Ordering Your Life at The House!
Bill Stevens
April 2, 2020
You are now quarantined at the house with your spouse and children. You are required to work from home and simultaneously homeschool you children. How do you order you daily life so you don’t go crazy? The question actually sounds like something out of a survival book or a life or death situation board game!
Stephanie and I have actually been doing this for years, until the older kids were able to go to high school. So our adjustment has been very easy and following are some tips we have learned.
1. Remember the top priorities.
Love God, Love wife, Love children, do your God-given work.
This will help you remember, when work is frustrating to you, these other relationships take precedence over your work. So if you have a bad day at work, don’t take it out on your kids or spouse.
2. Sleep a little longer.
You can probably and should sleep longer if you can. You don’t have any commute or any distance to drive for lunch. Use that extra time for rest since the emotional stress of our national situation is going to be heavier than any other time. But when you get up, get dressed and ready for work like you would normally do. There is something therapeutic in this routine.
3. Homeschooling! Aggghhh!
Don’t fixate on the difficulty of homeschooling, because it is not as difficult as you might think. Of course if they are like trying to teach their ______ (insert grandparent’s name here) then you become more and more thankful for teachers! LOL!
Seriously, it takes less time than an eight hour day to teach your children at the house. Most of it can be done in half the time, especially if they are elementary age. Why? You are the teacher and you have to teach twenty-five children or your two. Which is going to take longer? #commonsense.
So use every moment to teach. Fun things Stephanie has done is read to them every day because there is power in hearing something read to you, use chocolate chips for math, make cookies for fractions, follow a recipe for learning to read and follow directions, and anything you may do normally in the house that you can use to teach them key principles.
Screen time? Documentaries are better than mind numbing junk tv. But hey! We all like chips and cookies too, especially during stressful times, so don’t be a madman.
Help them grow spiritually. Read the Bible to them daily and pray with them. The Jesus Storybook Bible is amazing or just reading from one of the Gospels like Luke or John which are very engaging.
4. Get organized with a place to work and a schedule.
This is imperative especially if you are both working from the house. You need a start time and an end of work day time. Work hard then “go home.” When work is over, walk away from it. Walk away from the texts, the emails, the meetings, everything. Go home and kiss your wife, and enjoy your family.
5. Enjoy your family.
They are not your coworkers, don’t treat them like they are. Your children are not an interruption but the gifts you prayed God would give you. Tell them you love them and hug them more, unless you are symptomatic! If you are quarantine yourself in a room and have them feed you quesadillas by sliding them under the door! Some of the best therapy you can give your children is just ordering your life well, being calm, loving them, pointing them to trust Jesus, and doing your work faithfully.
6. Plan a day off to Rest!
God gave us a Sabbath day to rest, rejuvenate, and worship Him. It was for rest and spiritual rest, not work, not everything else the world has to offer, but to rest. Your body needs it, your soul needs it, and you entire family needs to know how to get in good spiritual rhythms with God during these times.
