Keeping it Simple

We are a family that don't really fit the mold.  

We are older parents.  

We homeschool.    

We don't desire more, more, more.

We try to be as natural as we can, whilst living in suburbia and needing synthetic insulin to keep one of us alive, and thus the rest of us sane.

And yet every single one of these decisions sits well with me.  

I've always felt like a square peg surrounded by round holes, so making some of these life decisions have taken no time at all.  

No soul searching.  More a kind of gut-searching, really.

Does this sit well with me?  

Yep.  OK then moving on , what's for dinner?

Nope. OK then let's not do it/stop doing it, shall we have pancakes for breakfast?

I believe in keeping life simple;  both for my child and for myself.

Routines sit well with us.  

Time at home just pottering around the garden or drawing or watching a bit of TV sit well with us.

There are many activities on offer for us and Frank as homeschoolers in our town and yet we have taken part in very few of them over the past couple of years.  Frank has shown a desire for lots and lots of down time at home.  Time to play Lego, draw, paint, dig the garden, make chalk art on the paths, wrestle and, my favourite, roll around on the floor kind of aimlessly, often under the table or a chair!

Or even, as below, pretend to be a statue with his teeny tiny toy seal (Snuggly).

These past two weeks have been unusually busy for us.  Frank turned six in July and has been expressing an interest in seeing his friends more often.   We catch up with other homeschooling friends fairly often and regularly take part in Craft Swaps and play dates.

Formal lessons have not happened yet but something in the changes in Frank over the past few months made me feel confident in booking him a place on a trampolining course at the local Leisure Centre.  

So, after some quiet chat about how it's good to try new things and how he likes bouncing on the bed and how his friends love the trampolining class and the teacher, Frank was ready to give it a shot.

 

He loved it!  

Maria, the teacher, is wonderful with the children; encouraging and funny and kind.

Then two days later, we hosted a pottery class here at home for Frank and six other children.

He loved it!

And the following day we took part in the introductory session for an Arts Award being offered to homeschoolers here in town.

He loved it!

So, three new sessions on top of two play dates this week and we are all in need of a little reflection:

did it sit well with us?

If all these activities were on every week then I can honestly say it would not sit well with me.  

However, with the pottery only being once a month and the art every two weeks, we can take the trampolining on board weekly and still enjoy our much-needed simple times at home.

Simplicity is always on my radar but more so than ever this week as I have signed up for a Simplicity Parenting e.course with Kathy over at Bliss Beyond Naptime.

And with a delicious serendipity the course starts on Monday 1st October, the day after I return from two days away at a yoga retreat in Suffolk (my first ever retreat of any kind, and I'm not even that great at yoga, I'm kind of nervous but soooooo need it).

So, here's to keeping it simple.

And breathe ...