Quiet Spaces….

November 26th, 2007

Our children are all born about 18 months apart.  They have basically done everything together their whole lives including sleeping in the same room.  Big news around here….we have just made the switch.  Our daughter now has her own girly room and the boys have “the boys” room.

In my own quest for making quiet space for myself daily, I have been thinking through how they can get their own quiet space as well.  Everyday we all have a few moments to be by ourselves.  This has become especially important now that they are not napping anymore.  They can think about their day, ask God questions (especially ones that I don’t have the answers for) read, act out stories with figures quietly etc. etc.. Basically anything quietly (no noise) in a room, by themselves. 

This month I began in earnest giving them all 20 minutes a day.  We are now up to 40 minutes a day and are working towards the hour mark by the end of the year.  The boys still grumble a bit on the way up the stairs but Chloe almost runs for her alone time.   Jackson is fine once he gets going and Hudson still calls out every ten minutes or so…”Mom is the timer off yet?”

So we work our way along together, honoring our time we share together and valuing our quiet time alone.  Small simple habits add up to big changes over time.   Every month we weed one “not so helpful” habit out and add one “challenging but beneficial” habit in.  It takes, time, patience, and consistency. 

So I have done it!  I have stopped making excuses about the layout or setup of our home, or the age of our kids, or how close they are in age.  I just decided I am willing to do this hard work because in the end it is worth it.  We will all be better for it.

Entry Filed under: Training Kids, Homeschool, Life