more on routines

After my discovery that I WILL have to make a schedule and stick to it (not just a loose collection of thoughts in my head) I hauled out my homeschooling 'helpful' books and started to ponder how to keep it all together. I came across these thoughts and thought I would share them with you, my fellow routine-challenged friends. (Well, maybe not all of you are routine-challenged as I am, maybe I'm ADD or some other label that accounts for my desire to not get locked into the same thing over and over and over and over and over..............)

from "Educating the Wholehearted Child" by Clay and Sally Clarkson

The Invisible Energy of Routine

In the same way that there are universal laws that govern your home universe, there are also invisible powers in that universe that hold everything together. In the physical world, subatomic powers keep everything from flying apart (actually, God does, but you get the picture). In the home universe, the invisible power that keeps everything from flying apart is called routine.

Routine is simply a habitual pattern of living created by effort applied regulalry over time. Once a pattern of living is established in your lifestyle and schedule, it becomes an invisible, self-generating force to hold part of your home universe together. The more you harness the power of rountines, the more energy you will generate to apply to other areas of your home. However, if ignored, routine energy rapidly dissipates, and the elements within the home universe begin to disintegrate at rapidly increasing rates of decay. When that happens, even greater amounts of time and effort are needed to regain stability.

The laws of routine are well-established:

• The Law of Routine - For every action taken to establish routine, there is an equal and similar reaction generating greater amounts of routine energy.
• The Converse of the Law of Routine - For every action not taken to establish routing, there is a corresponding decrease in total home routine energy.

All that to say that it takes a lot less energy to live with established routines than it does to live without them. If your children see you establishing routines in your own life (devotions, exercise, house clean up), they will be more likely to imitate you example in their own. And remember, you are the one who will create the routines for them (Bible reading, home0school assignments, cleaning up room).