Heavenly Mothers are Patient -Day 20

"Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; 

continuing instant in prayer;"

Romans 12:12

It is Monday morning. Yesterday, we took a needed break as a family by driving to a beautiful lake and launching our canoe. It was restful, peaceful and rejuvenating, it was a lovely time with my husband and children.

The only problem with leaving the home to get a needed break is all the work that you return to. The laundry piles were shockingly high, and although I had worked all day Saturday cleaning my room and bathroom, and putting away clean clothes, I hadn't made my way to the laundry room to work on diminishing the tower in there. 

It was totally worth getting away yesterday, but it requires extra patience to manage today. I spent some time yesterday evening, starting laundry and getting the kitchen cleaned up so that today would not be quite as frightful, but there is still a hearty amount of housework to be done today, as well as the regular schoolwork. 

One key to managing a big workload is remaining patient. If we can break the work down into manageable chunks and involve the children in both the schoolwork and the housework, we can get a lot accomplished and build relationships at the same time. 

Children don't mind working, but they do mind being yelled at, so it pays to stay calm and be creative when you are trying to get caught up.

A few quick motivators we have used to get through a long list;

Set a timer- setting a timer always brings out healthy competition in children.

Offer a reward- Enlist your children in a quick home clean up and make it fun by offering a reward. It might be playing a game together, or offering a fun snack, some stickers or free time.

Make work a game- One of my favorite work/play games with my children is playing store. When there is a huge stack of laundry to be folded and put away we often make our putting the laundry away into a fun game that also works on basic math skills. One child becomes the storekeeper and myself and the rest of the children are shoppers. We collect our clothes, pay the storekeeper and then proceed to put them away.

Reward yourself- One of my favorite things to do with my children is read aloud. It means I get to sit down for a while, and I love the closeness that it offers. So for me, getting some projects checked off my to do list is rewarded by some read aloud time, or if I need a big reward, a group reading time where we all read our own books.

As you manage your children today, I pray you can be patient, keep your cool and have fun with them.

For more Heavenly Mothering, click here