Consistency

It's 8:22 am, I haven't finished my Morning Routine from my previous post, and I'm rushing to write a post so that I can begin our Morning Devotional on time. I take great comfort in a journal entry by John Adams recorded on July 21, 1756:

I am resolved to rise with the sun and to study Scriptures on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday mornings, and to study some Latin author the other three mornings. Noons and nights I intend to read English authors....I will rouse up my mind and fix my attention. I will stand collected within myself and think upon what I read and what I see. I will strive with all my soul to be something more than persons who have had less advantages than myself.

But the next morning he slept until seven and a one-line entry the following week read, "A very rainy day. Dreamed away the time." (McCullough, John Adams, p. 41)

He became a great statesman so I am hoping there is a wide margin for error : )

Habits

Aristotle said, "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." What kind of habits do we have? Are they leading us toward excellence or mediocrity?

In Noah Websters 1828 Dictionary, habit is defined as "a disposition or condition of the mind or body acquired by custom or a frequent repetition of the same act. Habit is that which is held or retained, the effect of custom or frequent repetition."

I take heart in this definition since the "condition of the mind or body" are faculties over which we have control. We do not have to become victims to our default habits. We have power to create habits that will lead us to success.

How do you know which habits to make? That may seem like a simple question, but LEMI offers a whole conference call on "Forms". A form is a model, system or pattern. Simply stated a form is the way we do things. Once I learned about forms, all of a sudden they started to pop up all over the place.

We see different ways to govern, ways we handle the preparation of food, ways we get up in the morning, ways we clean the house, etc. The reason this is so crucial is because seeing forms allows us to proactively create success-leading habits. First we need to define what kind of form we are operating under. For example, how do we govern our homes and family? If we find ourselves yelling and ordering everyone around, then we can zoom out and realize the form of government we are following is akin to a dictatorship. Once recognized we can align our behavior with the form of government we desire in our home.

Since I'm in love with Fly Lady's system, I will use that as an example. What she does in essence is give those willing to be mentored a system or form for cleaning our homes. She has created a Morning Routine (to which I added some of my own) that I follow everyday (or almost everyday ; )

Morning Routine:

Plan

Read Scriptures & Pray

Exercise for Well Being

Get Dressed from head to toe, including make-up and brushing teeth

Swish & Swipe (1-2 minute wipe down of bathroom)

Check Calendar

Unload Dishwasher

Reboot Laundry (sort, wash, dry, fold, put away one load)

After following this routine for 4 months, it has started to become my own. I realized this morning that these habits I am creating help set the proper tone for my entire day. They are habits that lead me to success.

As I develop these success-promoting habits, I naturally turn to my children to help them establish good habits of their own. Then it hit me! That is really the Core (yes as in Core Phase : ) of a Thomas Jefferson Education. We are not trying to fill their minds with all sorts of facts, we are teaching them excellent habits that help to create the inspiring environment that will ignite their fire of curiosity and learning.

If you don't like the way your morning goes or how you handle the dinner hour, simply zoom out and recognize what form you follow. Then choose which form you would like and begin making the habits that lead to success! I'm off to practice what I preach : )

Planning

I've noticed my best days happen when I take the time to plan. Planning involves more than list making, although creating lists are a big part of it for me. I just spent almost a half-an-hour planning. Today it included making a menu for at least a week and from that making a grocery list, looking at my calendar and putting any events on my daily to-do list to keep them present in my mind (I've been known to forget many an activity), looking at what I want to accomplish and when I will do those things.

It is important to think thoroughly and detailed at these items if I want to be effective. I can stuff my daily to-dos full of things that would be nice to accomplish but at the end of the day it only leaves me feeling unproductive and frustrated. I've learned to be realistic and only write down those things I really want to accomplish. That way I can commit to those items and begin my day with determination to finish the list.

I noticed this crazy phenomenon when I have become more consistent in my planning, scheduling and execution: my children follow my lead. If I am haphazard about my day, everything is harder. It's harder to get the kids to clean, do school, follow anything I say. When I try to stay on task, my kiddos follow suit. Sometimes it's not fair I think that so much depends on us moms. If mama ain't happy, ain't nobody's happy--that kind of thing. Sometimes I wish I could just be grumpy! But when you look at the other side of coin, isn't nice to have much of the power to create wonderful days and happy children?

Let's Get Cozi

To help me live a proactive life, I have found yet another friend :-) Fly Lady told me about an online family planner called Cozi that I now use everyday! It can be shared with the whole family although I am currently the only user. I mainly use it for the To-Do Lists you can create--I am an avid list maker. I have lists for the family schedule, kids school, Fly Lady zone cleaning lists, and of course the daily to-dos.

There is also a place to plan meals, keep shopping lists, calendar and journal. I love the shopping lists because I can have a list for each store I frequent. I have one for Costco, Walmart, etc. and when I run out of something I need from that particular store, I simply add it to my list.

The real genius for me is the smart phone app. It really has saved my bacon with everything that I have going on with homeschooling, our commonwealth school, cleaning on the FLY and all the kids' activities. I can also take it to the store with shopping lists and not forget everything I need. The phone app has yet to include the meal planning, but they are working on that.

The only thing I need to work on is looking at it later in the day. I seem to get my day rolling just fine, but then it must really get rolling because I forget to stop and check back. Occasionally I leave important items undone. Too bad there's not an app to teach me self-discipline ;-)

Quiet Time...Ahhh

I was recently listening to an inspirational CD about how to help children to fall in love with reading. One of the suggestions that I added to my schedule was Quiet Time. I've tried it before, but like most things, my inconsistency failed to make it a successful. After homeschooling for four years, my capacity to develop new habits has increased and Quiet Time is a wonderful addition to our schedule. After two weeks of it, I wonder how I ever did without it!

After lunch, we clean up (the kitchen and their zones) and everyone goes to their designated space (mostly their bedrooms minus my oldest who reads in the loft/schoolroom area). I give one of the children a timer so they know it will end (if I didn't I might stretch the hour into two!) The younger ones who cannot read yet listen to CDs such as Brite, Scripture Scouts, etc. while the older ones may read classics. And I? I STUDY! I've always wanted to incorporate consistent study time into my daily routine, but it was rather elusive (I take full responsibility for making it so!). It has been incredible that a small, consistent habit like this leads to learning in leaps and bounds for me.

The craziest thing of all is that the kids LOVE it. I'm not sure if they love the structure, consistency or the actual quiet time but so far they ask for it everyday like it's something to look forward to. I've been told it takes 21 days to make a habit. In that case, one more week to go!