A Mom's Fail After a Long Winter Break

     I don't know about you but getting my kids back to our normal routine after taking a break for more than a couple of days is not an easy task.  I have been struggling for a week now.  During our winter break, they were staying up about 2 hours later than usual and getting them to sleep on time this past week has been a fail.  I always say I am going to keep them on schedule during our breaks, but then things happen and we end up having late night game sessions or guests over that get us off routine.  

     So last night I started to think that I was fretting over something that I could easily remedy by allowing our family to ease back into our routines instead of expecting it to happen overnight.  Instead of fighting with them, I could move their bedtimes back 30 minutes each night until we get back on track. That would also fix our morning routine as well.  So why didn't I think of this last week? Oh I remember... it is that perfectionist rearing her thoughts again. I just wanted to get back to work, but I wasn't thinking of the kids.  I wanted my routine back, yet it was not happening.  I was just causing frustration.  

      I woke up this morning knowing what I needed to do and the kids are going to be glad that mom finally thought this through. Even after 19 years of homeschooling, I am learning!  We will be easing back into our normal routine and if all goes well, we will be back on track by this weekend.  WIN!  No more fussing and mom will not lose her temper.  

     Today they will be waking up a little later than normal but I think that will help them function better.  I want to them to be able to do school well, and I believe sleep helps that happen.  I will be apologizing for allowing them to get off routine then expecting them to hop back on immediately.  It wasn't their fault that I let them stay up late for over 2 weeks.  I will also apologize for getting so frustrated and I will tell them we will work together as a team to get back on track.

     Another big mistake I made during our return to the school schedule was expecting them to jump right back at the books and be happy about it.  They are kids and they love to play and have fun, and as fun as I try to make school, it doesn't compete with video games, toys and television.  They needed to be transitioned back gradually, but again I wanted my routine NOW,  so we have been struggling with school.  I am going to correct this today too. We are going to do some hands on activities for science and history and play a couple of learning games for spelling and math.  I know this will be fun for them and will assist us in getting back to our norm without us feeling irritated.  

     So I have made myself I checklist that I can follow after we have had a long break and I would like to share it with you.  

      I will learn from my mistakes and I will be following my checklist from now on!  

      Do you have some ideas in helping homeschooling families to ease back into normal routines after a long break?  I would love to hear from you!