Sunday, December 26, 2010

A Preliminary list of Home(school) goals for 2011 or A List of Wishful Thinking…

Christmas is over, January is coming and I’m feeling the pull to make some resolutions.  Of course, my resolve to accomplish things waxes and wanes, but here are some things I’ve been thinking about for the new year, in no particular order.
  • Do the girls’ hair every day. It gets brushed every day, but I’d like to step up the girls’ personal grooming a notch or two.  I’m “hair-stupid” so the only hair styles I know how to do are pony tails and basic three strand braids.  My goal is to learn some cute, fast, hair dos that are nicer than just pony tails.  There really is something to looking put together.  Makes you feel better about yourself, more ready to take on the day…
  • Train the kids to hang up their coats, karate uniforms, and church clothes, and put away their shoes in the designated spot as soon as they are removed. (not that I haven’t been working on this all along, but I’ve kind of let things slide in the last few months…)
  • Make sure the kids are doing their daily chores EVERY DAY.  I’m writing this on a Sunday and had to get after the kids to convince them they STILL have to unload the dishwasher and take out the garbages on weekends.  I don’t know how it became the standard that I have to take over ALL household duties on non-school days, but it has to change.
  • Work on refining the look and feel of the household.  (Of course, this would probably be easier to do if I first resolve to keep the house tidier in the first place.)  I’m tired of everything looking kind of junky and cluttered, it’s making me crazy.  I want some beauty and order, please!
  • Pick up my own studies again.  One of the fastest ways to burn out on homeschooling, I’ve found, is to neglect my own intellectual pursuits.  I have a bunch of books that I’ve been meaning to read and take notes on.
  • Change my tone of voice.  My default vocal setting is “annoyed” even when I’m not. I’m not sure why this is, but I can hear my oldest daughter picking up on it and I cringe every time I hear her sound like me.  I don’t want the kids to remember me as grouchy and irritated.
  • Use the TV less.  I admit it, I’m one of those bad moms who uses PBS and videos to entertain the kids so I can get things done.  Usually, it’s the little kids who watch TV while I’m teaching the older kids or doing chores.  I hate doing it because I hate that it turns the kids into whiny zombies after a few days of “passive entertainment.” (But it’s so darn convenient!)  I need to find other activities for the little people to do while I’m working with the bigger kids—they’ll be better off for it, and my conscience will feel MUCH better!
  • Learn to roll with the punches.  I have a tendency to get irritated and grouchy when I feel I’m not measuring up to my ideals.
There.  There’s the list of what I want. Now—how to go about it?

1 comment:

  1. My best suggestion for changing the tone of voice (something I, too, and working on) and learning to roll with the punches is daily personal scripture study. I think it is great that you study as a family, but your personal study is also very important (and if you are already doing that, which I would not doubt, then I recommend lots of prayers regarding the issues!)

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