We might want like to be like a box of chocolates, but in reality, it’s a lot more like laundry. Follow me here, because I promise I’m not trying to depress you. In fact, a great source of our frustration, despondency, and fussiness about our life at home is due to unrealistic expectations – false ideas about what it’s “supposed” to be like. We usually think about goals, tasks, and success in terms of accomplishments – things that are done … Read More
Welcome! We are Simply Convivial because we keep first things first and know that our attitudes, our hearts, set the tone in our homes and matter before God more than our to-do list does. Thank you for joining me. Today’s episode is one to let you know you are not alone and pass on a bit of wisdom I knew from my own mom and also heard from Cindy Rollins: Life with toddlers just is a muddle. Roll with it; … Read More
Welcome to the Simply Convivial Audio blog. I’m Mystie Winckler, a homeschool graduate myself now homeschooling my 5 kids who span first grade to tenth grade. Homemaking and homeschooling was harder than I thought it’d be, so I write and speak to keep my own head in the game and I hope it helps you do the same, too. Today’s episode is a reminder that we are not alone, we are not each our own islands and we shouldn’t pretend … Read More
Welcome to the Simply Convivial Audio Blog, where we learn to walk more and more in fruitfulness and faithfulness in the midst of the mundane. I’m Mystie Winckler, homeschooling mother of 5 kids who are currently 15 to 6, and I write and speak so that I stay thoughtfully engaged in my family duties, learn to love what must be done, and organize my attitude – and I’m glad you’re joining me. My personality type – INTJ – is sometimes … Read More
Another month in the books. March was not quite a whirlwind – more like a, well, march. We could maybe call it a trudge. We kept on keeping on, refusing to give in to the temptation to scrap the entire plan, eat chocolate, and forget about everything. So, maybe I learned a little lesson in perseverance. I guess. #1 – Spring was hiding underneath the snow. We had late snow and lots of it this year, with it still coming … Read More
Welcome to the Simply Convivial Audio blog! This is the place where we give ourselves a quick pep talk, preferably while doing a quick chore or two. After all, we want to stay engaged and alert, learning and growing, in our roles at home and in the world. While working to increase our engagement & attention, we might be tempted to squeeze every last bit of productivity out of our day, to the detriment of our attitudes, our minds, and … Read More
You know I’m a fan of index cards. They are light without being flimsy. They are the perfect size. I always have a stack in multiple places in the house and we use them for school, for brain dumps, and, yes, for getting organized. Index cards are a cheap and handy thing to have on hand as you learn how to organize your life. An index card organization system predates blogs and word processors. It’s a thing, and it works … Read More
Welcome to the Simply Convivial Audio Blog, where I share short, motivational pep talks I need to hear myself. Turns out homemaking, parenting, homeschooling is a harder gig than we anticipated, but here we are, determined to not grow weary in doing good but rather relying on the strength and grace of God to do our duty and even to stay cheerful. Thanks for joining me for this episode, where we will talk about a core concept and even a … Read More
Lunch is the mid-day reset. No plan survives contact with the enemy. -Helmuth van Moltke The perfect plan- set out in the morning, in the early hours before the house wakes up and the day rolls away from the station- never unfolds quite as I’d hoped. The lessons aren’t finished as early as I’d have liked, the house is a bigger mess. The phone calls I intended to make still linger in my mind and the laundry sits, complaining quietly … Read More
I’ve written for years now about interval planning, and it’s a concept I continue to practice and teach. At its heart, interval planning chooses goals and plans projects and works within manageable increments (6-12 weeks, usually) instead of short bursts (a week or month) or long stretches (quarters or years). Then, between intervals, time (a day or a week) is taken to step back, wrap up loose ends, and plan for the next stretch. The interval is for doing mode … Read More