:: Meals Plans and Rhythm in the Home ::

Weekly Rhythm :: The Meal Plan

One simple way to help make the week flow with ease is the meal plan. The meal plan makes it easy to shop, plan and prepare meals. It also makes a great fall back during busy and stressful times. 

A meal plan can make all the difference in daily life. When I have a meal plan and use it, I don't have to think about what to make for dinner each day. I've already decided. I've gathered ingredients and been inspired by what I have on hand in drawing it up. Less worry and more time.

A meal plan means we eat healthier food. When I sketch it out, I look at the vegetables we have in our garden and from the farmers market. Our Minestrone at this time of year is entirely made of home grown and local farm vegetables: onions, garlic, carrots, celery, potatoes, cauliflower, tomatoes, broccoli and sweet peppers, rosemary, thyme and oregano. The last bits of basil from the garden garnish it.

The applesauce is made from the apples we just picked. The spicy greens are what's growing best in the cooler weather here. The epazote in the beans is from the garden. If you know of other uses for it, I'd love to know, I have two bushes of it, hanging on, in the garden.

One of the other, unexpected gifts of the meal plan, at least for me, is in reflecting on how much local food we are eating and identifying how to bring in more of it. It also helps me plan what to grow int he garden.

A meal plan is flexible too. If by Saturday, leftovers are too plentiful for our lunches, we'll eat them for dinner and out off the Shepard's Pie.

This week we are talking about meals and meal planning in my online eCourse for October, When Less is More :: 31 Days to Rhythm for a Calmer and More Peaceful home, also known as Rhythm Boot Camp. Click here for more.

If you use a meal plan and would like to share it, please do so in the comments below, or leave a link to your blog where you have posted it for others to see.

Celebrate the Rhythm of Life 

Harmonious Rhythms ::   Soulful Parenting with the 3C's :: Waldorf Homeschooling

Do You Struggle with Rhythm?

If you are struggling with rhythm, there is hope, support, community and inspiration with:

When Less is More 

31 Days to a Calmer and More Peaceful Home Life

~ rhythm boot camp

:: October 1st to October 31st ::

In response to the queries I am receiving, yes it is still possible to join the Rhythm eCourse. It is also possible to work at your own pace through the eCourse. Folks are still signing up. If you are thinking about it, it's a good time to join and jump in while we are still in the first week if you want to experience the energy of the group.

A few questions for you if you are on the fence about it:

• Do you struggle with Rhythm?
• Is Rhythm one of those mysterious things that you just cannot seem to grasp?
• Are you a Waldorf inspired homeschooler struggling to structure your day?
• Are you wondering what to do with your child each day?
• Do you fall into bed exhausted at the end of the day?
• Do you wonder how Waldorf kindergarten teachers seem so calm and manage to sing through the day and knead dough, bake bread, chop vegetables, make soup, color and paint with children every week?
• Would you like to bring harmonious rhythms to your home or to the children you care for?
• Is there more you want from each day but cannot find the time for?
• Do you sometimes look at the clock and panic because you have no idea of what to serve for dinner?
• Are you struggling with tired, hungry and cranky children while you are making dinner?

Welcome to Rhythm ~ the life force that sustains each and everyone of us every day, every week, every month and every year.

Before we had electricity, lights and heat available at the flip of a switch, people lived in harmony with nature's rhythms. We slept at night and worked in the light of the day. We chopped wood, carried water and kindled fires. The stars guided travelers. Food was only available when it was ripe locally or simply preserved. We lived in the rhythms of the natural world, deeply connected and carried along through the year without conscious attention. It simply was the way to do things. Habit.

We deeply felt the earth's rhythms through the day, the months and all through the year people celebrated significant turnings in the wheel of the year. The stirring of the seeds. The flowering. The harvest. The going in.

Nowadays, we can flip a switch and experience light and heat. We no longer live in the rhythms of nature. With all our connectivity, we have disconnected from the rhythm of life. 

Yet we are rhythmic beings and when we find our way into a rhythm that flows for ourselves and our families, we find harmony, peace of mind, inspiration for new endeavors and time to take up activities that deeply nourish our families and ourselves as parents. We can bring rhythm into our lives with conscious attention.

Our children need rhythm. Children thrive when their life is rhythmic. It is so healthy and nourishing for children to live a predictable life. Rhythm supports the healthy development of the child, of the senses, the emotions, the ability to play and the ability to transition from one activity to the next. Rhythm supports family life and the household. Rhythm helps us breathe when we are frustrated and nourishes us to be healthy by carrying us along when we need it .

Valentine Heart from Here

What we take up in the eCourse:

• We'll explore what is rhythm and look at sample rhythms of the day and the week.
• We'll look at rhythm as the basis of early childhood in Waldorf education.
• We'll look at what gets in the way of rhythm.
• We'll look at how you can make your rhythm flow through the day.
• We'll look at how rhythm can help your child be more imaginative, playful and creative.
• We'll look at how meals can be healthier and more pleasant with rhythm.
• We'll look at ways to bring children into the daily tasks of the household.
• We'll look at peaceful bedtimes and restful sleep that come out of a healthy rhythm.
• We'll look at the rhythm of housework
• We'll look at how rhythm makes transitions smoother.
• We'll examine how a strong rhythm supports homeschooling.
• We'll look at how a strong rhythm makes home a sanctuary for the school child.
• We'll look at how to put together a rhythm that works in your life.
• We'll finding a starting point and implement our own rhythm and build on it over four weeks.
• We'll look at how rhythm supports daily life with children and helps us carve out time for ourselves.
• We'll look at breathing and healthy rhythm.
• We'll have daily reminders and enthusiastic support.

Most of all, a good rhythm helps you to be more present with your child, with yourself and in your life.

This eCourse gently guides you to the place of finding your own rhythms. 

The fee is $ 25 

Sign up here

Celebrate the Rhythm of Life 

Harmonious Rhythms ::  Parenting with Soul :: Waldorf Homeschooling