Let Me Think About It For a Minute Before I Say No
Those of you who know me or know my blog are going to have to sit down for this one.
Are you sitting?
You’re on the computer so I’m going to assume you are. Unless someone is reading this to you while you’re making dinner and you just happen to be my Mom. Then you will have to sit down because this is big. HUGE!
Ok, I hope you are sitting because I’m going to say it now.
I have canceled my membership to the gym.
I know!!!
It’s unbelievable but it’s true. I have been completely addicted to the gym for 11 years now. Muscles is 11 so my children have grown up in the gym nursery.
I just have too many lofty goals. Spending 2-3 hours a night getting ready to go to the gym, driving there, working out, eating out because it’s too late to come home and make dinner, driving home, etc. wasn’t fitting in with my goals or the vision I had for our family. And besides I couldn’t torture/teach my children properly when we were gone all the time. Writing out a detailed daily schedule really helped me see that the gym had to go even though I have been thinking about it for some time. For the last couple years in fact.
Now we have time for more family activities that I’ve always wanted to do. Silly little things like being home for dinner and reading to my kids before they go to bed. I always read to the littles but the older kids got left out when we ran out of time which was always. It’s so fun to yell, “Story time!” and have the children come running to sit around me all ready for bed and a good book.
Ok, so it doesn’t really happen that way. Tonight I read to them in the bathroom because Persistence was still in the tub. I have a schedule to keep here people! Try to keep up!!!
Hold Still For a Minute
Not only am I staying home to exercise but I’m staying home for a lot of other things as well. I’m learning to say no to almost everything. There are a lot of fun activities to go to but staying home is even more fun. We don’t need so many field trips and play dates. We need to stay home. We don’t need soccer and dance and all that nonsense. We stopped that years ago and haven’t missed it for a second. We need to stay home.
Home is where the heart is. Home is where we learn to work and get along. Home is where we are nourished physically, mentally and spiritually.
The germ of the oak is nourished and protected by the substance of the acorn until it is strong enough to draw its food directly from the earth, and to withstand the tempest and the scorching sun.
When the mother shades the windows of the nursery, she but unconsciously imitates the Creator of her child, who through the institution of home has shut from his feeble and nascent mind the flashing colors of the too brilliant world.
Our Home, The Key to a Nobler Life by C. E. Sargent A. M.
There are many exciting years ahead for my children. Now is not the time for the brilliance of the world.
It’s time to stay home.
The Plan
This doesn’t mean we are never leaving the house again. My schedule right now is spending Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday all day at home. Three days at home are better than none right? Sunday is Church obviously. Tuesday is chess club for one hour. Thursday is piano and errands all afternoon and Friday is Family Adventure day. We’ll see how this works. I’m posting more about our schedule tomorrow so stay tuned.
What about you? What can you cut out so you can spend more time at home with your family?
P.S. You can download Our Home for free. Our Home from books.google.com
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
July 9th, 2009 at
Wow! That’s impressive
July 9th, 2009 at
We are really trying to spend more time at home too. I am excited to see your schedule
July 9th, 2009 at
I actually just read that part in that book yesterday! GOOD STUFF!!! I’m with you! I’ve been working hard for a long time to keep us home! Sometimes I feel like the fuddy duddy or the party poop but darn it someone has to keep them home fires burnin’! And ya know it is work it takes a lot of effort to say no and just stay home for goodness sakes! Hooray for you! You have my full support once again!!!
July 9th, 2009 at
You are so brave. We are an overextended family and we need to take a serious look at our schedule. I wish you had teenagers so I could learn even more from you.
July 10th, 2009 at
Just tonight I was having the same epiphany … we need to be home more. And sooner!
July 10th, 2009 at
I have always been like this and would rather be home than anywhere else. The good thing is that the kids’ friends in the neighborhood know where they usually are! Home IS the best place to be. Good luck with your new schedule!
July 10th, 2009 at
Thank you. It’s nice to read that. I’ve always thought kids are way too over scheduled. Thanks for the encouragement to say no.
July 10th, 2009 at
I am shocked and impressed! Of course, now that you are a stick with all of your healthy eating and weight loss, you don’t need to work out!
I am a homebody and I love to be home. I try my best not to overschedule my kids. They only play one sport each and nothing organized in the summer. I have learned to say no and I guard my time carefully. Good for you…that was a big step for your family and I know that you will reap the benefits.
July 10th, 2009 at
Let me know how the exercise at home thing goes for you. I have pondered this recently…being a gym addict like you, although as I mentioned before, I go in the mornings without kids, however, I find it so frustrating some mornings…especially when we are homeschooling…I get up at 6am and am not back til 8, the kids are up, hungry, I’m hungry, I still have to shower…it just becomes a very late start. I f I could work out at home it would be easier, and cheaper, my husband works out at home and has equipment, I’m just not good at focusing on exercising when I am at home….too much other stuff to do! And I don’t run, which would be the no brainer at home exercise.
Lara says: I don’t have any equipment at home so I have to go running. I want to buy the P90X workout DVD’s everyone seems to be so in love with. I’ve never been motivated enough to workout at home so this is going to be a challenge.
July 10th, 2009 at
wow! good thing i sat down. that’s huge!
thank you. for giving me permission to cut out extra stuff.
July 10th, 2009 at
As a homeschooling mom I have found that when I schedule my children for things it really wrecks things for us. My son does cub scouts, everyone does swimming lessons, and that is about it. We have playgroups in the summer, but we really stay home most of the time. We LOVE to be together. Granted that doesn’t mean everything is always peaceful.
July 10th, 2009 at
LOVE IT! i am so with you on this. way to go, mama!
July 10th, 2009 at
My kids would rather stay at home than do sports or other activities. We have a once a week group of “old” friends that we go to and that’s about it. We do swim lessons in the summer and my oldest just went to camp for a week. Other than church on Sun/Wed that is all. We love to be at home. My 4-yr-old would stay her every waking moment if we didn’t need to go get groceries and go to church.
July 11th, 2009 at
We are always home! We have absolutely everything we need here. We also just built a deck out back and put in a tetherball pole so now we can spend even more time outside together. I’ve never understood the people who are running from one activity to the next-how exhausting! My kids get one activity/sport per year. That’s it. They love being home and just hanging out together. Like you said, its not always peaceful-they are 15 yrs. & 7 yr. old twins, so it can be loud and ’scrappy’ but they are quite content being home and that makes me very happy!
July 12th, 2009 at
i have the opposite problem, actually. my kids are at each other’s throats and climbing the walls because we spend so much time at home. i find more harmony by balancing out with home time. about half/half i think. my kids are extremely social, as am i, so i find them more happy when we have lots of play time with friends (as am i.)
but i also don’t like to do TOO much out…because then the house falls apart!! (not that its not already…but it gets worse).
balance is definitely the key. and i’m forever working on that.
July 12th, 2009 at
Lara, this seems very drastic! I tried it a few years ago and all I got was fat. Have you considered going to the gym early in the morning? That;s what I do and I am always home by 6:30 and i thrive on it! Good luck with the p90x though, it is quite challenging!
Lara says: If my gym weren’t so far away going early in the morning would probably work but it’s a 15-20 minute drive each way which is a lot of time in my tight schedule and a lot of money wasted on the membership fee and fuel. Besides, it’s difficult to get fat on vegetables and fruit!
July 13th, 2009 at
I have always wondered how you could fit the gym in too with everything you are doing. Now that you have given up something that you loved I feel the need to re-evaluate those things that take my prime time and make sure I’m doing what is truly needful.
July 13th, 2009 at
Ack, now I’ve REALLY got to buy “Our Home”! I can’t handle reading it online. I need to write in my books!
July 26th, 2009 at
Ever since our conversation at the park I have been on the fence about the coop we were planning on this fall. After this post you have me 98% convinced.
My kids are so social and love being out and about and interacting with others. I am not quite ready to scratch it off, but almost….