Dandylion*

The Dandelion puff

Is a very queer clock,

It doesn't say tick

And it doesn't say tock,

It hasn't a cuckoo,

It hasn't a chime,

And I don't really think

It can tell me the time!

                                               Mary Robinson

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For most of this month I have spend the hour before going to sleep making presents for my youngest who has a birthday at the of the month.  The hour of sleep was getting later and later, in my endeavour to get it all finished, I was waking feeling very sluggish.  This was a change from my usual habits, I had been reading for half an hour to hour depending what time I make it to bed, usually going to sleep between ten and ten thirty and waking feeling refreshed and ready for the day.

My day starts before the children's.  I get up and get myself ready for the day, sort out breakfast, any resources we need for our learning, a picnic if we are going out.  It's a time for me, so when the children wake I have usually finished my morning jobs and can focus on the children.  When I get up late this all goes out of the window, and on the odd day it does, but when it is everyday it feels like I am running after a bus that has just left my stop, permanently.  I never quite catch up, the day becomes chaotic and time seems to evaporate. 

In the past I have not wanted a rhythm or routine to my day and week.  I think this is because for so many years of my life the rhythm and routine I was following were not my own, they were dictated by school or work and by the time I was at home in my own space I had no energy left.  When it is just you, or two adults in a household this works, just, but add in children and home education it doesn't, or it didn't for us.  

Nowadays our rhythm and routine doesn't stay the same, it changes with the seasons, but there was a time when I found changes difficult and unsettling.  Looking back I suspect that knowing that something was going to happen on a regular basis was a comfort and easy.  Organising our life as a home edders involves planning and joining meet ups with others and it is so much easier if these are regular.  I now have a good network of people and we are less likely to end up with the week of not seeing anyone as happen so often in those early days.  It is a balancing act though and one that I am still practicing the art of getting right!

Our life right now is in a good place, we have a rhythm and routine that is ticking along nicely.  I focus on the week ahead once a week and keep a balance between busyness and calm, being out and about and at home, spending time with others and time just as a family.  But none of this can happen if I don't focus on me and ensure that I get the time to rest and sleep and to get myself ready for the day ahead so that I can also focus on my family too.

What about you are you a routine and rhythm person or one that throws caution to the wind and goes with the flow?  Or perhaps you have structure for some of the week through school or work and the rest of the time is free flowing?  Do you make time for yourself in your day/week?

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*This is not a typo on my part but the title of a marvellous children's book which I thought was a fitting title for this post, weaving all the ends together.