Yesterday, Joey had another snow day. Since I spent his first snow day working on the clothes, I hoped to spend this snow day working on a couple of projects and catching up with some correspondence. Joey’s love language is Acts of Service AND he is my Christmas Buddy this year (every year, the day after Thanksgiving, we put all of our names into a hat and we each draw the name of a Christmas Buddy for whom we anonymously do favors and give small gifts until Epiphany and I know that he is my Christmas Buddy because I am the Keeper of the Christmas Buddy List) so, he was very lovingly willing to supervise children and cook all day, again, to allow me time for these little projects.
I was truly amazed at how much I was able to accomplish when I was not having to meet my usual daily responsibilities. It really hit me how MUCH time we homeschooling mothers of large families dedicate to the sheer logistics of keeping our households running smoothly. Then I started thinking about Flylady.
Sometimes, I get frustrated with how difficult it seems to be for me to be able to, for example, consistently complete the Zone Missions each week. And, as I’ve written before, I still haven’t worked de-cluttering into my daily routine. I’m really not avoiding these tasks. I actually desire to get them done and enjoy the benefits. It’s been acceptable for me to complete the Zone Missions in one fell swoop each week, so I’ve worked out that issue, but I’ve still been unable to make a regular, daily time for crafting or being creative.
Yesterday, I really realized just WHY I have such a challenge designating certain periods of time in my routine for Flylady tasks: I only have 24 hours in each day. As a homeschooling mother of many children, some with significant developmental delays and medical challenges, I dedicate hours and hours each day to their education, supervision, meals, etc. I am NOT complaining AT ALL about that. It’s the life I always hoped to live. But, what I realized yesterday is that my daily responsibilities just simply take a lot of time.
So, I guess I’ve concluded that I am going to cut myself a little slack in trying to fit some of the Flylady chores into my daily routine. I’m not saying that I’ve given up on fitting Zone Missions or de-cluttering into my routine. I’m just going to be very realistic about what I’m already doing and not get so frustrated. I’m going to acknowledge how much I am already doing, day in and day out, for hours at a time, how much I am already accomplishing. I am already working most of Flylady’s suggested tasks into my daily routine and I need to remind myself of that.
We homeschooling mothers of large families work with a unique set of circumstances when it comes to Flylady routines. But we can still benefit from incorporating Flylady’s concepts into our lives. Hey, that’s why I’m writing this blog, isn’t it?
Tags: Control Journal, large families, missions
365 Days with Flylady 
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