In case you haven’t heard, 2015 is shaping up to be a year that our family is whole-heartedly embracing the tagline of A Mama’s Story: Creating Culture; Breaking Tradition. And that includes getting our large family into a routine.
When I had my first child, a friend suggested an organization program that worked beautifully. Everything ran smoothly, and I felt I was on top of my home. But after the birth of my fourth child, the familiar program didn’t suit our needs.
Then there was homeschooling, changing therapy schedules, the family grew, realizing we had another child who needed therapy, etc.
Needing structure, I tried another program set up by a large family, but that felt too stringent and not at all realistic, especially with our natural leanings towards nursing on demand. But, we need help, and there has to be something! Rigid schedules and strict time slots aren’t in the plans for us, but join me in 2015, as our family journeys to routine.
First of all, here are the main resources that I’m working through:
- Sink Reflections
- Laying Down the Rails for Children
- Laying Down the Rails
- Hello Mornings {God.Plan.Move}
The premise behind Laying Down the Rails is that we work on habits, such as making the bed, keeping bedrooms clean, etc, so that these eventually become second nature–we don’t even need to think about them. In essence, this is very similar to what I read in Sink Reflections, except Laying Down the Rails is built around Charlotte Mason’s principles and centered on family and children.
Every six to eight weeks, our children will work on a new habit, as Charlotte Mason believed that’s how long it would take for the new habit to form. There are 60 habits! Obviously, it will take some time to accomplish them all, but even if our family can only pick up six habits during 2015, our home will run much smoother.
While I work on habits with the children, I’ll also get back to basics pulling tidbits of info from Sink Reflections.
And for the first time EVER, I’m so excited to finally join a group in the Hello Mornings challenge! I used to be an early bird but then trained myself to be a night owl after my second child was born. A couple of years ago, I got back into the groove of being an early riser. While my family reaped many benefits, between morning sickness and the newborn stage, I was thrown off track. At 10 months old, my little one is still exclusively on breast milk, and she knows when I’m up! It’s like a secret radar that babies have! Mom is up, so I must be up, too! Realistically, I’m not sure how well this will work, but I’m giving it a fair shot.
As part of the Hello Mornings challenge, I’ll work through the book of Colossians.
We’ve already begun, and I’ll update as we progress and transition into new habits. 2015 is going to be a year of growth.
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Erin S. says
I almost bought the Laying Down the Rails Charlotte Mason book. I really wanted it but it wasn’t in our budget(I got a few other CM books this month). Hoping I can afford it soon. We have 9 children and definitely feel like we live in a chaotic house as the oldest will only be 10 this month.
A Mama's Story says
The books are very easy to implement. If you want to work on getting your children into a routine or forming good habits, it’s very much an open and go program. π of course, the follow through takes a bit more effort.
Anna @ Feminine Adventures says
Love this Sara Elizabeth! I’m working on developing good habits again after slacking with pregnancy and baby (my baby’s over one, so I need to get on the ball!) My habit for this month is to get dressed before breakfast. Not lofty, I know, but it always seemed like I was the last one dressed because I spent so much time helping everyone else! Getting dressed first has helped me start the day with a much more cheerful attitude!
Laying Down the Rails sounds wonderful. Thanks for the recommendation!
Sara Elizabeth says
Oh wow, yes I totally relate! One of the biggest reasons I don’t get a chance to eat breakfast is because I’ve spent so much time feeding the littles. π I’ve been working on this over the past few weeks. I hope to update next week! π
Heather says
I absolutely love my hellomornings group! I have been with the same one (#hmglories) for a couple years now. It is an incredibly supportive group that I have leaned a lot on through various struggles in my life. I hope it helps you too! I know that my whole day runs much smoother when I am up before everyone even though I am ready for bed when my kids go to bed now π
kim lavoie says
Hi! I myself and needing help with routine, family life, and overall daily balance. I am unable to easily navigate your site to find the follow-up posts. Can you please link me to them somehow? Thank you!!!
Sara Elizabeth says
Oh! I’m so sorry! I thought I had already updated the links. I’ll be sure to get that taken care of this week. π Thanks for visiting. π