If there isn't a solid plan for any given day, I would just run around taking care of "urgent" needs, not the important ones. Knowing how important it is the tend to my heart, that's the first quest for my day. Otherwise, I would wake up running. It doesn't take long for children to get into the habit of yelling, "Mama!" and I go running. It may be urgent that a lunch needs to be made quickly for one to get out on time, but it's more important for her to learn that she can make her own lunch and plan her time wisely to do that. A stinky diaper usually falls under the heading of urgent and important, but if I'm in the middle of a very important math lesson, it may have to wait for five minutes.
I used to be more guilty of this than now. A few years ago, Ray asked me to stop running in the house. I couldn't figure out what he meant until he told me that I was often running from room to room. I always had bruises on the top of my legs from running into tables because I didn't slow down enough to know where I was going next. The girls sit in different places of the house to do school and I'm often working in the kitchen and laundry room, so I would rush to get things done - hence, bruises on my legs. It isn't urgent for me to run to the next child at her every call, she needs to learn to wait patiently for her turn and to work things out for herself.
My girls are really pretty good about this now. I'm sure with more small children, I would probably still struggle with running in the house. As it is now, on my daily schedule, I wrote in a specific time for each of them so that I would make sure to take care of any needs they have. It's important for them to have time with me, it just isn't always as urgent as it seems.
Besides homeschool, there are many other urgent things that pop up. Ray needs for me to do things, the phone needs to be answered, a friend is dropping by, there is an opportunity to do something fun. Those are all good things and can be providential interruptions that God will bless, but they can also mess up the important things that God has called me to do. So I have to balance the interruptions with my schedule.
How does that happen? A lot of give and take on every one's part - we're a big family, there's a lot of give and take on everything. Ray tries really hard not to interrupt school mornings with requests and I try not to let too many things distract me. If I keep to my daily schedule our day flows more smoothly, I get more school and chores done and everyone seems to accomplish what they need to.
I've worked harder lately to purposely schedule ahead of time fun activities, date nights, out of town visits to family and ministry related opportunities. When those things are on the calendar, I don't feel guilty when I have to say no to other great opportunities. Every once in a while, something shows up that I can't or wouldn't say no to. My sister was in town recently and was able to stop by. Since that's such a rare occasion, I put a halt on everything to visit. It was a day that we had done what we were supposed to do in the beginning of the day and it was nice to know that I could visit without feeling guilty about all of the other things that hadn't been done. I was thankful for the time to visit with her.
There are times when I am called away to the phone or other places for long periods of time. The girls are big enough to carry on in school for a day or so without me. They know how to feed themselves, watch Abigail, get their school work done and do their chores.
With more small children urgent things seem a lot more important. Dumping milk at the table may be an urgent need to take care of in the middle of a meal, but it may not. It seems to me that it would be impossible to continue through teaching long division if there was a small child wailing in another room or running out the door. So, having small children the urgent needs will come hurling at you more, should I say - urgently, but recognizing and acting on the important ones as you can makes your day run more smoothly.
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