What happens when your mojo deserts you?
How do you recharge yourself and get back on the right track?

I’d love to know what you do.  Right now I’m in a slump and I could do with some ideas and a cheerleader or two who has been here.  I understand that by the time the end of the year rolls around everyone is starting to feel the need to slow down, take a break and get back some of their energy.  I guess that this might be partly my problem.  But I think there’s a little more to my missing mojo.

This year has been host to the most time that I have had to solo parent two children* without a really good support network to let me have time off.  I don’t think a month has gone by when Mr Oh Waily hasn’t been away for at least a week of it, if not more.   As well as this, up until the end of October I was regularly running three times a week when I was hit with an injury.  Since then there has been minimal exercise carried out, a once a week weights & core routine with a PT has been it.

Adding to these external issues, is my lack of continuous forward planning.  Despite having some great tools, courtesy of Jo’s My Organised Chaos course, I have failed in recent weeks to set aside time each week for planning and getting things set out.  I have also found myself wandering away from my original Montessori leanings and focusing more on the “schoolish” formal teaching for Miss Oh Waily.

So in a nutshell here are my issues:

1. Tired, run-down parent.
2. Lack of implementation of planning time.
3. Excess focus on Miss Oh Waily’s formal learning**.
4. Not enough focus on Master Oh Waily’s learning^.

My intended solutions (so far):

1. Start exercising again.^^  This will bring the biggest reward.
2. Set aside a specific time each week to plan for the next week.
3. Re-read Tim Seldin’s How to Raise an Amazing Child to remind myself of why I want this for my kids.
4. Read the ebook Montessori At Home that I have just purchased to reinvigorate my activity creations.
5. Find a babysitter so I can get some time off to be me and not Mum for a little while.

Now it’s down to implementation.  Any other suggestions that work for you?

—
* My hat goes off to those solo parents who do this all year round.  You have my complete admiration.

**  It’s a thing about her turning 5, I’m sure of it.  A little switch has gone off in my brain telling me I need to be “schooling” her now.  😦

^ He is learning by osmosis mostly at the moment.

^^  I plan to try out my achilles heel when we return from visiting family after Christmas.  If it holds up I will start back on my running.  If it shows signs of being uncooperative I will look into going swimming as an alternative.