Death by Appointment

Posted by Jenny | 0 comments

Everything always seems to be running smoothly until I open my planner to reveal… an appointment. I don’t care if it’s ice skating lessons for one of my children, the doctor or the dentist. I seem to always have the same problem— getting there on time. It’s hard enough just getting myself ready, let alone several of my kids. And when we have to be somewhere it usually gets stressful, such as one of them can’t find one of their socks or a baby is crying when I have one foot already out the door.  Sure it’s fun filling up my calendar: lunch at noon on the 13, we’ll be there! Teeth cleaning at 3 o’clock on the 20th, no problem. Science class this Friday, exciting! But when the time comes to actually go to these appointments, I’m not as excited as when I made them.

One time, I had all 7 of my children with me on our way to the dentist, because my two, older ones had an appointment. I of course was running ten minutes late; turned into the dentist’s parking lot on two wheels, and pulled in front of the building with a screeching halt. I put our truck in park, looked back at all of my children in our Suburban and yelled, “Hurry and get out!” We unbuckled ourselves, the older ones helped the younger ones, and our feet hit the pavement in record time. We all ran in the front door, I tripped over the foyer rug and out of breath exclaimed, “The Pentons are here for their appointment.” The receptionist peered at us over her glasses that were on the tip of her nose, then her appointment book, and looked at me with pity and said, “I’m sorry honey, you’re here too late for us to take you. We’re going to have to reschedule.”

Well, I don’t need to tell you how that effected my day. It’s amazing how even one appointment can be the death of me. Combine that with all my children’s activities and we’ve got chaos! Keeping my children busy and active in the homeschooling community was something I did because I wanted to be plugged-in to all the science projects, field trips, and sports. I thought that was how I was supposed to take care of my children’s education—by being submerged in all the activities. Keeping busy felt frazzled, which I thought at the time, was a good thing. It seemed the busier I kept us in life, the more successful they would become.

Children’s hectic schedules are hot topics everywhere I go and they are talked-up in such a positive, almost arrogant sort of way. At my son’s football games, my daughter’s ice skating lessons and even the dentist. Homeschooling your child definitely does not make you immune to an over scheduled life. There is so much out there to entice you and so many homeschool groups to join, that if you don’t stop and think—you are going to be running to gymnastics, piano, a writing class and be leader of a local homeschool group with one blink of an eye! And you won’t even know what hit you. And not to mention, all the appointments you need to keep, such as doctor visits, dentists and grocery days.

A light bulb went off one day and it became clear to me that I didn’t want to be a part of that busy life any more. I wanted to go back to living and enjoying life, unhurried. Of course that doesn’t mean that I took my kids out of everything, and we never go anywhere. We go and do things all the time, just more at our leisure than by appointment. For us, when we are just running errands, going to the library, or visiting a museum, we learn more and enjoy each other’s company. The mistake was made when thinking they were not going to learn anything unless they were in a structured, learning atmosphere. They do not need to dabble in a hundred different things to be well-rounded children. On the contrary…a relaxed life with time to read, listen, and play, without stress, is what we can take advantage of as homeschooling parents and that is what creates a calm, well-rounded child.

We now focus on that one thing, each child wants to put their energy in. Those kinds of activities I don’t mind doing. They have true purpose. God wants us to live life to the very fullest. I’d rather we all do one thing at full potential, than a dozen things mediocre.

Being free of an over scheduled calendar allows us to learn about ourselves without the interference of time restraints. There are the appointments in life that we must do and keep, such as the dentist. But as far as activities and my children are concerned, I want to be focused on the ones that creates purpose and meaning, rather than always being frazzled to… death by appointment!

“Live each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each.” Henry David Thoreau

Jenny Penton is a homeschooling mother of seven children and loves the closeness that being home with them provides. Un-schooling is how they live and learn and she blogs about their learning experiences at Homeschoolingbelle.com. Jenny also has a passion for inspiring women to become master life planners and that includes menu planning. Check out her sites for life planning and her inspiring recipes on her food blog at plannerperfect.com and plannerperfectmeals.com