Note: This year I had a 10th grader (15yo), 8th grader (12/13yo), 5th grader (10/11yo), 3rd grader (8/9yo) and K-1 (5/6yo). Before planning next year, it’s best to step back and evaluate the past year. Often I’d rather just move on to the next thing, but if I want to make good decisions, I have to consciously choose to learn from my experience so far – and that means not only thinking about what I want to fix from this … 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. Last year I read a fascinating marriage book by John Gottman. His is not a Christian marriage book, but he does have a reputation as a researcher who can accurately, within minutes, predict divorce or not based on listening to a … 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. If you homeschool, you probably put a lot of time and energy into pulling together your curriculum and resources. So often, though, the best lesson of the day is not the one learned in the lesson plan, but rather the one … Read More
Welcome! I am Mystie Winckler, wife, homemaker, reader, writer, and classical homeschooling mother of 5. 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. Thank you for joining me. Do you ever feel like you’re going to go crazy? Of course you do. We all do. What should we do when we feel that way? Are there … Read More
Because I like to geek out on Myers-Briggs personality stuff, I hear some comments fairly often from those who probably just want me to stop. “I don’t have a personality,” they say. Or, “I used to be a feeling type but now I’m not.” I’ve even had people tell me they used to be extroverts but are now introverts. There’s one thing I know all Myers-Briggs sources say: Your basic personality type does not change. But that’s not people’s experience, … Read More
We’re smack in the middle of our “verdure” term, which is aptly named. The world outside is greening up and though we are all ready to wind up this school year, we are pushing through for strong growth ourselves in this “growing season.” One more week after this week of lessons for us, then a testing week, and then on to summer and school planning. #1 – As Christians, we can be more than resilient or robust – we can … 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 a fun one. Who doesn’t love a step-by-step program, right? The reality is that our organizational efforts will fall apart and suffer from entropy. That just means a time will come to jump in, pick up the pieces, … Read More
We might want life 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