Monday, January 11, 2021

My Life Is Made Up Of Lesson Plans And Menus

 

I would have to say, I lived 2019 out of my Google calendar. It made sure I didn't forget any meetings, got my kids where they needed to be, and kept my life on track. 2020 was the year we didn't need a calendar because everything was cancelled. 2021 is a mixture of both years. We have a few things, but mostly a clear schedule. However, it's also brought a new phase in my life. One that's made up of lesson plans and food menus.

I'm used to planning activities for daycare and I always have an idea of what I'm going to serve each day. I've got 10 years of that under my belt. Yet, when schools closed last March and homeschooling began, the kids wanted things "like school." They wanted to see a menu and know their daily schedule. That ran over into the summer, when I discovered all of the kids did sooooo much better when they themselves could see what our day consisted of (likely because that's how it is in each of their schools).

Now, my life is all lesson plans and menus. Lesson plans for daycare, lesson plans for homeschool, lesson plans for our hands on learning. Menus for every day of the week, three meals and three snacks per day. An on-going grocery list that is added to throughout the week and picked up in our twice weekly grocery pick ups.

I have a new appreciation for teachers. Lesson plans have taken over my life. It's only now, at 4 months in, that I've gotten it together enough that I'm not busy every single night preparing for the next day or days ahead. It's one of the many changes 2020 brought. In the beginning, I had trouble programming myself so much, but now that I've done it for 10 months, it's become second nature to me. I've worked out a system that works for me/us, but our daily lives revolve around these plans and menus. When one day is done, another one is written. 

Some people are excited to spend time with groups of people. Then there's me. When life returns to it's new normal, the first thing I'm doing is NOT making lesson plans and menus for our life.