“Getting organized” Part I, resources
Jen asked me for some nitty gritty details for getting “organized.” I appreciate her honesty in the request as I often take for granted that people don’t naturally think the way my type-A personality thinks. So I’m going to try to organize this in a multiple part series and see how it goes. First here are just a few resources that have helped me.
Jen mentioned reading “A Mother’s Rule of Life” by Holly Perlot. In fact I read that as well, a couple of years ago. I thought it was a good read, but overwhelming for me at the time. There were many points that I thought were great. Just attempting to come up with a daily and weekly schedule was helpful but it just didn’t last at the time. It’s becoming more doable and necessary now. Secondly, I very much took to heart that of course God comes first, spouse second and children third. It helped Adam and me to each constantly look for something to develop our spiritual lives. For better or worse, it has led us now to working in 3 ministries. I think we’ve always done a good job keeping the lines of communication open in our marriage. It helps that we have from 8 p.m. to our bedtime to be together to talk and/or do things we need to do individually. It has also led us to appreciate the time we have together either doing ministry or just having a leisurely date outside of the house. The third point that stuck was that we need to love our neighbors as ourselves which Perlot reminds us that as wives and mothers we need to take the time to take care of ourselves and re-engergize so that we can be the wives and mothers that God has called us to be.
Recently I watched a 6 part video series (that has an accompanying book) by Kimberly Hahn called Graced and Gifted. In it she breaks open Proverbs 31 for the modern day wife and mother. I like Hahn and I found a lot of what she had to say resonating with me in the here and now with our family. It challenged me to a little more structure than what we had but in ways that would utilized my time and energy better which I really appreciated. It was also a nice affirmation of how we celebrate the liturgical year in our home. Finally, it had some helpful hints in decluttering–which our home can use a bit of!
I just realized that both Hahn’s and Perlot’s work are both about bringing “order to your home and peace to your soul.” I suppose there’s really a market in the world for that! I know that I need it. 
Third, although I’m not a full blown Montessori mama like other folks out there, I have found many of the ideas of Montessori very helpful. The most helpful book I found for incorporating Montessori in your home is, “Teaching Montessori in the Home: The Pre-school Years.” It gave me a lot of good ideas of things the kids could do and the ages at which they could do them. It especially helped me to realize that the children can do work too; it just needs to be taught to them and accessible to them. Between this book and observing my friend Misty, I found I shouldn’t underestimate what the kids can do and how helpful they can be in contributing to family life.