Intentional Anchors
No matter what you call them, we all have them and some of them are more "intentional" than others. Anchors. If you are curious exactly what I mean by "Anchors", keep on reading.
Anchors are the regular routines we have throughout our homes and lives. I am focusing on the anchors and routines inside my home, although there are routines at work, with family, at church and at school among others. The anchors I am exploring are the regular routines we have within our home. The predictability of the event or the traditions that help to "anchor" your home and family life.
One of the most basic anchors in my own home is the family dinner. This may seem silly, but it is one of the most looked forward to parts of my day for lots of reasons. Many things about it happen to be predictable as well. One of the things I can count on is that there will be nothing but conversation at the dinner table (meaning this is a no phone zone so just real people...talking) and at times this is the 15 minutes a day that the kids will completely Blarg (which is like "regurgitating") out EVERYTHING that happened that day in the world's quickest mash up of sentences. Lots of times they will drop all kind of bombs about field trips, class room jokes, teacher's personal lives, what their friends are saying and doing. You never know what you are going to get. This also means that sometimes there isn't much to say and it can feel like pulling teeth trying to get them to admit to or say anything at all. Another thing that is predictable about this, is the fact that in our home we do a NO TECHNOLOGY AFTER DINNER policy. This means specifically, no tablet time or video games after we have eaten dinner on a school night. Rough one in the beginning of trying to establish it as a regular thing, but now they are aware that once we eat dinner we may watch a short program on the ONE family tv, but likely we will send them to play, get ready for the next day, read or we will all do something together (think family Uno Butt Kicking). Because of the predictability though, they are aware it is upcoming and they know that they will have to find other options for entertainment once we eat together. Oh and this also helps with the bedtime routine, which changes drastically once the kids are late elementary and middle school aged.
This example is quite boring, I know, but it is one of the Intentional Anchors we put forth in our home. In reading about Intentional Anchors I have learned some valuable things that I am working on within the parameters of my New Year's Resolutions.
Part of setting intentional anchors within the home is keeping in mind that there is a difference between personal intentional anchors and family intentional anchors but that both of them involve doing things that "feed the soul". Anchored Women has a great article about the simplicity of a routine that can change the entire mood of your family, simply from being intentional in setting the routine. One of the things that Kayse said in her article, that truly spoke to me, was that not only did she need to feed her own soul but that she wanted to, "cultivate a home where her kids love to be." YES! I wanted to shout when I read that line. That is just how most of us feel I think, but I'd also like to think that there are lots of people like me who are running around trying to figure out exactly how to do that and mostly where in the heck do I begin???
One thing you probably don't realize is that you already have Intentional Anchors in place that help set up success in your home. Some people have a "tradition" of getting donuts with their children every Saturday. This is an example of an Intentional Anchor from a friend of mine. Her kids can depend on going for donuts every Saturday, which is super fun for them, but also when plans change, as they did recently, they could still honor their tradition AND have the opportunity to share it with people they love. About a week or so ago, my friend's father had surgery and was put in a rehabilitation facility to heal. When Donut Saturday came around, they packed up the kids and the donuts and went to the rehab hospital to visit and share with their Pee Paw (Grandpa) and their Great Uncle. Not only did they get their weekly donut treat, they were able to bring Joy with them to visit and share their treat with some loved ones. I'm sure the donuts were a nice surprise for these two gentleman but truly we know the visit was the priceless event for them.
Some family's have a Sunday brunch after church tradition or a first day of school ice cream tradition or a try a new restaurant once a month tradition and all of these are Intentional Anchors that help our home become more routine and stable for everyone inside it. We are all creatures of habit and change isn't easy, just try skipping Taco Tuesday or changing the evening routine one night a week on a whim, it throws the little's into a tailspin, but what we don't realize is that we adults thrive better in our routine as well and though we must "roll with the punches" a lot of the time in parenthood, we are more comfortable with predictability too.
I am working on trying to recognize some of my own Intentional Anchors that we already have for the family as well as determining the easy ways I can make some of the more mundane things seem a bit more fun too. I am also challenging myself to write down some of those things that help feed my own soul, in setting personal intentional anchors that will further my journey in "SHOWING UP" for myself this year.
If you are interested in knowing more about Intentional Anchors, read the article linked above or click on the link "Showing Up" and look for Journal 2, which will help you brainstorm some ideas on how you can begin to recognize these in your own home and set some new ones in order to "cultivate in your home a place where the kids love to be."
XOXO
Amy
Anchors are the regular routines we have throughout our homes and lives. I am focusing on the anchors and routines inside my home, although there are routines at work, with family, at church and at school among others. The anchors I am exploring are the regular routines we have within our home. The predictability of the event or the traditions that help to "anchor" your home and family life.
One of the most basic anchors in my own home is the family dinner. This may seem silly, but it is one of the most looked forward to parts of my day for lots of reasons. Many things about it happen to be predictable as well. One of the things I can count on is that there will be nothing but conversation at the dinner table (meaning this is a no phone zone so just real people...talking) and at times this is the 15 minutes a day that the kids will completely Blarg (which is like "regurgitating") out EVERYTHING that happened that day in the world's quickest mash up of sentences. Lots of times they will drop all kind of bombs about field trips, class room jokes, teacher's personal lives, what their friends are saying and doing. You never know what you are going to get. This also means that sometimes there isn't much to say and it can feel like pulling teeth trying to get them to admit to or say anything at all. Another thing that is predictable about this, is the fact that in our home we do a NO TECHNOLOGY AFTER DINNER policy. This means specifically, no tablet time or video games after we have eaten dinner on a school night. Rough one in the beginning of trying to establish it as a regular thing, but now they are aware that once we eat dinner we may watch a short program on the ONE family tv, but likely we will send them to play, get ready for the next day, read or we will all do something together (think family Uno Butt Kicking). Because of the predictability though, they are aware it is upcoming and they know that they will have to find other options for entertainment once we eat together. Oh and this also helps with the bedtime routine, which changes drastically once the kids are late elementary and middle school aged.
This example is quite boring, I know, but it is one of the Intentional Anchors we put forth in our home. In reading about Intentional Anchors I have learned some valuable things that I am working on within the parameters of my New Year's Resolutions.
Part of setting intentional anchors within the home is keeping in mind that there is a difference between personal intentional anchors and family intentional anchors but that both of them involve doing things that "feed the soul". Anchored Women has a great article about the simplicity of a routine that can change the entire mood of your family, simply from being intentional in setting the routine. One of the things that Kayse said in her article, that truly spoke to me, was that not only did she need to feed her own soul but that she wanted to, "cultivate a home where her kids love to be." YES! I wanted to shout when I read that line. That is just how most of us feel I think, but I'd also like to think that there are lots of people like me who are running around trying to figure out exactly how to do that and mostly where in the heck do I begin???
One thing you probably don't realize is that you already have Intentional Anchors in place that help set up success in your home. Some people have a "tradition" of getting donuts with their children every Saturday. This is an example of an Intentional Anchor from a friend of mine. Her kids can depend on going for donuts every Saturday, which is super fun for them, but also when plans change, as they did recently, they could still honor their tradition AND have the opportunity to share it with people they love. About a week or so ago, my friend's father had surgery and was put in a rehabilitation facility to heal. When Donut Saturday came around, they packed up the kids and the donuts and went to the rehab hospital to visit and share with their Pee Paw (Grandpa) and their Great Uncle. Not only did they get their weekly donut treat, they were able to bring Joy with them to visit and share their treat with some loved ones. I'm sure the donuts were a nice surprise for these two gentleman but truly we know the visit was the priceless event for them.
Some family's have a Sunday brunch after church tradition or a first day of school ice cream tradition or a try a new restaurant once a month tradition and all of these are Intentional Anchors that help our home become more routine and stable for everyone inside it. We are all creatures of habit and change isn't easy, just try skipping Taco Tuesday or changing the evening routine one night a week on a whim, it throws the little's into a tailspin, but what we don't realize is that we adults thrive better in our routine as well and though we must "roll with the punches" a lot of the time in parenthood, we are more comfortable with predictability too.
I am working on trying to recognize some of my own Intentional Anchors that we already have for the family as well as determining the easy ways I can make some of the more mundane things seem a bit more fun too. I am also challenging myself to write down some of those things that help feed my own soul, in setting personal intentional anchors that will further my journey in "SHOWING UP" for myself this year.
If you are interested in knowing more about Intentional Anchors, read the article linked above or click on the link "Showing Up" and look for Journal 2, which will help you brainstorm some ideas on how you can begin to recognize these in your own home and set some new ones in order to "cultivate in your home a place where the kids love to be."
XOXO
Amy
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