on the bare little dogwood
through the sunroom window.
I have been practicing what I preach, by doing a little nature study out the window! It’s been dreadfully cold and snowy here this week, as it has been over a good portion of the Eastern US, and we have had the pleasure of being stuck at home for an entire week.
My dear friend Liz, from the LivingBooks Library, always says that you should try to schedule to be home three days in a row each week. I have never really understood how valuable that can be until this week. What I finally realized is that when you go out every other day, or some such schedule, your days at home are partly just rebounding. Your brain is in recovery mode from all the running around. Given a few days at home in a row you begin to be fruitful. A drawer gets cleaned out here, a closet there, a nature painting is completed, and the classical music playing in the background doesn’t feel forced. You aren’t recovering from the last thing, and you aren’t worrying about the next thing. You can just be here now.
– Rachel Carson
Before I cancel every lesson we have scheduled for the rest of the school year, however, I remember a valuable tidbit I got from the book Simplicity Parenting by Kim John Payne. I read it years ago, and I’ll admit that I didn’t finish it, but the main thing I took away from it was that you don’t have to cancel everything indefinitely. Sometimes you just need a few days to recoup. This time at home has let me recoup a peace of mind that I was seriously lacking last week.
Tomorrow it is supposed to rain, which will melt all the snow and our family will be in motion again. Like many families, spring is unreasonably busy for us. Maybe this unforeseen break in our schedule will allow me to approach it with a greater level of serenity though.
I should mention that we did complete our entire school schedule this week, and because we have our act together in that department, there was still ample time for sledding!
"What I finally realized is that when you go out every other day, or some such schedule, your days at home are partly just rebounding. Your brain is in recovery mode from all the running around. Given a few days at home in a row you begin to be fruitful. A drawer gets cleaned out here, a closet there, a nature painting is completed, and the classical music playing in the background doesn't feel forced. You aren't recovering from the last thing, and you aren't worrying about the next thing. You can just be here now."
Yes. This. Thank you for sharing, Nicole. I love staying at home. In fact, due to too many external obligations this week, we are planning to do just that this weekend. Devine.
One day I stopped what I was doing with one son and we played Scrabble. He was 11 and beat me. I did not let him win. He still beats me! ( almost 23 this week) Thanks for this post.
We typically run 3-4 days per week from Mon-Thurs due to my son's dyslexia tutoring and other homeschool activities. I really cherish my three days at home Fri-Sun and I totally agree that's it's necessary to have a few days in a row for recovery.
The too cold weather finally broke here in WI. Today it was in the 50's! It was a real treat!!
Here is a recent link to one or our cold weather nature studies…
http://reflectionsfromdrywoodcreek.blogspot.com/2015/03/winter-nature-studycoyotes-and-more.html
Blessings,
Melissa
We have that same color kitty Melissa! Right down to the ringtail marks on her tail. 😉 I'm glad you linked to your post. It looks like it was a terrific winter nature walk.