Monday, September 07, 2009

Happy Labour Day!

So, it is Labour Day. Supposed to be a holiday, but I know I'll be taking care of a bunch of things around here and not really relaxing! I'm slowly trying to simplify some things, even things like cutting back on the emails in my inbox and removing subscriptions from my Blogger thingy. I don't need notifications when people update their things!

Other than that, first week of school is done. It wasn't too bad. I've restarted journalling in the evenings and it helps so much to just take the time to reflect on the day, on what went well and I need to do again, what didn't go as well as I would have liked and what needs to be changed.

Changes for this week:
*Bob needs a set list of work to finish this week; I have to be aware of how much I may be trying to control his actions during the day, too--it's HIS job and his choice, really, if he's going to work consistently, but I also know that there's a place in Choice Theory (and Montessori at this age, for that matter) for deadlines.
*dd needs a list of work ideas and a chart to kind of check off which subject areas she's working in; it can help to see that lots of time is being spent in math or science, for example, but other stuff hasn't been touched; also, a general list of what she needs to do during the week to keep a certain pace in her texts
*I have to figure out a plan for ds and 4yo niece; they're just disappearing and playing each day!

Other things:
*I need to work out my own routines/schedule. And make it big and post it or something. I keep writing out stuff, thinking it sounds good, but then don't follow through, in part because what I wrote out was in a notebook or on a scrap of paper and isn't in my face to remind me. Things I want to make sure to include in my day that I haven't been doing: time for personal reading, read-aloud to the kids, personal study (guitar, piano, German...), writing and exercise. I've been doing some basic yoga routines in the morning for a couple of weeks now, but that doesn't address cardio at all, and not really strength (although I did hurt the first couple of days!).

So, other than trying to establish routines and good habits around here, there's not much else going on! We are getting together with some friends Thursday and I want to figure out a French club get-together, hopefully for the week after that. We spent a lot of time last year just doing things on our own. I'd like to do go out less this year, but try to do more with a variety of people! We used to do things with all kinds of people, other than just park days, and I'm not sure what happened. Used to invite people on field trips we were planning, used to have a party or get-together almost every month...

Of course, if the kids simply decide one day they want to do go somewhere, I need to remember to pull a Montessori card on them and say, "Well, it's during school hours. Figure out how it is tied with what you are learning or want to learn, write it out and let me know." :D

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