FlyLady Evening Routine | Work and School at Home | Getting the Discipline Act Together During COVID-19

homeschoolingacademy.com

Your spouse is home. Your kids are home. You are home. All day, every day. Welcome to my world! But even those of us used to homeschooling and working from home are struggling. It's the responsibility of each and every one of us to do everything we can to halt the spread of COVID-19. Yes, we are being called on to sacrifice, to be uncomfortable, to be inconvenienced, to do the thing we think we cannot do. It is Lent, after all, and Christians are actually expected to carry our crosses! We give up things at Lent in order to rely more upon Jesus, to have more time for prayer, for thinking of others over ourselves. This year it's Lent on steroids!

Those who are lucky enough to have jobs that allow them to work from home should be at home during this pandemic. Nonessential businesses and all schools should be closed. Everyone ought to be hunkering down at home, only going out for necessary food, medicine and personal items--as infrequently as possible. Sadly, the option even to go to church is closed for many right now.

Making these drastic life changes requires self-discipline. Those not old enough to discipline themselves need to be disciplined by their parents. Let's see this crisis as an opportunity to finally get our ducks in a row. As I've been writing about, establishing good habits and regular routines is mandatory for survival right now; and one indispensable key to maintaining good health is enough sleep, and sleep of good quality. 

Let us add our next FlyLady tool to the collection. Being home means that you can be a bit more flexible with your time, and the temptation might be to stay up later than usual. Previously, I had made my bedtime 11:00, and I was to have screens turned off and be in bed by 10:00. However, I've been staying up too late during these strange times. 

So for your evening routine, make sure you are going to bed at a decent hour. Turn off the screens an hour before bedtime. Also take your children's phones and other gadgets away at a certain time. It's miraculous how much better my teenage daughter does her school work and chores when she knows she won't get her ipod back until those priorities have been accomplished!  

Take your Sunday as the day of rest it is commanded by God to be, and then have your plan in place to start your week off right on Monday. Determine your children's school schedule. Create a plan with your spouse so that you both shoulder the burdens of childcare, homeschooling, and work. If you're a single parent, ask for whatever help you need. Write it all down. 

Remember that you are the adult. You are the parent. You are responsible for what happens in your home--no excuses. We all have our unique burdens and situations, but no one has it easy right now, and likely many people have it far worse than you do. Put first things first. Do the next right thing. Have faith.  

“You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.' You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”
--Eleanor Roosevelt