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It is assumed by most families that washing clothes is a non-stop activity and that hampers and bedrooms are always full of dirty clothes. It is also the norm for mothers to spend weekends running around town looking for a new boy's shirt for this and girl's skirt for that, a pair of shoes for this other activity and so on. This clothing mess has to stop--Christian families don't have time for this. We have to think. We have to read. We have to pray.
The problem is not clothing, though. It's scheduling. Families are doing too many things and that leads to a chaotic life that no one could ever hope to manage. The activities are decided upon at random, as they come up week by week or day by day. There is no schedule or routine but Mom runs around like a firefighter putting out every new fire that pops up. This really needs to stop. We need to get control of our lives, establish priorities and do fewer things--but do them better.
God does not want Christians running around like chickens with their heads cut off. We are supposed to be a people marked by meditation, prayer and depth of mind. There must be time for peace and quiet. There must be time to pray and study. This is supposed to be one of the benefits of Christian home-schooling, but very few families achieve it. Home schooling become little more that parent-managed chaos instead of school-managed chaos. Take control of your life and simply or you're going to be poor and shallow.
In a Christian home school, there needs to be a routine schedule that makes the home resemble the monastery--which, after all, is seeking the same goals. There should be time for prayer. Time for studies. Time for work. Time for eating and resting. These times should be ordered prudently so that the objectives of these activities can be achieved efficiently.
When the schedule is rightly ordered, clothing becomes very simple. Because the schedule is well ordered, the clothing needed for each different activity is known and clothing can be changed when times call for movement from one activity to another. Shirts don't get pulled off in a frantic to rush from one activity to the next, and the next, and the next. School clothing gets taken off and hung up so that work clothing can be put on. After work, work clothing gets hung up (it's OK if it's dirty...it's work clothing) and school clothing goes back on. School clothing doesn't get dirty, no clothes are on the floor, and much less clothing is needed. In fact, your children can take care of their own laundry once their life is well ordered.
If a child has 2 or 3 shirts and 2 or 3 pairs of pants for school and 2 work outfits, they can learn to wash and dry one (on a clothesline) while they wear another. There won't even be much need for a big family-size washer and dryer because smaller hand-washable washings will be all that's necessary. You can afford better clothing because you'll be buying far less--and it will be better taken care of.
However, the clothing mess can only be eliminated when the schedule is in order. If you'd like to learn more about scheduling, read or listen to my article "How To Create a Schedule". You may also want to look at our sample Home School Schedule for CLAA families. Both are available on the CLAA homepage.
God bless!
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