Time for a new ritual: on Sundays, I’m going to spend some time reflecting on the week just gone, and the week to come.  I want to be a touch more thoughtful, more deliberate, more aware before the week is upon us.  I want to be clear in my own objectives and priorities.

Our weekly routine

What does this week hold for us?  

I think my main priority is routine and rhythm.  Last week wasn’t a good one for Bella in many ways.  We were only just settling in back at home after two months of caring for my mother-in-law, and we didn’t quite get things right.  I prioritised going out and seeing people because she was so lacking in peer interaction and outdoor time, and instead naps and our daily rhythm suffered.  I’m going to try to find the right balance this week.

That means that every day, we’ll be home by 12.45pm and heading for a nap by 1.30pm at the latest.  We’ve also had a bad few days in terms of the night time toilet learning, so I’m hoping that getting to bed at the right time will help her wake up refreshed and of sound enough mind to hold her wee until we get to a potty.

I’m also keen to make post-nap time more pleasant as I often struggle to fill the time left in the afternoon.  I have great plans to introduce afternoon tea, where we drink actual tea (and have all the fun of pouring!), eat some nice treats or light sandwiches, and chat about art.  I just got a set of the Usborne 50 famous paintings cards, and hope to be able to use them at that time.

And finally, I want to observe Bella more.  I did some of this last week, and there were some beautiful moments as a result, but I need to do more.  I’m setting the hopefully achievable goal of observing Bella for 30 minutes every day, ideally each time at a different time of day.  You can only follow the child if you know where the child is going!

Is anything special happening this week?

My homeschooling course is starting this week!  I’m really excited to be doing an 8 week Montessori homeschooling course.  The first week is about Routine & Rhythm so it’s even more important to me to focus on that myself this week.

Also, the Winter Olympics starts on Thursday!  My husband is a big sports fan, and I’m a big travel fan, so when you put us together, you get a crazy couple that plans to take their daughter to every Summer Olympics.  (The Winter ones don’t time well with school.)  That doesn’t mean we’ll ignore them – no, I plan to use it as a way to learn about sports, cultures, competitive activity, etc.  But I haven’t prepared anything yet, so let’s see what I can come up with!