CM

Feelings of guilt and regret plagued my mind and kept me from sleep last night.  I sought encouragement and motivation this morning and somehow that combination of events and thought patterns quite often lead me to anything written by or about Charlotte Mason.  Although a historical educator in a completely far-off century and era, it surprises me how often her theories and advice are still very applicable to the role of mothering and particularly mothering combined with homeschooling.  I am captivated by her simple yet profound approach to raising a well trained thoughtful child.  Her advice is direct and concise and literally manageable!  This excerpt is copied from a free e-book supplied by simplycharlottemason.com.  Simply inspirational!!

One At a Time

I love lists. I love the feeling that comes from checking an item off my list. In fact, sometimes if an item isn’t on my list, I’ll add it just so I can check it off. Sad, I know, but true.  I love my lists; however, sometimes lists can be my undoing.  If a list is especially long, I can feel the stress level rising. I remember one time I even threw away a list because it just looked too intimidating. I couldn’t take the pressure of it staring at me
from my desktop.  Habits can be like that. We moms have such grand ideas for developing habits in our children. But when we look at Charlotte’s comprehensive list (p. 43) we feel completely overwhelmed. It
just looks too intimidating, staring at us from that page. Before your stress level rises, learn this key point in habit training: one at a time. Charlotte instructed us, “The mother devotes herself to the formation of one habit at a time, doing no more than keep watch over those already formed” (Vol. 1, p. 136).
That’s it. One at a time.