Our Weekly Rhythm

So, I had mentioned I was starting to implement some new routines around here. I've attempted to weekly chore routines over the years with varied success, but have found now that Nora's older and I'm juggling two kids plus housework, my routines needed to be revamped. Not only do I need to make sure we have clean underwear and dinner on the table, but I'm wanting to include some regular learning activities to do with Nora. These are daily cues that help me plan for the week and work on age-appropriate skills.

Here it is:

("missional community" is our church small group and time at Oma's is with my mom, Nora's grandma)

Honestly, right now, we are doing maybe one or two days of activities a week and I've been okay with that. We are trying to squeeze every last drop out of the pleasant fall weather we've been having, enjoying playdates and Nora is taking a basketball class right now (how cute is that?!). But as the weather grows colder and life slows down a bit, I am planning on being home more and making more use of this routine. Generally we are doing these activities in the morning during Silas' naptime or during that awkward after-nap, before dinner time. We've also started to focus on a letter a week (or two).

Making applesauce during the letter "A" week.

I am not trying to be rigid about these activities but want it to be fun for Nora and something she can look forward to. I'm a firm believer that at this age, the most important thing I can be doing to encourage her to be a life-long learner is to incite her curiosity and creativity. There is so much to discover in this amazing world!

More than anything, I'm realizing my priority needs to be spending intentional time with my girl. She will only be this little for so long and I want to seize each day with her! This is such a time of wonder and giggles, excitement and a pure spirit of play. It's funny to think I need to make a plan to make sure I don't miss it, but it's true, I do.

And, I have a lot to learn from her too. Just the other day, I asked her to help me hang laundry on the line in the backyard - she is my clothespin "dispenser". My thinking was "good opportunity for her to learn about keeping a home and how to serve others". Once we got outside, Nora dutifully helped me for a few minutes before the 6 inch deep golden leaves from our maple tree were just too tempting. She exclaimed "Mommy! Mommy! Let's make a pile of leafs so I can jump in them! And when Silas wakes up, he can jump in them too!" No, it wasn't part of "the plan", but frolicking and laughing while throwing leaves in the air and in our hair ended up being the best part of my week.

Do you have any kind of a weekly routine? How do you make sure to spend intentional time with your kids?

The Rhythm of Our Home

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You hear time and again how much children thrive on routine. Well, I'm going to say mommy's do too. At least this mommy does...and when I am out of one, life feels chaotic, confusing and overwhelming. I know this just comes with the territory of having little ones underfoot. There will always be interruptions, minor emergencies (like "Mommy, I just pooped"...heard coming from my daughter's bedroom a few minutes ago)...ever heard of Tyranny of the Urgent?!

During much of my pregnancy with Silas and the first half of this year, our family has definitely been out-of-rhythm, with little routine and a lot of fly-by-the-seat of your pants. This can be a good thing, in small doses, but we are well overdue to get back into some good, intentional rhythms. As wife, mom and homekeeper of our family, I think I have a particular responsibility to have dominion over the rhythms of our home. Not only for my kids' and husband's sanity, but for my own! When I have a good routine, toilets get scrubbed, meals actually get on the dinner table before 8:00 pm and we are all better rested and freed up to play, enjoy one another and serve others.

At the beginning of the year, instead of making New Year's resolutions (which for me last about, oh, 72 hours), I asked God what He wanted to impress on me most. One of the words He gave me was Rhythm.

Rhythm [rith-uhm] - noun
1. movement or procedure with uniform or patterned recurrence of a beat, accent, or the like.
2. measured movement, as in dancing.
3. the regular recurrence of an action or function, as of the beat of the heart.
4. procedure marked by the regular recurrence of particular elements, phases, etc.: the rhythm of the seasons.

In thinking through the importance of routine and rhythm, I have been struck by how God's rhythms in creation reflect His orderly nature: in the orbit and rotation of the Earth, in the days and seasons. Yes, there are changes (out my front window I see the leaves just beginning to turn from green to gold), but just as we parents create routines for our toddlers, our Heavenly Father has also created this order so we know what comes next, we know how to prepare.

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace. - Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (ESV)

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Even our own bodies run by rhythms: when we don't follow our body's circadian rhythm, by staying up way too late, sleeping too much during the day, eating in the middle-of-the-night (all of which I did way too much of in graduate school), we get sick. When our hearts get out-of-rhythm (aka "arhythmia"), it's pretty catastrophic.

So, I've been doing some planning to get us back on track. Practically, I consulted a few of my favorite blogs to find out from other moms what their routines looked like as I set about developing ours. Here are some helpful reads:

5 Tips for Creating Family Routines and Establishing Rhythm in Your Home :: Simple Kids
Rhythms and Routines: The Flow of the Week :: Simple Kids
A New Rhythm :: Simplicity Parenting

I'm eager to share the routines we are starting to implement, both weekly and daily, in the hopes it will help you if this is an area you need improvement on too. I hate starting from scratch, so my routines have all begun as a copy-cat of others' routines, then I've just changed them up to fit our needs. (Also, if I the more I share the habits I am trying to get into, I am much more likely to follow through...so this is partially my way of holding myself accountable!)

Are routines something you fall into naturally, or do you have to work at them, like me?