Are you bombarded with morning visions of Perfect Polly and her brood of perfectly coifed and mannered children sitting in a circle as they gaze lovingly at their mother as she daintily sips herbal tea from a porcelain teacup and reads the Bible aloud?
If your mornings don’t look like Perfect Polly’s, don’t despair! You’re not alone. In fact, you’re quite normal! Let’s look at the facts. While morning theoretically can be a wonderful time of day and an opportunity for new beginnings, most of the time they are anything but. Sleep-deprived nights, sick children or pets, a forever long to-do list rob most of us out of a good night sleep. And, a good night’s sleep is what usually precedes a “perfect” morning.
Instead of trying to get up, get cracking and make that Perfect Polly picture a reality, stop and work with your own reality! Chances are your season of life is a strong dictator of how you slept last night and results in how well the morning goes. Don’t fight what you can’t fix! Play the hand you’re dealt, so to speak, with an extra bit of kindness to yourself!
Overslept? Don’t skip your devotional, but, do cut back on anything that isn’t urgent. Save it for tomorrow.
Sick? Delegate devotional time to the oldest child, if possible. If not, give yourself grace! Do what is only necessary and leave the rest for another day.
Stressed? After devotional time, play. Yes, play and laugh. Laughter is the best medicinal stress reliever. A little goes a long way!
Messy house? After devotional, delegate chores, set a timer, crank up some music and get it done! Besides laughter (see hint above), you’ll all benefit from the teamwork and a tidy space.
The most helpful hint I received during a particular onslaught of awful mornings is to try to make every effort to prepare for the morning the night before. Waking up to a plan, or at least a rough idea of a plan can go a long way to make the mornings easier for everyone.
So while you may have a long way to go to fit into Polly’s world, you can operate your homeschool mornings in the parameters of what is normal for your family. And that’s what homeschooling is all about!
Check out the many homeschooling resources at Rainbow Resource Center!
