winter's rhythm

While talking with friends at the ice rink today the subject of family rhythm came up.   Why you may want to have a rhythm for your family, how to create one, and thoughts about what one might look like. I can see how each family has to look within to find what works for them and find those things that matter most. I know that establishing a rhythm for our family has been a key component to having a mostly peaceful home life. I like to have a daily rhythm, but also move with the seasons. A rhythm is not a schedule. Instead of something that you must conform to and that stays static, Rhythm breaths and flows and is alive. It is there to serve you.  Right now I am snuggling into our family's winter rhythm and enjoying all that it brings to us. Most mornings you can find me sitting with my two oldest kids on the couch reading a story to them or each of us may be reading to ourselves snuggled under a single blanket while John and the baby sleep in. When they get up I make breakfast while the kids empty the dishwasher and John makes a fire. We eat together and after breakfast I do about an 1.5 hours of a main lesson or a project with Jetta and Pilot if he is interested and then the kids go out to play while I nurse the baby by the fire and catch up on my reading. Everyone comes in for lunch and then most days we have a 30 min-1 hour rest time where everyone is in their bed reading, playing quietly or sleeping. The kids usually go out again to play until dinner when I have to drag them in from the cold. Some afternoons we have another lesson. Knitting, Piano, Painting or sculpting.  Before bed John brushes the kids teeth, reads them a story and tucks them in. We always end the day by saying "Sleep tight, see you when the sun is bright. All the angles and fairies will surround you. I love you."  We do have days where we have lessons or play dates that we fit into the schedule, but we work hard to not get too booked (though we are not always successful). Of course the winter activities like ice skating every Monday or taking a walk through the woods on Fridays make this time of year fun and exciting. It is cold outside, but it is warm by the fire. We are always exploring our world, but it is the rhythm of our family that brings us back home. The warm reassuring feeling of being home with a soup bubbling on the stove and someones loving arms to enfold you is at the heart of our winter rhythm.