Plugging back in

 Some things I've been thinking about:

1.  teaching my kids to work

2.  making memories

3.  making more time for Gospel teaching in our home and

4.  determining what my kids need to be taught next

I feel like I've raised one family mostly to completion (as Logan leaves this summer) and I'm working on take two.  There are habits that I had when I was a younger mom that have sort of fallen by the wayside that honestly I miss!  They were super beneficial to us as both individuals and as a family unit.  I like them.  Why have I stopped doing some of those things?  Is that good?  Do I need to start them again?  One of those things is family work time.  My older kids did a lot of chores.  I think the main reason that we fell out of the habit is that for a long time the older kids did the chores but as they left, I basically took over their responsibilities because the younger kids were...well, just a little too young to pick up all the slack.  The outcome of that is that I haven't devoted the same time teaching my next three how to work hard!  So that's one of the things we're starting to work on.  Honestly I only have about another year before Kenna is in high school and not really available.  But she's a good worker...I don't think this is for her to learn how to clean, more like for them all to improve their ability to clean AND to be a contributing member of the household.

The other thing that sadly fell by the wayside was reading aloud.  !!!!!  Which frankly shocks me when I think if that.  That was SUCH a big part of my homeschool curriculum and identity.  So my focus this spring has to be to get back to the basics.  Get the good books and READ THEM aloud.  It's a totally different experience for my kids than reading on their own.  It exposes them to books they couldn't or wouldn't read on their own and gives me an opportunity to talk about big ideas that come up in the books. So that's one part of making memories.  I also think I used to be a more fun mom.  I want to get a little bit of that back.  Last summer I had a personal challenge to do things that I normally wouldn't do.  I'm happy sitting in a chair reading a book.  But I don't want to be the boring mom who makes zero memories with their kids.  So I did things that normally would have scared me and it was great.  But also I've lost interest in celebrating holidays so much or taking day trips.  Those were the lifeblood of our family for years.  I want my younger kids to enjoy some of those same things.  So I'm working on opening up my schedule and upping my game.

Gospel teaching during Covid has not been what it could have been.  A big part of that is not planning or structuring.  My feeling is that the best Gospel teaching happens almost by accident, but it's not enough to rely on that for ALL the Gospel teaching that your kids experience.  So I'm formulating plans for how I can pop it in there, short and sweet, and we can feel the Spirit more often in our home.  

And that leads to the final bullet point...what to teach.  A while ago I heard an idea to write down the next major event coming up in each family member's life and that can give you focus and direction.  Right now we have an upcoming baptism, first time through the temple + missionary experience, college, choosing a spouse, and parenthood.  Those are MAJOR life experiences!  I need to think through how I can best prepare my children and help them succeed.  I forget sometimes until the experiences are upon us that these are happening, so it helps me to write it down and be prepared and anticipate things a little.

This is hard stuff for me!  I'm tired and life flies by too fast.  I feel like I can't keep up with everything most times.  But we just keep plugging away and doing our best, right?