Time

I'm glad I'm not the only one who struggles with time. One of the first words Miriam learned was "dawdle" but she still hasn't figured out how to STOP doing it!!!! I feel like much of my day is spent forcing other people to do things--like strength of will alone will stop the clock or move the children forward.

So far it has, for the most part, but it is exhausting. I need Miriam to take a little more responsibility. One idea I am trying is getting her a watch and a planner and giving them to her during a special "now that you are 8" ice cream milkshake date. I'm going to explain that now that she is 8, she needs to keep better track of what needs done when, and make sure she meets her responsibilities. Then I'm going to pull out her new LA book and spelling book and handwriting book, and together we're going to figure out how many pages she needs to do of each every day to get through what she needs to this year.

Then, during scripture study time (that she will then be a part of because she'll be 8--instead of just having quiet time like the littles) every Friday, we'll fill out the next week's schedule.

I don't know how effective it will be the first few years, but I hope it will get her thinking more about time and giving her a sense that she can own time and divide time and plan time.

Anyway--I haven't tried it yet so I don't know how it will work, but it is worth a shot!

Thanks for the great book ideas. I'll post about any great books I find.

Andrea