Simply Convivial: Biblical Homemaking, Homeschooling & Mom Life—Without Burnout

3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/cleanSo this season is about rest. All the rest of the episodes are going to be clips from a workshop that I did on getting rest as a mom because sometimes that just seems impossible. So, I thought today we would kick off that season by having a quick conversation about specific ways that we rest and recuperate from an intense day with the kids. And, I think that thinking about it in terms of recuperation really helps. It’s not usually a word that’s used in this conversation. We talk about rest or renewal or refreshment or filling our buckets, but I don’t know, I like the word recuperation.Virginia Lee: I do, too, it seems more like not a lifetime goal, a long term goal, but we can recuperate and get back into action.Mystie: Right, the focus is on rebuilding, almost. You know, getting back to wholeness because sometimes it feels like we’ve been a little bit deconstructed after an intense day.Virginia Lee: Yes, most definitely.Mystie: So, I am an introvert and Virginia Lee is an extrovert, so we can bring a little bit of a difference there. And, Virginia Lee, what are some of the things that you do after a hard day?Virginia Lee: You know, I almost always do the same things because they work for me: I pour myself a glass of sweet tea, I go outside under Silver Girl, which is our maple tree in our front yard, and then depending on exactly the extreme amount that I have to recuperate from, I either pray, or I would do a brain dump, or I get on a voxer and have a conversation with a friend.Mystie: OK, nice.Virginia Lee: And that seems to work every time. I choose one of those three depending of the severity or the seriousness of the recuperation that I need.Mystie: Beverage, outside, and conversation. Because, prayer is conversation with God. And, of course, it makes me happy that brain dumping is also one of the options.Virginia Lee: Yes, sometimes my recuperation needs to be a brain dump because the part that’s really torn me down is the fact that there’s just too much in my head from what I’ve seen in my day that I either need to tweak or add to, and it really helps me to refresh to just not have it all in my head any more.Mystie: My current refreshing beverage of choice in the afternoon is sparkling water. So, I will grab sparkling water, close myself off in the bedroom or somewhere, sometimes I go take a quick walk or just even pace in front of my house (and make a spectacle for my neighbors), but actually, I think the walking itself helps – it is the outside but it’s also just some movement, it just helps the blood flow to the right places again. It helps my brain think more clearly, kind of like the brain dump. I will do a brain dump. One thing that I started doing last year was a power nap, which I’ve tried off and on before, and I read about power naps, but I’m not really a napper, and I usually feel worse after a try to take a nap, but I just felt like I needed the end of, especially like teaching a class or something, I just needed to turn off. I almost actually never fall asleep but it’s kind of my version of an isolation chamber. So, I take one of my black pajama shirts and drape it over my eyes, sometimes I will even put in ear plugs and close the door and everyone knows it’s just 10 minutes, no one’s allowed to knock on the door or anything, but I also have no nappers. No one naps at all in my house. Quiet Time is a thing of the past, so this is mom’s quiet time. It’s amazingly helpful to just have 10 minutes with zero input. It’s not really the sleep so much as the being able to turn off for a little bit. It’s like a reboot. And, then I have so much more mental clarity when I get up. 3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/clean

3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/cleanSomehow, Berry makes you feel affection for all mankind, even those who aren’t likable and maybe even those who are wicked but especially for those who are foolish — which is each one of us.“Membership” with one another is the underlying thread in them both, and these novels have given that word much more depth and richness than I had ever seen in it. 3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/clean

3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/cleanAs I’ve written before, the goal of education is virtue, and Karen’s first chapter jumps right into the heart of it. She proves that virtue – right acting – needs to be the end we are pursuing when we educate children (and also ourselves), and demonstrates this is the classical notion about what education is for. 3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/clean

3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/cleanToo often, when we start making goals around keeping house better or getting more done, our focus shifts too far and we start seeing these means as ends – which means anything that gets in the way of our ends is a problem to be overcome or a frustration to bear resentfully.And too often, that means grumbling against our husbands or shouting at our kids. We could reach our goals, we think to ourselves, if it weren’t for these other people getting in the way. 3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/clean

3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/cleanI recently finished Laurie Bestvater's The Living Page: Keeping Notebooks with Charlotte Mason, and I loved it. I bought it based on Brandy's reviews, and I'm glad I made the leap-of-faith, even though I am only a Charlotte Mason admirer and not a strict adherer. I think this book, with the history behind commonplace books and Mason's implementation of it, demonstrates more clearly than ever that Charlotte Mason was not an innovator, but was making methods and practices based soundly upon the classical tradition that had gone before. 3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/clean

3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/cleanOne way we give in to perfectionism is to not start unless we know we can finish and get the results we want.But as busy moms, that is rarely possible.We can’t put things off until the perfect moment, because that moment will not come.Instead, try embracing 15 minute chunks. 3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/clean

3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/cleanIt’s easy to smile at our newborns, smile at a cute three-year-old antic, smile at our bigger kids when they volunteer to help out. It’s good our life as mother provides us these opportunities to smile, because smiling is good for us and it is good for our kids. 3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/clean

3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/clean“Cross to carry” is a phrase used to talk about suffering as a lot in life, but this portrayal of that cross, that suffering, as an active things in our life struck me. I have always pictured “cross to carry” as a passive sort of thing. But difficulty as a purposeful, active thing in our life, rather than a weight holding us down, is a much more biblical picture. 3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/clean

3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/cleanIt’s paralyzed us all.Perfectionism.We wait to start moving forward with our plans because we aren’t sure if we’re doing it right. We aren’t sure they will work. We aren’t sure we like the colors we picked.We pull back and reformat the page or change the app we’re using. We make the list over again to ensure we didn’t miss anything. 3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/clean

3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/cleanIf you are starting out homeschooling with a bright-eyed little 5-year-old – a toddler tagging along and another on the way – you eat up the stories of those ahead of you on the journey.When I was in that spot 8 years ago, I had my mom who had homeschooled 7. I also had other local older moms who let me browse their bookshelves and ask them questions. And then on my computer screen, I had Cindy Rollins, whose ninth child at the time was in elementary school, only a couple years ahead of my oldest. She was about to graduate her oldest, and she was funny and smart and real. 3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/clean

3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/cleanSeason 11: Attitude Organization Tips When we recite a handful of mottos over and over again, and conform our choices to them, we more and more naturally live them out even when we don’t use them. They become the way we simply do things. The best way to form new habits is to take on the identity as the kind of person who … leaves places better than they were, smiles and starts, or doesn’t let a mistake or slip-up … Read MoreThe post SO063: Give Yourself a Motto appeared first on Simply Convivial.Support the show (https://www.simplyconvivial.com/membership) 3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/clean

What should a homeschooling mom read? Mystie and Virginia Lee each recommend their top three book picks.

3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/cleantips for organizing our attitude because it often needs it with stuff day to day. 3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/clean

3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/cleanCertainly we are to watch and train the habits of our children and our household, but that is not all the work to be done. The confirmation of the habit into a character is work done by the person himself when he is independent. The test of character comes when each person is an adult – will he confirm the habits he was brought up to? Will he practice what he has been taught? 3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/clean

When we plan, we need to be planning to work within our vocations.

3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/cleanIt is by means of language that we both procure and use wisdom – for does not thought require language?So practice in speaking and in using language (today we would add writing as a method of discourse) is of upmost importance not just to learn to communicate effectively with others, but even to be able to understand within our own minds. 3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/clean

The real secret of making your planners work is actually looking at it.

3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/cleanEducation in the broad, unspecialized sense is summed up as how to obey and how to rule.One who rules without obeying is a tyrant, one who obeys without ruling is a slave.And both truly all begins when young children learn to obey, because that requires the beginnings of learning self-control. 3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/clean

Planning is not always going to be the same. We need to be flexible according to our needs at the time we're in.

3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/cleanMothers must be both teachers and learners.As mothers home with our children all day every day, we are their primary influence, especially in the younger years. We can’t just wing it and expect great results or satisfaction.If we can be always learning, always growing, always stretching, we will be happier and we will be modeling for our children the life we’re asking them to embrace. 3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/clean

Learn what your planner really is supposed to be doing for you.

3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/cleanIf we start off on this homeschool journey with no idea what education is, why we’re doing it, or where we want to be at the end, we’ll flounder, frustrated and fickle. We’ll have no idea whether what we’re doing is working or if we’re doing a good job.We have to have a measuring stick to determine if we’re straightened out and moving forward. A measuring stick has a beginning and an end. 3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/clean

Productive procrastination is doing anything except what you really ought to be doing.

3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/cleanThe one thread that strings through all the classical educators from Perrin to Plato is that education’s aim is virtue – not a diploma, not a job, not a stack of accomplishments. Our children – and even ourselves – should be better people, inherently, because of the education we received, no matter what circumstances or results come afterward. 3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/clean

Sometimes planning really is wasting time, but if we learn good planning habits, we can use that time effectively.

3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/cleanMystie – There’s a spread of abilities and also needs. How do the expectations that we have as moms going into that situation affect how we do it, what we do, and our sanity as we do it. So, how would you say that your expectations have maybe changed or when you go into a school year.Celeste – Since I’ve always had little kids while I’m schooling, usually a toddler and a baby, pretty much every year since I started homeschooling,.. I have a certain curriculum, a certain amount of work that I’d like to get done with my big kids but I have to be flexible in terms of where and how we fit in those things, and I have to be willing to think outside of the box in terms of our school day…Mystie – When there’s so many interruptions and you have to get up and take care of the baby, there are just a lot of things all going on at once, and you’re trying to decide do I do [this] or [this]. How do you keep track of what you should be doing or what you need to get back to when the interruption calms down?Celeste – I think of my day really in terms of blocks. At the beginning of each year I set out a schedule for myself where I have time slots and that is not actually something that we’re going to live by, that’s me making sure I’m not over-scheduling myself, that technically these things could potentially fit in this order on a given day that might or might not actually occur… 3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/clean

3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/cleanIf there’s one thing that derails our attitudes, it’s feeling overwhelmed and uncertain about what we should actually be doing.There are so many options, so many opportunities. We simply must say no at times, but how can we know when we should say no and when we need to be stretched by saying yes?The answer lies in our vocations.Vocation literally means calling. It is much more than a job, although it includes your jobs. They are statements of the primary roles you play in life.We each have ways of functioning that fit us, as persons. Our vocations are made up of the big responsibilities we’re given. 3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/clean

3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/cleanMystie – There’s a spread of abilities and also needs. How do the expectations that we have as moms going into that situation affect how we do it, what we do, and our sanity as we do it. So, how would you say that your expectations have maybe changed or when you go into a school year.Celeste – Since I’ve always had little kids while I’m schooling, usually a toddler and a baby, pretty much every year since I started homeschooling,.. I have a certain curriculum, a certain amount of work that I’d like to get done with my big kids but I have to be flexible in terms of where and how we fit in those things, and I have to be willing to think outside of the box in terms of our school day…Mystie – When there’s so many interruptions and you have to get up and take care of the baby, there are just a lot of things all going on at once, and you’re trying to decide do I do [this] or [this]. How do you keep track of what you should be doing or what you need to get back to when the interruption calms down?Celeste – I think of my day really in terms of blocks. At the beginning of each year I set out a schedule for myself where I have time slots and that is not actually something that we’re going to live by, that’s me making sure I’m not over-scheduling myself, that technically these things could potentially fit in this order on a given day that might or might not actually occur… 3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/clean

3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/cleanAnxiety and worry are attitudes we need to rid ourselves of. Peace and joy (among others) are the fruits of the Holy Spirit, the attitudes of Christ we are to put on. God’s peace, by the Holy Spirit, guards our hearts, changes our attitudes, when we pray with thanksgiving. 3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/clean

Whatever plans we make, we're asking for trouble if we expect our kids to quickly comply when we're always springing new plans on them.

3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/cleanMeditation is rather hip right now, but the kind of meditation I am speaking of is not emptying our minds, but rather filling them.The Psalms speak of meditation, and in the New Testament we are exhorted to meditate on what is good and true and upright and beautiful. Think on these things.We are thus commanded with good reason: it is good for us. It is good for our attitudes. It is how we keep a proper perspective and align our judgement. 3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/clean

3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/cleanSeason 9: Real Life Homeschooling Tips This episode is an excerpt from a video workshop Mystie recorded with Amy Roberts in 2016. You can register for the entire replay, with bonus support material, by clicking the button below. Amy Roberts is the mother of 10, who has children from 20 to 2 years old. She and her husband have homeschooled from the beginning and shares what she’s learned and how she does it. Amy’s blog, Raising Arrows Amy’s Instagram, Amy … Read MoreThe post CH052: Homeschooling Middle & Little Kids (with Amy Roberts) appeared first on Simply Convivial.Support the show (https://www.simplyconvivial.com/membership) 3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/clean

3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/cleanWhat we think matters.While it’s still awkward and uncomfortable, we accept the story God is telling in our lives and tell it to ourselves. We can take the reins and “take every thought captive.” We can change our thoughts.And by changing our thoughts, we can change the story we see ourselves acting. 3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/clean

Is planning even possible for a large homeschooling family? Amy Roberts from Raising Arrows tells us how to make it work.

3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/cleanA potent attitude poison is unrealistic expectations.When we make a to-do list full of our own pet projects when our time is actually taken up with our children and their needs, we're going to be grumpy and feel our children are getting in the way. Instead, we need to put them on our to-do lists and make sure we meet their needs before we add more in. 3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/clean

3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/cleanSo much has to be done in a homeschool day and the homeschool management struggle is real. How do you keep track of the daily work in your homeschool and manage to juggle the work? If you have multiple children and multiple subjects to teach (and that’s pretty much all of us) then we have a lot to keep track of and a lot to make happen. So, I thought that we’d talk about different methods and strategies for keeping track of all that stuff. So, how do you keep things straight in an average homeschool day? 3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/clean

3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/cleanSo, I like to say that all organization projects should begin with a brain dump. So, I thought that the best place to start would be to talk briefly about what a brain dump is and then we can start talking about tips and hacks and troubleshooting and what works for us and that sort of thing. A brain dump is basically sitting down with a pen and paper and just writing down everything that’s in your head, either everything everything or just everything about a particular problem or a project, maybe, that’s driving you crazy. So, when you get it down and onto paper it really clears your head of the details and lets you look at what’s going on more objectively, it gives you a little perspective. David Allen, author of GTD (Getting Things Done) says that when you use paper to hold the information and the details then your mind is free for creative thinking and problem solving. So, it’s kind of like decluttering your brain.Virginia Lee: Which we could all use.Mystie: Especially with Christmas over and the New Year, it’s time to declutter.Virginia Lee: Most definitely. Well, I have a question for you about that.Mystie: OK.Virginia Lee: Do you have any brain dump tips about doing it on paper or can it be done in an electronic version or way? I’ve always been curious about that.Mystie: I’ve done it both ways. It’s kind of depended on what I’m brain dumping about because sometimes I just need to make a list. If my mind is really working fast I can type faster than I can write so then I’ll just open up something in Evernote and just start typing. I think it really depends on the person and the way you think and process. If I’m going to be writing sentences at all then I probably want to be typing because I’ll write better sentences, I’ll think through what I’m thinking about better if I’m typing, fingers move faster, but if I am not sure of the idea, like I’m trying to figure something out and brainstorm, maybe I want this thing over here and then I want to put something over here and make it a little more visual then writing it down is the better way to sort those ideas. And then, also, there’s just sometimes I’ve just had a notebook on the counter with a pen so that just here and there I can add a little bit.Virginia Lee: That makes sense because on paper you can do things like draw arrows and circle things and sometimes, that definitely if I’m doing a brain dump, helps me to have something circled or this drawn over there, just because I’m visually seeing that I’m moving it that direction.Mystie: Well, at least I know if I’m doing a brain dump into Evernote I know where it is, which is not always true if I started on the back of an envelope.Virginia Lee: That is true. I think one of the biggest times I do brain dump is in the middle of the night. Sometimes when I lie down to go to sleep my mind is just going fifty miles an hour so I find that I, a lot of the time, do a brain dump, and then I lay back down. That’s definitely one of my biggest brain dump tips.Mystie: Does it help you get to sleep?Virginia Lee: It does, because I’m not trying to remember anything or flush out an idea because I don’t want it to go away. So, I feel like, OK, I’ve put that all on this pad by my bed or I’ve started using the Notes app in my phone because my husband’s sleeping and probably doesn’t need me turning on a light in order to do a brain dump.Mystie: I think that’s the real power of brain dumping: it just puts it somewhere where your mind isn’t worried or stressed out about keeping something. It’s safe, it’s right here, it’s outside of my mind. 3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/clean

3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/cleanI’ve created a few iterations of a chore board over the last year and a half. First it was a poster board frame, and I wrote directly on the hard plastic frame. That worked well, because I could tuck it away quickly and easily when I didn’t want our schedule, consequences, and school assignments on display.Then, my 3-year-old used it as a slide (which means he was climbing up it). The frame and plastic cracked. I tried to salvage it by simply sticking printed pages on it, but that simply didn’t work as well nor look as good. 3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/clean

3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/cleanOk, I just can’t get enough, and I hope you can’t, either.There’s more than one way to menu plan, and your personality will predict which one is most likely to work for you. 3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/clean

3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/cleanKeeping track of what each student is supposed to be doing, and making sure they are doing it is one of the struggles of homeschooling moms everywhere. Here’s how we’re managing it with a free online (and mobile) app called Trello.Some people use spiral notebooks for a daily list; we use Trello for weekly lists. Here are the details and even some video tutorials to get you started! 3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/clean

3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/cleanA decluttered kitchen is one of the first projects to undertake when minimizing and simplifying your home life. If you’ve ever wondered how to organize your life, you’ve probably thought of your cluttered kitchen. A decluttered kitchen helps with an organized, prepared life.So let’s take a look at the steps to achieving the goal of a decluttered kitchen. 3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/clean

3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/cleanYou know I love lists. And I also love books. So what could be better than a list of books?How about a list of my books?I won’t try to convince you that you need to catalog your books, because you probably don’t. But having a catalog of the books on my own shelves is something inherently appealing to me, and it might be to you, too. 3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/clean

3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/cleanI know it seems overwhelming.I know even just planning dinner sometimes seems overwhelming.But, seriously, who wants to wake up and decide in the pre-coffee fog what to feed the troops for breakfast?It has to be decided ahead of time. 3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/clean

3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/cleanWe homeschool without a schoolroom. Like many homeschoolers, the kitchen table is where much of our work happens. We use our kitchen table, we use our dining room table, we use our couch, and we make due with the space we have.I could write up a great-sounding post about why we don’t have a school room on principle. Something about school blending in with real life and not being contained in a separate box.But the truth is that I’d rather have a playroom than a schoolroom, a place for the toddlers and preschoolers to freely set up a block city complete with railroad tracks, a place for the air hockey table we inherited, a place for the computers that are used both for work and for play. And our house layout doesn’t have the space for both a playroom and a schoolroom. 3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/clean

3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/cleanI think taking the kids with me on my grocery excursions is a valuable thing to do. However, that doesn’t mean it isn’t exhausting. But, my kids are homeschooled, and they do need to get out just as much as I do. Plus, they are homeschooled, so they think going to the grocery store is a grand day out. Plus, I am a homeschooler, so I think it counts as a field trip and “real life learning.” 3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/clean

3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/cleanThe real trick about having a tidy or organized house is for everything to have a home. Things without homes are clutter. Things with homes can be put away, leaving space for life to happen. Mid-day, the house might look chaotic, but by evening, if everything has a place to go, it can look decently in order again. 3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/clean

3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/cleanAck! No milk! Off to the grocery store!Was there something else you needed? There was, wasn’t there? What was it? Oh, look, this is on sale. That isn’t, but I think I need some. Might as well wander down this aisle to shortcut to the other side.Oops – walked straight past the pasta, and we definitely need some of that.How many grocery store trips feel like a random grab-bag and confused wandering? It happens to us all, but if feeding our people and keeping the shelves stocked is an important part of our service – and it is – then we need some better strategies for making the most of our grocery trips. 3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/clean

3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/cleanMystie: That’s fun. So this season, season 8 of the Simply Convivial podcast is going to be about organizing homeschool stuff. So I thought we’d just have a brief conversation about how stuff gets organized in our homes. I think it’s easy when you say “organized” to start thinking of the magazines or the Pinterest where organized means everything looks really pretty and looking pretty is nice especially if you’re a personality who’s good at that but I’m not. Really, being organized is about having a home for things and knowing where things go. So everything has a place so that then you can put it away because it has a place. So we’re going to talk about some of the ways that we give stuff homes in our homeschools. Virginia Lee, what kind of homes do you have in your homeschool?Virginia Lee: Well, I guess one of my biggest things is that I’m not a big stuff person so if I have the stuff in my house it has to have a home and if I can’t find a home for it, it probably means I don’t need it. So I guess that’s one of the biggest ways I look at stuff. In fact my kids give me a hard time, “Don’t throw this away, we’re going to put this here so mom can’t throw it away!” But the other big thing of what I think of when I’m going to organize stuff is I need it to be practical. I’m not very good, like you said, I’m not one of those personalities where everything is pretty and maybe always pleasing to the eye but with the way our crew works is that it needs to be practical, it needs to be sturdy, and it needs to be in places where we can actually use it.Mystie: Right. I think that’s key. Because we have a basement so I could reserve a shelf in the basement and put things away on the shelf downstairs where they’d be out of the way but if they’re too much out of the way I’ll end up not actually using them.Virginia Lee: Yes, we are the same way. We do school in all different locations in our home and so we don’t use a schoolroom, that doesn’t really work well for our crew. So, for instance, we do Morning Time in our living room and I have a bookshelf in our living room and one of the shelves in that bookshelf is reserved for all of our Morning Time books and that shelf is placed right where I sit to do Morning Time normally and then our piano is in our living room as well and the piano bench has a … you can lift the top up … and so that’s where we store all of our Morning Time binders. So that works really well for us. They’re out of the way where little hands could reach them or mess them up but they’re very accessible and it’s something that we already had that we could use, I didn’t have to go buy something else, which I always love that, rather save the money to books. And then for some of our other stuff (we live in a tri-level) so we definitely have different things on each level of our home. So we have one of our levels has those shelves from Ikea that are sort of more like cubbies. 3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/clean

3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/cleanWe’ve done grocery shopping a couple of different ways and I think you’re right it really does depend do you have a baby, do you have older kids going with you, you know, that kind of thing. For awhile we used to, at the bulk store that we have, you can put in online orders so you can just get online, choose every single thing you want, and place the order, and you do have to be prepared because you can’t do it the day you want to pick it up, I mean, you have to do it at least the day before, they need a day to get it and process it but what we used to do is I would stick that order in on Saturday because dad was home and so that allowed me a chunk of time to get online and have complete thoughts without interruptions, get that put in, and then we’d go to church on Sunday and then when church was out the bulk store was sort of near our church so we’d just go as a whole family over there, then we’d check in at the little kiosk and they’d bring our order out in carts, and they would have to go gather frozen or refrigeratable stuff but since we were all together we would often time get a slice of pizza, then we’d have lots of helpers to load and unload but we didn’t have to do any of the shopping and so it really cut down on the amount of time, my sanity 3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/clean

3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/cleanWe recite mottos during our Morning Time.I think the first place I encountered the idea was when listening to ACCS teacher training audio (back before there were CiRCE conferences or podcasts). The elementary classes of Logos School, at least back in the old days, had mottos they recited daily that then the teacher could call to mind when they were relevant.As a family, we already had a few little sayings – ways to keep a frequent command familiar, memorable, and pithy.Over the years I’ve collected mottos, adding to and subtracting from our repertoire, but finally settling down on a select few for this year.This year, these mottos are behind the daily tab of our binder, and most days we go over them quickly. We alternate this selection with a selection of pithy Shakespearean proverbs each term. 3Rs of Meaningful Housework: simplyconvivial.com/clean