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A Bundle of Myrrh

"My beloved is unto me as a bundle of myrrh." Song of Solomon 1:13

Archive for the ‘Hearth and Home’ Category

Of Hearth and Home – Catechesis

Thursday, April 6th, 2017

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God says: “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.”

As parents Phil and I understand this to be our chief obligation to our children, keep them alive and teach them the Faith. Teaching our babies the Christian Faith comes before teaching them to read, before providing them music lessons, before making sure they’re on the little league team or even the before the current sacred cow of parenting “making sure they are successful in life.”

How this is done looks different in every home I’m sure. This is how we do it in ours.

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Of Hearth and Home – Keeping House

Sunday, April 2nd, 2017

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We saw pretty early on the importance of having our babies help clean house.  It’s not only helpful for me and for one another, but teaching my babies to clean up is providing them with some pretty valuable life skills. It’s a lot of work to take care of a home and a family. I want them to know they are a part of that good work.

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Of Hearth and Home – A Schedule

Thursday, March 30th, 2017

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You only have so many hours in a day. And for me at least, I only have so much energy and patience in a day. When I’m not pregnant I can stretch both of these a bit farther and keep chugging until about 8pm on a good day.

Also with Summer coming our days will probably run a tad longer. I’m already noticing supper getting closer to 6pm.

Here’s the schedule that’s working for now.

Weekday Schedule:

7:30 Bible Time, verse, prayers, Catechism, Psalter LAUNDRY IN
8:00 Breakfast and Tidy Kitchen
9:00 – 9:45 Housework, Kids Outside Time or Table Play LAUNDRY
9:45 – Mama Workout – 20-30mins
10:15 – 11:00 Snack + Manners Practice, PreK Time
11 – 11:30 – Lunch Prep – EMPTY DISHWASHER
11:30 Lunch
12:00 Tidy Kitchen
12:15-12:30 Kids Tidy Time
12:30-1:00 – Little Kids blanket time, FOLD CLOTHES

1-1:30- Mercy and Esther Ready for PreK School
1:30-2 Housework
2-3:00 Mama Down Time
2:00-3:15 – Kids Quiet Time
3:15-30 – Snack -Read Aloud or Play Time
4:30 – Prep Supper – Kids House Job, Homework or Piano Practice
5:30 – Supper -LOAD DISHWASHER
6:00 – 6:30 -Clean Kitchen (Kids- Kitchen Jobs) Piano practice, Tidy Time – WASH BIG DISHES
6:30 – 7:00 Bible Time
7:00 – 8:00pm- Big kids Individual Reading Upstairs or Family READ ALOUD
8:30 – Lights out

*FRIDAY NIGHTS – CRAFT WITH MOM, LESSON OR FAMILY GAME NIGHT

Weekends are similar but I’ve added History Lessons to the mix. These are typically after lunch.

SATURDAY – Kindergarten + kids – 1 hr Lesson- Mystery of History (or Literature and Poetry)
MOST SUNDAYS –  1 hr Lesson- Mystery of History (or Literature and Poetry)

Next Post: Housework for Mama and House Jobs for Babies. What does this mean?

Of Hearth and Home – Goals

Thursday, March 30th, 2017

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I decided to get crazy and make a more detailed schedule for the day and really try to follow it exactly-ish. So in those “in between fires moments” I can look at my schedule and know what I’m supposed to be doing without thinking about it.

It’s not too much different from what I’ve always had. We have had a daily routine, same things at the same times, for years, but now I’m adding more details to that schedule.

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I want to keep my babies better on track with discipline, chores, individual reading, reading aloud to together, piano practice, memory work. I want to keep making our Bible time the first part of our day, it must be a daily habit.

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With so many children and so much housework I get overwhelmed quickly and the days can slip by easily without making the point of adding something I want to pass on to my babies.

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I had to sit down with all the THINGS I want in our life. The things I want to dedicate time to. I had to fit them into our days and evenings. It helps me feel less frantic when I know I have a designated time for ‘X’ and the ‘Y’ that I’m doing right now is the proper use of my time.

Here’s the list I came up with so far.

“Goals” for our family

For Our Faith:
Catechesis (memorization)
Bible lessons
Scripture Memorization
Hymn singing and memorization
Prayer memorization
Getting familiar with chant using the Psalter
Continue keeping our church year in the home
Obedience and Honor of Parents and other Authorities

For Our Minds:
Reading or Read Aloud
Good Poetry
Recitation Memory work
Supplemental Education – Ancient-Early Modern History and Literature
Good vocabulary

For Our Hands:
Piano/Music Lessons and practice
Stitching
Crafting

For Our Spirits:
Family Game or Movie Nights
Free Play Time
Limit my time on Facebook – FB is fun but many times I let it suck away my time and sometimes it can really make my blood pressure hit the roof.

For Our Neighbor:
Practice Manners
House Jobs
Tidy Times during the day

For Our Bodies:
Exercise – ride bikes, go for walks, dance parties!
Rest – Blanket Time during the week for the littles

That’s not asking too much is it? Now how to designate time for each of these?