Making Space for Margin

If you’re going to be out & about finding inspiration everywhere, you’ll need to also plan for plenty of margin and downtime.  For our time together homeschooling to feel whole and stable, we need to have activities that put us out into the world and others that gather us back in.

Sometimes we think that if a little of something is good–fieldtrips! co-ops! activities!–then a lot will be even better.  But balancing our active days with quieter ones actually reaps healthier growth.  In my work I’ve noticed that I’m much more engaged when there’s variety–daily tasks with more creative work added in.  Quiet days at home, held by a strong rhythm, give everyone the chance to process what they’re learning and experiencing.  And making a plan for rest means that down days don’t take us by surprise and throw off our plans.

Mystie Winckler from Simplified Organization differentiates between margin and rest.  She says we would do well to include more time in the schedule for each activity.  This helps create a little buffer for the unexpected…that really, if we have children, should be expected!  But then she also suggests scheduling specific times for rest and renewal–time to regroup and process and get filled up.

I like to think of the in breath and the out breath.  Time for quiet reflection and boisterous activity, the gathering in and the flowing out.  Breathe in, breathe out.