad marks" then we will pull them out.  I don't want school to be a damaging experience.  I guess though my perspective of school may be coloured by my experiences of 13 primary schools over 4 states in 7 years.  Not fun being the new kid all the time!  May be they will have a great time, learn lots and make some good friends.  I have to let them travel their own journey, no matter my fears.

It may not be so easy for the 14 year old Aspie.  He may struggle and I am not so sure I want to throw him to the sharks in a system that is reducing its funding for special needs across the state.  From stories I read of those kids pulled out due to "uniqueness" to do homeschool I think putting him in school may be a risky gamble I don't want to take.

Ahh, well!!  Lots to consider.

Best wishes
Jen

Home to Public School - 73 days to go

I had a funny dream the other night.  I always "ask" my dreams what they mean.  In other words I think of my dreams as my subconscious trying to tell me something.  If I am still in that dopey post sleep state and I am reviewing the dream I ask myself what it means and take the quickest reply without thinking as my subconscious expressing itself more clearly.

So this one answered me that essentially I am the one responsible for making my dreams of long term home schooling get taken away due to my inaction and lack of gumption.  Hmm, don't like that!  Is it fair that your own subconscious kicks you when you are down?

What do I do?  Well, I am making plans and continuing on as though the boys are going to go to school.  I will change the way we do things to fit in with the timetable of school.  If I struggle to get the boys on track with school then I will have to hand the job over and just cry at home on my own.  Really, if I can't go for my dreams (that are totally possible) then I just don't have it.  If I can guide our days onto a better path with the 'threat' of my boys going to school for a big chunk of the day (and eroding relationships we have built, taking away our choice of free time, bringing home attitudes I may not agree with, dictating what happens on our weekends due to assignments or homework) then I get to keep them home but I need to work at this lot harder.  I need to do everything I can to make this homeschool experience something that my boys will not regret.

I am looking into work potentials that will work around either option as I really feel that part of our struggles are a single income that pays the bills and keeps our heads above water but not much extra.  It doesn't help with doing the fun stuff like art or music classes, or going to live performances, or getting sport equipment for more activity as a family.  I also really need a home with furniture that means the clutter can be cleared away or I get overwhelmed and depressed at the mess.  After all, no point trying to clean up if items don't have a place to go.

I also really need to get a backbone too.  Either way!  If they are at school and bringing home attitudes I don't want in my home then I need to make sure they know what will not be tolerated.  If they are at home I need to make sure my kids understand that when I say do I mean do now, and quickly.  I need them to understand that I am in charge and that while I will allow a certain amount of freedom that I will expect respect in return.

Hmm, will keep you in the loop as I try to cope with these upcoming changes in my life.

Best wishes
Jen

So, how do you eat vegetables?

I come from a family where vegetables were eaten either of 2 ways.  And a limited variety!  My dad wasn't so big on different things.

For dinner we would have peas, corn, carrots and potato, boiled and mashed where appropriate.  I think we had broccoli every so often and cauliflower.  Pumpkin too. I do remember a little zucchini on occasion.  The other way we had vegetables was to have a salad which consisted of iceberg lettuce, tomato, grated carrot, corn kernels and beetroot.  No dressing, not tossed, just in piles on a plate with your barbecue meat or whatever.

When I left high school I was studying at a Natural Therapies college and I got introduced to vegetarian food.  I loved it although lentils and chickpeas were a bit hard to handle at first.  I still like vegetables now. 

If I have been having a big junk food run I just love steaming up carrots, broccoli, zuchini, sweet potato/pumpkin, peas, corn and cauliflower and eating them plain, maybe white sauce if I have the energy.  Always fixes the dragging tiredness of not eating well.

My family now are not as big on vegetables.  I can serve them more variety than I had as a kid but I would love to know how you eat vegetables.

Best wishes
Jen

Being Present and My Values

I have been thinking about my life (as you do when the grey hairs start to appear) and I have realised that I need to be present in my life a lot more. 


I am trying to act more in alignment with my values.  Years ago I wrote out my values and in reviewing them I don't think they have changed much at all.  But over the years due to tiredness, babies and just overall blahs I have dug myself a hole of guilt for the life I am not living.  I want to be more mindful of what I have and what I value in this life.

It has meant being much more conscious of how I spend my time.  My computer time has been reduced, but do you know what, it has increased the value of my "real life" and I still have enough time to keep up with friends' blogs when I do it regularly in short stints but after everything else in my day is over.   Best of both worlds!

So my values, just to remind me, and maybe remind you too if you are not being present in your real life right now. 

FAMILY: 
    I have a family which is happy to be together, who build each other and who we can feel totally safe with.  I give my children a secure feeling that I will accept them no matter what and that I will always be honest with them.  My relationship with my dh is strong with lasting ties, not just the flimsy one of a ring but a deep hearted commitment. 

FINANCIAL SECURITY: 
    I am able to pay bills on time and also live frugally so that we have funds to do the fun things like a holiday regularly and a big holiday overseas once every 3 years.  I manage our resources so that we have more than enough no matter how little or much comes into our household.

PERSONAL HEALTH: 
    I am healthy physically because I am going to live to 100 years old.  I am healthy mentally so that I live those 100 years contributing and making a difference, not just sitting around vegetating.  I am healthy spiritually so that I am more at peace as I get older, not grumpier with a life of regrets.

WISDOM: 
    I am able to teach others what I know and also am teachable.  I am a valued member of my family because I listen and have an accepting attitude.

EDUCATION: 
    I use my brain to its fullest extent.  I do not waste my potential with my education.

CONTRIBUTION: 
    I make a contribution to society, on a small scale in the groups and church I attend, and in my neighbourhood.

CHILDREN: 
    I pass on my values to my children.  I teach them by my example and my shared experiences to be responsible, community minded adults who know the value of hard work yet keep their lives balanced.

FRIENDS: 
    I develop friendships with like-minded people and work at being a supportive friend for my closer friends.  I am open to new friends and keep my current friendships strong.

Just something to think about,
Jen

Combining Franklin Covey and FlyLady

Reposting an old idea:
I need to revisit this now I am back to using an electronic organiser.

Over the years I have tried many ways of planning.  A paper binder worked well bk (before kids) and my Tungsten E Palm was good too, but I got to a stage as a homeschooling, stay at home mama that neither of these tools were working for me.

That is when I transferred all my planning pages to index cards and created a paper version of the Franklin Covey software I like to use. I was finding that 20 minutes of daily planning was taking 2 hours of also checking emails, surfing links set in said emails, etc, and then signing off with several games of Spider Solitaire. Not a good start to the day!

Here is how I have worked it so if you're really not into the whole idea of mission statements, goal setting, prioritising etc this could be over the top. It is sort of a combination of FlyLady's CJ and a Franklin Covey planner.

I have my routines written on index cards and inserted into a photo album. The cards are in this order...

1. Morning Routine for me
2. Morning Routine once kids are up (or need to be kick started lol)
3. Breakfast and post breakfast routines
4. Chore Time only written on card
5. An empty space that I put that zone's card into each day as I do my planning (I have my house broken into 6 zones Mon - Sat and then have 4 different weeks that I rotate through for monthly tasks)
6. Yard Time routines
7. School Time only written on card
8. Space for putting post it note with quick details of school to be done
9. Morning Tea and School Time
10. Space for putting post it note with quick details of school to be done
11. Lunch and post-lunch routines
12. Table Time space for Science/History activities, Art/Craft ideas, Preschool activities, again with post it notes with prompts
13. Project Time space for my personal project time, time for kids to use PC or watch pre-approved DVD, or work together on a bunny trail from our lessons
14. Afternoon routines
15. Dinner and after dinner routines
16. Bedtime routines
17. My personal time routines

How I do my day...

On card 1 I have personal planning time. In this time in the morning I look through some index cards from a file box. These are:

1. Mission Statement/Inspirational Quote for this period of my life
2. Values eg Family, Education, Service with a short statement of what each means to me
3. Roles eg Mum/Teacher, Homemaker, Individual, Church Member, Family Member, Wife, Community Member each again with short brief statements of areas that are important to me in each role eg as Mum/Teacher giving my children basic skills in personal hygeine, 3Rs, etc suitable for their age
4. Project/Long Range Goals with tasks/steps necessary
Eg Homemaker Project 1
Goal: Tidy and catalogue outgrown boys clothing
Tasks: - Sort clothes by size into boxes
- Make a list for each size noting item brand, style of clothing, colour, condition
- Type up lists in Excel for analysis
- Send lists to my mum
- Put list in HMB (Home Management Binder)
- Move boxes to garage

I have cards for all sorts of projects and regularly check through them, pencil in dates when I write a step on a post it note for in my photo album, then cross off as done or rub out pencil because it has dropped in priority and I must do some other Project task more urgently.

I also have a Misc project card for those things that I want to do that are only one task to complete, like posting a letter off or hemming a certain skirt for instance.

Next I insert the appropriate zone card and write up lessons from my Homeschool binder onto post-its in a very brief summary form, sticking them in the appropriate spots in the photo album.

A list like in Franklin Covey overwhelms me or makes me want to do it all now and my routines fly out the window. Having only routines with no place to record big goals/projects or one off tasks wasn't working either, so this is my way of combining the two. Now I know to leave projects till the afternoon, to not get caught up cataloguing clothes when school hasn't been done yet, and other similar dilemmas.

Ok, was that overwhelming?

For me I needed to put it all in one place and my to do lists kept clashing with my routines and I was running around stressed but not doing anything important. So far this seems to be working for me.

Ask away if you have any questions.

Think, Plan, Act? Evaluate?

Yup, I can plan really well.  You should see the piles of plans I have made over the years.  I am just not so good at the act stage and what is there to evaluate then?

This morning while sitting on the exercise bike I asked one of the kids to bring me a book to read.  They handed me First Things First by Stephen Covey.  I have read this book several times over and it always gives me something new.  Chapter 10 is called Learning from Living.  There is a little diagram in there about evaluating our actions to see if they are in alignment with our values.

After some reading and reflecting I created my own little flow chart that speaks to me.

Funnily it helps me feel a little more confident that I can step out and do the action part, the bit that scares me, because I know I can evaluate, reflect and plan again, my favourite bit of planning life.

Best wishes
Jen

Dieting Rules

I have noticed over the years that all diets out there to lose weight have "rules".  Some are ridiculous, some are very restrictive, and some are quite reasonable, so much so that you wonder why they even need to be worded as "rules".

In watching others and reading their success stories it seems to me that the most successful "rules" are those that we think are reasonable and achievable for ourselves. 

Some would drive me up the wall, like no baked goods.  Baking is a hobby of mine.  To take it away would be to take away part of my personality. 

Others seem quite reasonable, like instead of the very restrictive no chocolate, have a small set portion of very good quality or very emotionally nourishing chocolate (or whatever your treat is).  I was trying to have only one wrapped chocolate a day from a batch we got at Christmas.  I didn't like the flavour much so it was very easy to still indulge elsewhere in my day too.  It needs to be a treat I really like and can savour.   For me possibly Ferrero Rocher, or a very smooth milk chocolate similar to Kinder Surprise chocolate.  Then I would be willing to stop at only a small portion.  Having a small treat at set times and savouring it would be much better than no treats at all, or unlimited treats. :-)


Making a rule that I need to exercise for half an hour, or an hour, every morning would not work for me.  I co-sleep and trying to get out of bed without waking anyone else is an exercise in futility.  I could make a rule for myself to not sit still longer than an hour during the day, and no longer than one episode of a favourite show at night.  That might be more achievable.  After all as a mum of 4 I have plenty of reasons to get up and get moving, to hang out washing, to do dishes, to clean.  Plenty of exercise opportunities there.

I still need to think more about some other areas that I need to work on for my health, but this has at least given me some ideas.

Best wishes
Jen

Planning, printing and praying

It seems to be a theme for me at this time of year to plan out the new one, do a lot of printing (I make my own calendar) and to pray a lot that I will focus on the right things and act on them.  It can be so easy to get caught up in other's New Year resolutions and to make my goals big to match theirs but as I get older I am getting more realistic.  I know I have some areas I want to work on in my personal life and my work (SAHM) life.  I will be setting reasonable goals in each, things I can work on in little steps, because life as a mother of 4 boys can sometimes (all of the time?!?) direct me in paths that I had not planned.

I know some people have been thinking of a theme word for 2012.  Last year my word was decisive.  I had a printout on my wardrobe of what it meant to me.  As I went past it blearily every morning and every evening I did glance at it.  Some days it had more influence than others.  This year I think I will do the same, have a word to focus on, but I am going to read it more deliberately.  Having a focus for a whole year is a good idea I think.

So my word for this year is Act.

The parts of the definition I like are these from Brainy Quote.

• A state of reality or real existence as opposed to a possibility or possible existence.

• To move to action; to actuate; to animate.

• To perform actions; to fulfil functions; to put forth energy; to move, as opposed to remaining at rest; to carry into effect a determination of the will.

I particularly like the part of carrying into effect a determination of the will.  Isn't that exactly what goals are, a determination of the will?  I love it.

Have a great new year.  Please drive safely during this holiday season.

Best wishes
Jen

Productivity update

So this unplugging seems to be really working.  I have been getting a lot more done.  So far this week I have almost caught up on all of November's big chores.  They included washing the curtains all through the house.  I have only 2 rooms to go.  I have also done some "deep" cleaning of the floor and was happy enough to get out the Christmas tree yesterday for decorating.  Of course after all that hard work I couldn't leave all the tinsel bits all over the floor so the vacuum cleaner was whipped out yet again.

I have made a list of the worksheets I will be needing over the next 5 weeks of school (they will run into the new year) and I will be printing, copying and stapling lots tonight and tomorrow.  Right now I am off to dig over my front garden beds and put in seeds.  I miss having flowers to smell.

By the way, a tip I have for those of you who use your computer as a homeschool tool as well.  I have set up my Windows Live Family Safety account with 2 users for me. 

I have one that is unrestricted in where I travel or what I do (except for the usual nasties) but is restricted time-wise to only very early morning and late afternoon during the week and all day on the weekends. 

The other account is called School and I have unrestricted time but restricted programs.  I use Homeschool Tracker and I hate printing off reports so I write myself a list on a laminated sheet then update HST as we do things or do a big check off later in the afternoon on the PC.  I can't access emails or the web except for restricted games for the kids such as Starfall or Reading Eggs.  (Oops, sorry, I do access the banking.)  And I can't play games on the School account, only use Word and Excel. 

I can override the settings as I did set them up myself but they can take some time to update and it is very fiddly so I often find myself writing myself a note on paper and getting back to it later.  My pencil and piece of paper on a clipboard are becoming my new best friends.  They don't distract me but still allow me to catch those fleeting thoughts of things I need to do.

I hope you are having a productive week too.

Best wishes
Jen

YouTube surfing can be rather interesting.  I came across this one today, a speech from a young lady, Severn Suzuki, daughter of David Suzuki, environmental activist, at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992.  She was only 12 yet very fluently made her point. 

I hope my children will stand up for and speak up for what they believe in as fluently as Severn.

Best wishes
Jen

Teaching to the Individual articles

The gentleman at Wisdom of the Hands posts mostly about woodworking but it is interesting how in these posts about class teaching vs individual teaching that he comes close to explaining what is my experience as a homeschool mum of 4 boys all at different stages in learning.

Part 1 of 3
Part 2 of 3
Part 3 of 3



Keep reading.  He seems to be on a roll talking about Sloyd.  A very interesting way to think about education.

Best wishes
Jen

Making change easier on your family

I am looking around a lot at ways to make changes in my family.  I am not happy with some of the habits we have such as late bed times, irregular meals, and general lack of order.  In the past I have been overwhelmed by the resistance I get when I try to change things around here so I thought it was time to learn how to best to implement changes successfully.  

Most of my searching is coming up with corporate solutions but then I realised that the dynamics in a family can be quite similar.

This quote below I found in an article on a business site about the resistance that we get from subordinates when we try to change things and how to implement major changes more effectively.

Anytime we are interesting in introducing any major change, there are three things we must do:

    1. Solicit support from the people who will be affected by the change thereby getting them "on board."

   2. Train them effectively (in terms the staff will understand).

   3.  Follow-up and support the people until the change becomes a natural part of the culture. 

 By doing so, we set at ease concerns people have about the merit of the change. If this is not done, people will either ignore the change, or even worse, deliberately sabotage it.

 Implement as much change as the people affected can assimilate. Too much change may be too difficult for people to cope with. In this event, stage your changes over times. Always remember, "You eat elephants one spoonful at a time."

   

The advice I am finding is helping me to know how to go about changing things in my family.  Sure, it won't be easy, but if I can get the older ones to "buy into" the vision I have for my family and how much better it will be for all of us then I will be happy.

Best wishes
Jen

 

Not Being You denies God His Plans for You

I was flicking through a journal I started a while ago and came across two quotes I had written from 2 very different books.

The first is from "The Hidden Art of Homemaking" by Edith Schaeffer.

If you stop putting off 'homemaking' until your hope of marriage develops into a reality, and start to develop an interesting home right now, it seems to me two things will happen:  first you will develop into the person you could be, as you surround yourself with things that express your own tastes and ideas; and second, as you relax and become interested in areas of creativity, you will develop into a more interesting person to be with, and other people will very likely find that they will enjoy being with you more!

The second is from "The Prophet" by Kahlil Gibran.

You are good when you are one with yourself.

Yet when you are not one with yourself you are not evil. 

…

In your longing for your giant self lies your goodness: and that longing is in all of you. 

But in some of you that longing is a torrent rushing with might to the sea, carrying the secrets of the hillsides and the songs of the forest.

And in others it is a flat stream that loses itself in angles and bends and lingers before it reaches the shore.

But let not him who longs much say to him who longs little, "Wherefore are you slow and halting?"

For the truly good ask not the naked, "Where is your garment?" nor the houseless, "What has befallen your house?"

We went out today and I grabbed this book off my shelves in case I got time to just sit and read.  In the front invitation it says this.

Do you ever wonder what the purpose of your life is? And do you ever feel like life is piling up on you faster than you can push your way forward? That your days are doomed before dawn? That you'll never get it all done?  That there has to be more to life than this?

Well, we can both thank God that there is hope for our hearts and answers to our heart-cries. Our lives were created by God.. and He knows what His purposes for us are and how He wants us to live them out. 

The thoughts that gelled together in my mind were that God created me, He has a plan for me, a purpose for my life.  To deny that I am a person with longings and dreams and to not work on those longings and towards those dreams is to deny God the opportunity to use my life for the purpose I am created for.

When I ignore those little niggles to do something, to create a home, to share my strengths, to work on my weaknesses, when I hide from God I am denying my purpose.  And I don't know what that purpose is, and maybe I never will, but I don't have the right to ignore those promptings, my righteous longings.  God knows me and my life purpose and I should just get on with living this life, living my life with passion, and with heart.  Be who I am meant to be because that is what He intends for me, wishes for me, for my own good.

Are you living the life God intends for you?  Or do you just get too busy to listen when He tries to prompt you and prod you on the path He intends for you?

Something to think about,
Jen

BHAG update

Well, I have dodged getting fast food when I really wanted to at least 3 times already this year.  Phew!

But then due to sleeping in and then having a visit with my cousin and her family already scheduled we ended up getting a lunch packed and a reasonable amount of snacks but had to rush through Macca's drive thru for breakfast.  So $32.85 later we were on our way again.

Looks like I need to stop staying up late watching my NCIS dvds I got for Christmas.  I really do have to limit myself to only one episode a night.  Oh well!!

Best wishes
Jen

Setting Goals or Enjoying Life?

I was thinking this morning, as you do, about how I never seem to get caught up on the washing up and the washing in my household of 6 people. It tends to create a continual feeling of angst and resentment towards my family because I never reach my goal of finishing. I am not the sort of person who just enjoys the rhythms of life and goes with the flow, finding contentment not in completing a goal, but in doing what needs to be done in each moment.

I am wondering if this is a modern problem. We are taught to set goals, to work out how to achieve them, and to work on them in little steps until we reach them. The problem is that some things in life don't fit this type of thinking. Making a home, building a family, creating relationships... all of these do not sit well with the modern goal approach. Maybe I am missing out on the day to day peace of living in each moment, doing what needs to be done, and not trying to achieve some goal just because I am told I "must" set goals to be a success.

In fact I read recently that not everyone who is successful did set goals. In some cases it was more a case of the successful person enjoying what they did so much that they spent a lot of time doing it, learning to better, and by virtue of time they became successful in their area of life. Most of these type of successful people will keep working in their area of interest until they die, or find a new interest. They will never reach their goals, because they know how to enjoy what they are doing with their life. And really isn’t enjoyment of life a much better "goal" than a certain amount of money, or a certain size portfolio, or a certain amount of fame?

Maybe that is something I should consider in those areas of my life that do not fit well with the "goal setting" paradigm. Enjoy what I do, learn to do it better if I am interested, and just keep moving forward.
(Originally posted May 2010 on old blog)

Today's Mission

Today I have decided my mission is to get the little things off my rolling to do list that have been lingering way too long. Most times it seems just normal life just takes up all my time, but with some pondering, I am realising my normal life doesn't have to take up all my awake hours. I just let it.

I am slowly working my way through a long list of projects. Just knocking them on the head! The good feeling I get from finishing some items is motivating me to work on my normal jobs more quickly so I can "finish" another thing from the list.

I use a system called AutoFocus to keep track of my endless ideas and projects. It helps to catch those someday project ideas. And now I am working faster on the mundane so I can get to those projects.

Maybe you can check it out for your projects this year!

Best wishes
Jen
(originally posted 3 Jan 2010)

Reflections on a year gone

2010 – A year of finally getting some health issues nailed down for myself and getting my eldest an official diagnosis for his Aspergers.

Knowing what has been going on with my health has helped me to let go of a good load of 6 years of mummy guilt of not being able to be all I wanted to be for my kids. And knowing my eldest son’s diagnosis has helped a lot with knowing how to teach him and not being so frustrated by his learning delays.

This year has been a slow release of the old and deciding what will be the new. In 2011 I look forward to continuing this process. I am quite looking forward to this year as I approach the big 40.

I spent too much time on the computer this last year (and probably for many years previously). I have a laptop and I have decided to pack it away under my desk inside a bag during the week. I did this for a week in December and it worked well. I only brought it out at night and even then I didn’t turn it on every night. I print out our school work from HST+ and then use it in a binder in a similar manner to Sonlight’s IG.

I need to lose some weight this year. I have gained 20kg over the last 13 months and I am not happy about it.

I will also be working more on getting routines going in my home so that when my over reactive sinuses act up due to allergies I have a framework to follow.  I have already done some work on creating routine cards for each of my kids and myself.  Will post more on that later.

And I am going to be trying out some ideas for bringing a little extra income into my household. Don’t know how that will go but need to at least try.

So 2010 wasn't too bad and I am definitely looking forward to 2011 and beyond.

Best wishes
Jen