This summer at my house we have no vacations planned and no “staycations” planned…we don’t even have a bucket list written.
And that’s ok.
I love vacations, staycations, summer bucket lists, etc. and there is a time and place for all of them…but this year is not our year for those things. This summer we are doing something different.
Over the past few weeks I have had a heightened awareness that my family needs a different kind of summer and as I’ve thought about the needs of myself, my husband, and my children the last 4 words of an old saying keep playing in my mind:
The saying, that I’m sure you all know is “Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.” But it’s the last four words that I keep thinking about….
We’ve had a hard year…aside from the issues with my blood (which has turned out to be no small feat to tackle and will be an ongoing battle) we’ve had everything from walking pneumonia to bronchitis to countless bouts of the flu. Then we discovered that Grace (my six year old) has some serious struggles with reading and decoding…and we have continued on with our journey with Ruth (my three year old) and her delays in the area of speech and communication….along with other of life’s many surprises, struggles, and bumps in the road.
Not that this year has been all bad…because it surely hasn’t. In fact, it’s been quite the opposite…but when I start to combine all the wonderful with all the struggle I can see clearly the need for rest and reorganization….which is what this summer is going to be all about.
So my summer mantra is “Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise” and throughout the summer I will be sharing what we are doing to improve our physical, mental, and emotional health, what we are doing to reduce, reuse, and recycle to save money, and what we are doing to help all of us learn, grow, and get closer to reaching our various potentials.
I have a plan in place…and we’ve already started. It began with one little step…the first part of the saying actually: early to bed, early to rise.
For the past several months if I have gone to bed before 1 am I call it a good night…and that’s not so great. Not so great at all. So I set a fast 11:30 PM bedtime for myself. And no matter what is going on I need to be in bed by that time…so by 11 I need to be headed toward bed…no matter what.
And as far as mornings go…I’m not a morning person. At all. But, we are all up dressed, fed, and ready for the day by 8:15 now..even though it’s summer…and I would always rather still be in bed until at least 8:15 🙂 .
It’s only one small change….but I know that the small changes will add up..hopefully to something great. That is what I am counting on.
Over the next few months, here and on our Facebook page I will be sharing what we are doing. It won’t be anything ginormous or dramatic…just small changes, how we are doing, and the results as we work through my summer plan to become healthier, wealthier, and wiser.
Wish us luck!
-liZ
Wishing you great luck! I am so sorry to hear of the learning struggles for your girls. You will work through them all being a dedicated, loving, and wise mom. 🙂 I can’t imagine going to bed at 11:30! A late night for me is 10:30 and that rarely happens. I really believe in letting plans go and removing stuff from your list when you can. I am a busy mama also and prefer to have something to do–usually sewing in my free time. However, when my Etsy shop gets slow I embrace that and focus on other things. It is really slow now, but it is OK–we have a TON of outdoor remodeling going on! It all works out. We just need to remember to stop and listen. Wishing you a healthy, happy, and enjoyable summer!
Love this- except the health challenges. We’ve been out of school for less than a week and bedtimes have already slipped. Must try harder! (And just use the air conditioning since it takes hours to cool off upstairs)
sounds great.
I think we all have to much stress, to much plans, to much of everything in our lives.
To much clutter, too.
I hope you all will benefit from it the way you plan.
Good luck!
Beautiful post, liZ!! Looking forward to hearing how these small “investments” lead to wealth for your family… As for Grace, I wish we could “learn to read” together {that’s my love, and why I teach 1st grade!!}, and hope you’ll share her progress all along.
What an awesome plan. I look forward to your ideas (maybe I can use a few). Our house has felt chaotic for most of this year and it has been difficult trying to get back into some of our routines and now with summer those routines are off again. Time to out forth the effort and follow your lead!
Oh that sounds just absolutely WONDERFUL! Good for you.
Our Summer hasn’t officially started, and it is already filling up. I am longing for one where we can do what you are doing! It is so very necessary to recharge.
Our oldest is taking drivers ed this Summer, and that alone feels so very BIG.
How did that happen??!!
I am totally wishing you luck! Wish me luck too:)
I struggled with time when I first started being a SAHM. I soon found that sleeping in didn’t work for me or my household. If anyone else was up before me, then my day had started without me.The rest of the day was spent catching up. Read more:
http://www.thelostapron.com/2012/06/setting-the-tone-of-the-household.html
My older boys just finished early-morning Seminary class, and we’re all relieved to be not quite that early-to-rise anymore!
An ad for a resort keeps popping up on your motto graphic. I wish I were wealthy enough that going there would be wise. But I’m grateful to be healthy, and I hope your health improves. Have a good summer!
I think we are all TOO busy and need to stop and enjoy the beauty of our kids and home ! Enjoy your summer !
This is great. Interested to see what you’ve got to share.