One Thing at A Time...or maybe two or three

Time for some reflective writing.  I have been reading many blog posts about starting up a new routine in anticipation for developing ours for the year.  The last three days we have established somewhat of a routine: Get up and have breakfast and morning jobs finished by 8:30.  Bible Reading/ Journaling/ Discussing were next. Then a trip to the park.  Reading aloud occurred sometime after the park.  We also did chores around lunch time.  The rest of the day was all mixed up with various things like shopping, picking up vitamins, free time, cooking, Bible class, parties.  I think I will make a graph of what we did to help later. 

I think I need to spend more time thinking about what I really want from our days and our next three months.  I know I want my kids to be engaged in learning.  I want them to go after things they are interested in that will increase their ability to do those things and their ability to learn things in the future.  I want them to gain the confidence that they can find out whatever information they need to help them be successful in useful activities.  By useful, what do I mean?  I mean something that benefits the people around them in our home, in our church family, in our homeschool group, in our extended family, in our community, in the world.  I want my boys to spend the majority of their time serving others or learning to do things that will benefit others.  I want them to do things that will show God's glory to the world around them.  Serving themselves with computer games and TV is irritating to me.  When I see them spend so much time on it, I view them as lazy.  I get disappointed that they can't think of anything else to spend their time on.  Then "mom guilt" sets in.  "Maybe I haven't exposed them to enough interesting things to do," I think to myself.  It tires me to think of how to stir them into activity without forcing it upon them.  I am a whole picture type of person.  When I can't get the whole picture, frustration sets in and blocks the view of how to accomplish any tasks that will lead us to the end result I desire.  One thing at a time should be my motto.  That is how I am wanting to school anyway. 

So what will that one thing be for this next week?  I want to keep going with our morning routine, Bible reading time, and read aloud time.  Things I would like to add are jurisdictions and getting all of the morning routine done before 8:30 without any reminders.  These fit into my healthy home goal for our family.  So many times when I have the boys help me with chores (I will from here on out call them "service opportunities", a term  I got from hodgepodge.me), groaning ensues from my children and impatience and perfection rise in me.  I forget that this is part of training my children which is more important than book knowledge by far.  It is also an opportunity to for me to love and serve my children if I teach rather than demand and guide rather than pick out everything they did wrong.  Now if I can let this be enough for next week.  My personality prefers to jump in and change everything at once.  This has never really worked for me without many tears and dramatic fits raging through the house.  So, I will do my best to keep it to this for next week. 

I am still uncomfortable with them spending all of the extra time playing on computers.  I need to work on a solution to this problem.  I will think on that later today.