One of THOSE Weeks or, Who Made that Rule, Anyway?

I sometimes write about the weeks that make my spirit soar, the kind where I want to put my kids up as the poster-children for homeschoolers as the most intelligent, gifted and obedient that ever there were. 

This week, not so much.  There was frustration, dilly-dallying, schedule upsets, tears, playdate disappointments, and kittens playing under and around the kitchen table, providing so much distraction that nothing could get done in an efficient manner. 

Is it them (i.e. my kids), or is it me?  I have to think about this for a second okay I thought about it. 

It's me.

Why?  It all boils down to discipline.  For myself, that means getting to bed at a decent hour, getting up before the children, having my quiet time, scheduling clean-up time, not planning too much or allowing others to disrupt our school time.  For the kids, it means me insisting on boundaries for media, me reminding them to finish their chores, me insisting on first-time obedience and cheerful attitudes. 

The old expression, "If Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy" is so true.  The same could be said for, "If Mama ain't organized..." or "If Mama ain't self-disciplined..." or "If Mama ain't prepared..."   So often we tend to expect of our children what we won't demand of ourselves, with the excuse that we made a rule, so they need to follow.  No.  If we are not able or willing to meet our own expectations that we set for ourselves to have an organized home, good meals on the table, or even to just get a shower before the kids rouse for the day, we cannot expect the same level of discipline to magically appear in our children. 

Self-control is one of the fruits of the Spirit.  It seems sometimes to be on the highest branch.

So, here I admit, I've been slacking.  Allow me to direct you to a delightful blog entry written by a gal on a forum that I like.  Her post hits home to me, and next week's school time will hopefully look different from this week's if I heed the wisdom here...