Happy autumn, friends!
What a week it’s been! We went from record-high temperatures earlier this week to real fall weather today: mid-50s and rainy. The girls and I are bundled up in cozy sweats with all the windows open — and we couldn’t be happier.
With the arrival of a new season, I tend to get a bit reflective. Instead of choosing a “word of the year,” I pick a new word every three months. During our summer break, I focused on the idea of rest: separating my idea of self-worth from the number of tasks I get through each day. Instead, I focused on growing our deck garden, reading books, watching movies, and doing puzzles every week.
Now that I have taken time to rest, it’s time to think about a new focus. I decided on the word build for fall. My younger daughter has gotten really into LEGOs lately. She is constantly working on a new build while I read aloud every morning. Her new passion is a great metaphor for me during this season of life:
- start small
- work consistently
- and don’t be afraid to take risks
The great thing about LEGOs is that they can be rearranged and made into something new at any point.
The three things I want to build this fall: habits, emotional intelligence, and stronger relationships.
- HABITS: Our new school year is going incredibly smoothly so far. I think it’s in large part to the habits and routines we’ve built over the past ten years of homeschooling. There are a couple personal habits I want to work on over the next few months, namely going to bed earlier (!!) and prioritizing family time every evening. I will likely ask my kids which habit they would like to develop during this season as well.
- EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE: On the one hand, I LOVE fall weather. On the other hand, the lack of sunlight can really wreak havoc on my mental health, if I’m not prepared. I want to start a journaling practice, so I’ve committed to reflecting and writing for about 15 minutes every night before I go to bed for the next few months. I’ve also chosen one specific emotion I’d like to target during the fall months: PEACE. I want to cultivate a peaceful attitude, concentrate on a peaceful speaking voice, and encourage my family members to speak peacefully to one another.
- RELATIONSHIPS: We are an emotional bunch here, and sarcasm is our primary language. There have been a lot more hurt feelings over the last few weeks since we started school, so I want to reset the family culture a bit. We’ve started preparing our meals together, listening to audiobooks in the kitchen while we chop veggies, brown meat, and make our side dishes. I think I’ll order a few more puzzles for our cozy nights — to go along with our fall read-alouds.
We’ll also be making our fall family activity list this weekend: fresh apple pie, pumpkin patch, nature walks, raking leaves with our neighbors, maybe another camping weekend or two? Let me know what your family likes to do every autumn by commenting here.
What new fall habits would you like to build?
Tell us about it in the comments below!
