Learning to Juggle It All… Again

I’ll be honest. I’ve been struggling these last couple of months to juggle our busy, happy life. Just when I thought I was falling into a solid routine, our schedule changed. Again.

Between kids in homeschool, kids in college,  orthodontist appointments, ice skating, multiple children in music lessons, choir practice, church, minister meetings, and blogging – life’s been pretty crazy since the beginning of February!

In the past, this kind of crazy schedule drove me crazy. I like routine – the simple kind where you know what to expect each day and each day is pretty much the same as the day before.

The older my kids get, the less “routine” our days are. And I’m okay with that. This is a season of motherhood that I am definitely enjoying.

In years past I woke up early – usually sometime between 6:00 and 7:00 am. I have always encouraged stay at home moms to wake up early and take care of their little ones, get their chores done in the morning, and see their husbands off.

And I can honestly say that I believe waking up early is a mom’s secret weapon. Those early morning hours are key! But I have also said many times that sometimes waking up early is not the best course of action. Sometimes circumstances are such that waking up early will leave you exhausted and unhealthy.

These days I usually wake up around 7:30 or 8:00 am.

You probably already know that one day a week we’re gone for roughly 14 hours so that Hannah {14 years old} can ice skate. We have to drive 2 1/2 hours one way to get to the ice rink and then she skates for about 8 hours. We don’t usually get home until around 10:00 at night.

It’s an exhausting day. 

Last week was a competition week. We made that drive 4 days in one week. Hannah had two events: Solo Program and Solo Compulsory. She took first and second place! {I’ll be sharing more in an  upcoming post.}

Anyway, that one day a week when we get home late from Knoxville means we don’t get up extra early the next morning unless we absolutely must. But the following day is music lesson day. So, we do get up by 7:30 so everyone can get showered and dressed in time to go to lessons.

By the time lessons are over it’s just about lunch time so I make lunch. After lunch we sit down for homeschool lessons. And then we take a walk. Then it’s quick supper before Emily and I head out for a two hour community choir practice. We don’t get home from choir practice until around 9:30 or 9:45.

Which means the girls still don’t get to bed until at least 11:00… which means that I don’t really get to bed until about midnight.

We always schedule orthodontist and dentist appointments for the morning and with two kids in brace {soon to be three} we have these appointments on a frequent basis. Minister meetings are usually in the morning. When we have to go get a load of hay for the horses… we do it in the morning.

The view from my front porch this morning. The birds are singing and Emily is playing the piano inside the house. #morning #sunrise #mountainsunrise #spring #aftertherain

A video posted by Melissa Ringstaff (@thevintagehomemaker) on Apr 4, 2015 at 5:29am PDT

Our homeschool day used to begin by 8:00 in the morning everyday. These days we almost always start our homeschool sometime between 10:00 am and noon and work until early evening.

I’m so thankful that homeschooling is so flexible – otherwise my stress levels would be sky high! I love that we can take our books when we are on the go or traveling and that we can school right through the summer if we need to.

And I’m very thankful for this season of life when our schedule is full of wonderful, amazing, everyday adventures.

I’ve realized in the last year that being flexible is really a key to being happy. I’ve never been one to enjoy sudden changes in plans, unexpected cancellations, or other kinks in my day. But I’m learning to be less serious and more flexible. But it’s more than that.

[Tweet “3 Simple Keys to Being Happy & Juggling Everyday Real Life:”]

3 Simple Keys to Being Happy

1. Be flexible when you need to be. There’s only 24 hours in a day. Do your best. And if your best isn’t  strive to do better, but don’t beat yourself up if you don’t get where you want to be over night.
2. Be thankful. There’s not a day that goes by that I’m not immensely  grateful for my home, my family, and more. I am so blessed and I don’t want to ever take all of my blessings for granted. If you need help, read Ann Voskamp’s book, One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are. You can read my review of the book here.
3. Learn to forgive yourself and others. And love unconditionally. You’ll just be happier and so will everyone around you!