A Week in our Circle

I've been writing a fair bit about getting back to "doing school" in this young 2007, but I haven't really addressed my efforts to get back into a rhythm that is supportive of our family's needs. Thanks to Mrs. Darling and Aleisha for getting my brain humming on that. So what does a week in our home look like? When I set out to create this rhythm, I took into consideration the elements that seem to determine how we spend a significant portion of our time: our regularly scheduled activities, our need for daily naps and/or rest times, and the slew of activities I consider an important part of our home life, such as handwork, cooking/baking, reading together, arts/crafts, and painting time.

On a daily basis, our rhythm doesn't change much, even during the holidays. Husband gets up around 6 am, and the rest of us emerge between 6:30 and 7:30. We bathe and get dressed and dribble into the kitchen in order of readiness. After breakfast, Husband walks the dog with one or both of the kids, while I clear away the breakfast dishes. Then it's upstairs for brushing teeth, combing hair and a quick cleanup of bedrooms. Usually this takes about 15 minutes. Then, depending on the day, we either get ready to head out the door, start our schoolday, or the girls get immersed in play for a while. Before lunch, I usually send the girls outside for a time, a task made much easier by the swing Husband installed in the front yard as a Christmas present. Lunch occurs between 12:30 and 1:00, and is followed by rest time. Rest time is usually over between 3:00 and 3:30. I usually start dinner around 5 pm, though often Husband finishes it up when he comes home. Dinner gets on the table between 6:30 and 7:00, and then it's time go get ready for bed. The kids' lights are out by 8 pm, and what happens between then and 10:30 pm is a complete mystery. It seems that every night I look up and have NO idea where the last 2 1/2 hours went. We're in bed before 11 pm most nights.

Weekly it looks like this:

Monday: homeschool coop or outings with friends in the mornings (sometimes we do a nature walk on this day). Lunch and rest time, followed by tea or play, and every two weeks we visit our most amazing chiropractor. We also finish up any remaining laundry from the weekend, and put the clothes away.

Tuesday: a day without scheduled activities. In the morning we clean the bedrooms, and after that the kids are free to play as long as they don't trash the house (we're still working on that concept. I think after the fairy dust episode from last week, they understand that mommy doesn't like to vacuum the same room twice in one day). I usually spend the rest of the morning cleaning the downstairs, and we leave the afternoons for playdates or more playtime at home, with the occasional craft project thrown in.

Wednesday: both kids are home for school time. We do our circle (including a German lesson, active math and recorder practice) and Sophine and I review some of what we did the previous week. Then she does about 1/2 hour of practice work (the kid has a scary fondness for math workbooks, but she also copies words into her good book about once a week). During this time, Heidi and I head upstairs to he room for games , a story and an activity (beeswax modeling, sewing felt mice, etc.). Then Heidi either finds something to do by herself, or she listens in when I tell Sophine her story (fairy tales this year). Wednesday afternoons are left open because every two weeks I have my Foundation Studies class at 4:30.

Thursday: Sophine and I drop Heidi off at the Children's Garden in the morning. We usually spend about a 1/2 hour after that talking to friends, playing on the playground, or visiting the school library. Then we go home and spend 2 1/2 hours on schoolwork and handwork (right now we're needle felting gnomes) before picking up Heidi. Then it's rest time and painting class with friends. On days where we don't paint with friends, we paint at home.

Friday: Heidi again attends Children's Garden, while Sophine and I spend time on Form Drawing and her Main Lesson. If there is time left before getting Heidi, we snuggle on the sofa with a book, or work some more on one of her projects. The afternoons are free for relaxation and playdates with neighborhood friends.

Weekends: we don't really have a weekly rhythm for those as yet. Often Saturdays are for chores and errands, while Sundays are family time. But this depends on the timing of events, the weather, mommy's need to have some time to plan the week ahead, and other sundry factors.

Well, that's our lives in a nutshell. In our daily rhythm, it's notworthy just how much time we spend on meals. My children eat very slowly, and usually it takes us upward of 30 minutes to complete lunch or dinner. I've started reading to them during this time, to ward off the urge to "get stuff done" while they finish their meal. In our weekly rhythm, I've purposefully stayed away from adding more regular activities to our schedule for the moment, though in the spring we may add soccer and/or pottery back in. With Sophine's need for structure and predictability, we've found that sticking to a weekly rhythm really helps our lives to flow more smoothly. I'm finding daily and yearly rhythms fairly easy to stick to, but the weekly ones can be tricky as something always seems to come up. But for the sanity of my family I've learned to say not to a lot of opportunities. Time has taught me that often these come at a high price for everyone, particularly in the latter half of the week.