Rhythm in Our Home: Afternoon

Once again, joining in with Nicole on the Rhythm in Our Home series.

Earth who gives to us the food,

Sun who makes it ripe and good,

Dearest Earth and Dearest Sun,

we will not forget what you have done.

traditional blessing

At around noon, I begin to prepare lunch. Sometimes the kids help and sometimes I make it myself. We either have sandwhiches or leftovers which makes it simple to prep lunch. The boys then set the table and we light the candle and say the blessing above. We have been saying this blessing for about 2 or 3 years now (!) and I am thinking we need to change it! Although it is really sweet to hear Kenna now saying some of the verses.

After lunch, the boys clear the table and wash their own dishes. This probably has been the best change as of late. Before, the dishes would pretty much pile up all day and then I would load up the dishwasher at the end of the night (or the next morning if I was just too exhausted). Inevitably, there were always dishes needing to be washed and the sink was rarely empty. Now that they wash their own dishes after every meal (except dinner), the counter and sink is clean and the dinner dishes can go straight into the dishwasher! It has been so nice to wake up and start the day with a clean kitchen! (I have to give credit to Nicole for suggesting this!)

After lunch clean up, the kids head outside for a short time to get the rest of their wiggles out. I found this helps a lot in settling them for quiet time. Before we started this, the boys would be pretty hyper still during their rest time which of course was defeating the purpose, not to mention keeping Kenna awake! We then come inside, wash up, get a quick drink and have a potty break and then climb into mama's bed for a little story.

After the story is read, the boys head of to their rooms and I then try really, really, really hard to get Kenna to nap, ha ha. As I said before, she has been protesting sleep as of late. I am trying to keep things pretty consistent, she may get another story then she climbs in her bed and I sing her to sleep (or not!). If she naps, it is usually for two hours and the boys are expected to stay in their rooms the whole time.

After nap/rest time, we have another small snack. Again, sometimes the boys will help prepare it and sometimes I do it myself. I am not to the point where I expect their help in the kitchen, but it is always welcomed!

After snack and clean-up, we head back outside until dinner prep! Usually during this time I finish up any chores around the house like folding laundry or do another sweep up of the kitchen (I usually sweep 2-3 times a day). Once outside I try to keep busy with meaningful work such as weeding, sweeping the porch, watering flowers etc. Now that we are nearing the end of summer and the weather is cooling off, I have been bringing my knitting outside as well!

We are officially on our last week of summer break before our home learning year begins next week! Once we start, our daily rhythm will change again to accomodate lessons and chores and fun things like crafts and painting. I am hoping I have not planned too much for our day, but time will tell. As with anything, I feel simple is best and try to keep a slower paced environment. I definitely don't want to have our learning days feel rushed!