Everyone is Home, Now What?

The house is full of people. Everyone needs to eat and find things to do! I thought my 18 years of experience as a homeschooling mother along with my adult life experiences garnered from living in a rural setting, may offer some ideas and insights to those just beginning this new endeavor of living at home, with or without multiple family members, for an extended period of time. I have been writing a book called “The Making of Place”. Once finished with the book, I had hoped to begin blogging about its contents. As the world situation has dramatically changed in recent days, and many people are home for extended periods of time, I decided to begin blogging now to share what I have to offer, as it may be helpful. So here goes!

While we all adjust to living a new sort of daily life, there are four components to address in the planning of each day that can help make it run easily and smoothly.

These include:

Food

Shelter

Activities

All embraced by Rhythm

I will approach these aspects one by one to make the concepts as simple and streamlined as possible. Today I will focus on Rhythm, how it threads through our daily lives, and how we can work with it.

Rhythm

The common thread connecting all life and living systems is that of rhythm. Rhythm is intrinsic to cell formation and function, body systems, seasonal time periods, and galactic movements, to name a few. It permeates and underscores every action and reaction in the universe. We as people are a part of that rhythm. We were formed as embryos by rhythmic patterns and live daily within Nature’s rhythmic presence. We may not be aware of its order (patterns), but every action we include in our daily lives’ interfaces with Nature’s rhythms. Incorporating appropriate rhythmic life activities into our days, can bring our human systems into greater resonance with Nature’s order of things.  When a person is living in harmony with this intrinsic order, life has the potential to evolve as smoothly and easily as possible, potentially infusing many situations with greater ease and comfort.

A Rhythmical Home Day

The concepts and perspectives offered below, while especially focused on families with children, are relevant for anyone living in a household of one or more people who would like to incorporate rhythm and order into their lives.

When a family member begins the day with order and purpose, these qualities can inspire all the members of the household. Children especially can be affected by this energy and often respond by being ready to get going in their day. If appropriate guidelines or activity information has been provided, children will know how their day will unfold. Adults, if they have pre-organized their activities, will also know what to expect from their day. Organizing daily activities is best done the night before. Having a means of presenting this schedule to children helps them visualize what their day will be like. This can be done on a large erasable board in calendar form, or it can be done in a notebook they have access to. Color coding is a great way to differentiate household members’ activities. For adults it can be done in a calendar, of which there are myriad apps and paper options. Scheduling activities offers all family members a great sense of comfort by knowing what is going to happen and when. Children may rebel and complain about doing certain things, but if they are forewarned, they are much more likely to eventually come around and join in the expectations.

Dressing and Breakfast are usually the first two activities of the day. Most children of school age are already accustomed to these processes. Having clean clothes at the ready, i.e. clean and neatly available, makes this process simple. Children can dress themselves and get ready for the day. If they do not already make their beds, this can be added now that a parent is home to help them follow through. After breakfast is eaten, dishes are done, and teeth are brushed, activities can begin. With more people in the household than usual, there will be more cleaning to attend to. Individual chores, age-appropriately assigned to each family member, can be carried out before beginning the academic or workday. Carrying out these tasks before schooling or working provides children and adults with a sense of accomplishment, an emotional investment in their home, and prepares them energetically for mentally concentrated schooling or working by giving everyone a physical activity first. For adults, it leaves the house ready so that at the end of the workday, one can relax a bit more fully. I have found that alternating activities between physical ones and intellectual ones satisfies our bodies’ need for balance between movement and mind use or development.

Once the day is underway, the next rhythmical component will be lunch. This can be managed by making a sandwich or having cold or hot leftovers from dinner the night before. When one becomes accustomed to cooking one meal a day in the evening, in a quantity that will provide food for dinner and the next day’s lunch, leftovers are easily available. They can be warmed up when appropriate and served at the eating table. This time at the table together provides a break from whatever else has been going on in the day and offers a time to join together and chat about whatever might be on their minds. These days, it can be very grounding and helpful to touch base with others in the household verbally. We are not in contact with friends in the same way and so must make extra effort to nurture our emotional and social selves. With younger children, reading something like a story or biography, can be a great way to bring interest to the meal if people are less inclined to chat.

During the afternoon I think many of us have the experience of being a little less rigorously focused than during the morning. With children, I like to use the afternoon to approach creative activities such as art projects and music practice. Other children may like to read books of their choice or write stories or poetry. Some children may require guidance for a time before they are able to be self focused. Adults who are working from home will know what they need to focus on. For those who are not working, and have extra time, the afternoons can serve as a time for inquiry, research, the studying of special subjects, or for projects of interest.

Movement

All bodies function better when movement is integrated into the daily rhythm. Find a time to get out and do things. This can be a walk, a run, an exercise activity, etc. For children, time directly after lunch to move around is ideal. This sets them up for being able to focus better once back at schooling activities. If going outside is not possible then work with exercise or yoga videos. If parents are able to participate in exercise activities with younger children, the children will be much more likely to engage in the activities. Parents are forever role models for their children. Now is the time to be optimal models!

Dinner

Dinner is the final fixed activity of the day. It ideally occurs daily at a regular time. This means that beginning to prepare it must also begin at a regular time. According to many traditional approaches to eating, it is best for our human body to eat by 6:00pm. This gives it 2 hours or more to fully digest the meal before sleeping. It is especially true for children as they are usually quite ready to eat a meal around 5:00pm. Whatever eating time is preferred, make certain to schedule the necessary prep time and readiness of ingredients. Encourage household members to participate in the cooking. This can serve as a bonding experience for all. Planning ahead can be done by making a weekly menu on a chosen day like Friday and doing the ingredients shopping on Sat. or Sunday. Another blogpost will be given to menu planning and simple healthy food choices.

Bedtime

While bedtime for adults is usually pretty straight forward, I would like to make a few suggestions for our present time so that we can support optimal sleep and minimize stress. Take the evening to relax. Try to avoid reading the news and thus worrying about what you can not control overnight. Set a time to retire, and if you enjoy reading in bed, have a book at the ready, one that is gentle on the psyche. Ideally it is a physical book, but if using a tablet, make sure the brightness is down and/or you are in dark mode. The light the screen emits can hinder melatonin production and thus the ability to experience deep sleep. Set a time to stop and then go to sleep.

For children, reading to them at bedtime is an amazing opportunity to both encourage the excitement of reading as well as foster for them a sense of peace and warmth. This can be done by choosing books that offer pleasant and positive stories and images.

And so, this is a possible day! Nothing complex, but rhythmical and ordered.  I will post some activities that might fill in the spaces left for work/school later. In times such as these, bringing this order into the household life can offer an amazing amount of stability. People know what to expect and what will be happening. They will be nurtured by good food and they will be engaged and busy so that minds cannot get the better of them.