Rhythm of My Morn
This morning we’re embarking on a new chapter of our lives ~ not to be too melodramatic but Edie officially starts school this afternoon and after three years of homeschooling I’m feeling nervous and sentimental about embarking on this adventure.
I loved having my chickadees stick close to home, close to my downy belly able to just flop down and hide them at the first sign of danger (or coughing kid). I like not having to be anywhere at any particular time and having lunch being whatever is leftover from last night dressed up with what’s oozing over in the garden. Let’s just say Edie’s not seeing any fancy bento boxes in her near future.
I’m noticing how her going to school is making me feel super attached to this sweet morning flow we have that I have always attributed as a byproduct of homeschooling. Is this going to school business going to cramp our simplifying style?
So we’ve been having family meetings on how to simplify even further to accommodate this change and no cow was left sacred.
Literally. (I think I convinced him we should keep Daisy. You’re now talking to the new family cow shed mucker though).
But how to sustain that Little House on the Prairie cozy morning vibe without that crisis that always happens exactly 30 minutes into the show?
Reframe
Though milking the cow is a huge time sucker (ha, ha) I can view it as a morning ritual that is also my medicine that grounds me before I hold the space for my just waking family.
Milking gets me outside. I listen to self-help books while I do so (right now I’m listening to Steering By Starlight by Martha Beck ~ lovely!). I stare at the bugs weaving in the straw blades just inches below my nose. This ritual leaves me feeling more rooted to my surroundings and connected to our dreams of self-sufficiency for the rest of the day. Even as the vision may shift and morph as new family needs are introduced and explored.
Visualizing
I’ve been practicing how I want our mornings to feel. In moments of daydream I have been walking through the ritual of our morning; wake up times, enjoying my latte still though just an hour earlier, milking, breakfast making, lunch preparing, family smiling with their lips and eyes at the same time at each other and just tapping into that feeling of comfort and support as we (gulp) prepared to part ways for the day.
Prioritizing
Early bedtimes have just jumped the queue to the prime focus of the day. Both for the children and also for myself. In order for me to get my beloved morning work done, before I get to milk, and feel at my prime physically and energetically I need to get my nine hours sleep. Once this aspect becomes more of an engrained habit I will review what else may need to bumped up on the list but for now, mama gut is telling me this will help everything else fall more easily in place.
How has is the transition to your fall schedule going? Share in the comments below.
And heads up, I also offer some of these tools and more in my 10 Days From Crummy to Yummy Ecourse that you get for free when you sign up for my new newsletter list over there on my side bar! Long time subscribers get in there for I’ll soon be ceasing my Mail Chimp emails. Hope to see you on the other side of yummy!
WOW! How have I not seen your blog before? I like you. Can we be friends?
I hope we can share a morning latte sometime. So happy to have discovered you from the ROTH magazine. We just moved to the woods and I have two young boys that I’m starting to homeschool preschool this year…(or really continue what we’ve been doing…). I resonate and connect with so much of what you share here. Thanks for all you do! Very inspiring…xoxo -Shannon
So nice to meet you Shannon!! Love how ROTH connects so many like-minded mamas. I’ve met so many kindred spirits through there
Oh how I love “the little house in the praire feeling” Sometimes we have to catch it in moments.
“Letting go” of a child (letting them grow,a chance to try out new things on their own, and make new friends and learning experiences with peers) is not easy for a mama. Children need roots as well as wings.,
I hope hope that Edie loves her new school!
And the “crises” that are part of everyone days-yes ther are
rough parts of every day-there is always something-learn to go with the flow ( take care of the crises and carry on. Don’t let it ruin the day) Don’t forget if plan A doesn’t work to have a plan B….and so on. Mama’s need to have faith that things will work out ffor the best.Trust the universe.
Oh Lee, Lee, you of the wise words. I so needed to read that today. We should chat sometime; I would love to hear your voice! xo
Enough sleep is the key. It’s what got me through starting a new job whilst. It’s getting through the fight or flight until it becomes okay. It’ll work out
. Hope Edie had a nice time.
Kathy, you are so very pragmatic and fearless as you prioritize what’s most important for each member of your family (including you!), and your pursuit of health and balance for your crew is inspirational. I love the way you are digging in and meeting this new element in your lives with your eyes and heart open.
Second grade is a big shift around here too, and we are still homeschooling. I have these pangs that my daughter has “flown the coop” even though she’s still at home all day. She may be in the coop, but not under my wing as much, and spending more and more time ranging free. Which is as it should be.
Still, there’s me with the backward glance. Lately I find myself hanging out with her neglected Waldorf doll after bedtime, just me and Ruby, drinking wine, talking about the old times… I’m trying to let go of the past, to reach forward, and to be as pragmatic and fearless as you! I need a dose of yummy, so I’ll go get that as well, thank you very much. xoxo
Oh my goodness, I just about spewed wine all over Clara, our local neglected Waldorf doll, reading your comment. Funny! Thank you for the compliments about my fearlessness but I think had you seen me crying in the schoolyard yesterday morning….
The day turned out fine ~ beautiful in fact 
But I still wish my wing span stretched out all the way across the river but thinking free range thoughts (funny, we’re giving the chickens more liberty in this area lately as well). This time of year and this magical age; this is a rite of passage in many ways despite where they school at 
Hi there!
A few months ago we got a Dexter cow and calf. They have horns, yikes (!), but I still would like to milk her (well, them, once the little becomes mature and calves) eventually. Rosie, the mama, is quite friendly, but I’l still thinking I’d need to tie her up somehow and give her a little treat. What was your process or did your gal Daisy come to you already a milker? How did you design your milking shed? We need to build one. Our Guinea Hogs took over the last space!
Thanks for any advice!
Danielle
Hi Danielle ~ lucky you! Apparently having horns makes the milk more bio-dynamically charged! Just be mindful you don’t accidentally get poked (maybe corks on the end?kidding). We got Daisy as a milker already. I would recommend tie her up, definately, and get some grain handy. Tasty grain. We give her a half bucket of dairy text to keep her happy while I milk her and when she’s done that she licks Buttercup! It’s sweet. An excellent forum to learn all you’d want to learn (plus a handy dandy 911 service!) is http://familycow.proboards.com/index.cgi Have fun! xo
Wow! It sure is a big shift and I am sure you will navigate it beautifully. By spending time visualizing it and making adjustements, things will flow differently, but smoothly… See you soon!
Wheeeee!!!! Cannot wait to squeeze you