I hate change. There. I said it. I’ve uttered those words many, many times in my life. Many, many times this last week, in fact.
This last week has been a very exciting, yet mentally draining, week of changes. My oldest completed elementary school, entering the big bad world of middle school. My youngest, my baby, graduated from kindergarten. I can no longer call him a baby. And he actually got embarrassed when I gave him a hug at school this week!
The completion of this school year marked the end of our time with the public school system, at least for a season. It marked the beginning of a new phase in our lives. That of homeschooling.
Yesterday marked the end of our time with a church that we love. When we moved last year, we moved too far away from our home church to be as involved as we like. Though it’s not goodbye forever, it marks the end of our regular fellowship at the church where my husband and I met. Where we married. Where my children and I were baptized. Where my kids accepted Jesus into their hearts. Lots of good memories, for sure. We’ve settled on a new church home, which I’m excited about, but I know it will take time to develop relationships there and get used to the differences between the old church and the new.
But in the midst of all these changes, in the midst of mourning for what will never be the same, I realize that the future is exciting. As hard as it is to move on, change is necessary for us to keep growing, to keep dealing with new curveballs that life throws at us. And the future is exciting, full of new opportunities and experiences.
So that’s the fine line I’ve been walking this week. That between looking back at fond memories and looking ahead at an exciting future.
And this week I need to face how to handle changes on this blog. Don’t worry. I have no intention of quitting. I love blogging too much. But our little homeschool will be starting in a couple of months, and I have to be realistic about what I can handle and what I can’t. So I have to prioritize my efforts and cut back in some areas.
Right now I do know that I will be dropping my reviews and deals pages. I may still occasionally do reviews or post deals, but I will incorporate them into my main blog, in addition to regular posts. Up in the air is what to do about the forums. They’re pretty slow, so I’m considering dropping them as well.
Beyond that, I need to settle on a posting schedule that works for me. I think that’s going to be trial and error through the summer and into the first month or two of homeschooling. I’m going to be in and out of town a lot this summer, especially this month, so you may find that my posting frequency reflects that a bit.
I also need to figure out how to incorporate posts about homeschooling into a blog about frugality. And I need to figure out if I want to expand the scope of my blog to include things like being frugal with time, as that will likely become very important to me in the coming months.
So that’s what’s on my mind this week. I’d love to hear any ideas you have, particularly about expanding the scope of Being Frugal.net. I’m excited about the future of this blog. It’s definitely going through some growing pains right now, as I go through my own growing pains. But that’s OK. The future is exciting!
Photo by jdl_deleon.
{ 14 comments }
I like change– in moderate doses. It is an opportunity to go to the next level and open new doors. I made some big changes this weekend:
1) Launched another site DaddyCooksQuick.com
2) Recommitted to personal fitness
3) Made a decision to change a big aspect of our life
Change needs to be embraced . . . as Les Brown says, “Better fasten your safety belt when you go to the next level– it is going to be a rough ride!”
DDFD at DivorcedDadFrugalDad.com’s last blog post..Getting Back in the Fitness Groove
What about guest bloggers at your approval to lighten the proverbial load?
If you do not already use them, you may find a calendar (or two) very handy for knowing “what comes next.” Transitions take time, but things will settle down. To your children: Congratulations! and enjoy the summer and on to new adventures.
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Lynnae, I will happily tell you that you will need a few minutes to yourself in the morning before you start *school* Drink a cup of coffee or tea, and post a bit. You can also set aside an hour or so in the evening to blog. The other thing you can do is on the weekends write 3 or 4 blog posts in advance! It’ll make it easier if you do have a day that you are just too busy to post.
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I love your blog, so I hope you manage to continue it. I know homeschooling will be a challange but I am sure you and your children will make the most of it.
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Oh, I so understand about hating change! So painful to get through it but one thing I’ve learned over the years is that eventually the “change” will become something you don’t want to ever change. And so it goes – life changes us and we go with it.
@Denise – No worries. I’m definitely continuing the blog. I just need to prioritize, so I can work it into what I know will be a busy schedule.
@Carrie – Morning time will definitely be important. I’m worthless without the morning coffee. I find I’m not really creative in the morning though, so I’ll probably have to write posts at night or on weekends, like you suggested. I mostly write at night now anyway. But I do all the techy stuff during the day, and that will need to change.
I think you can easily incorporate other frugal topics such as homeschooling and time management. I love to read blogs where people are real and they blog about topics that are important to them at the moment. I know with another child coming sometime in the next month or so, I will definitely need help in the frugal time category. Being frugal isn’t always about money – we still have to live our life’s as God has set out for us.
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Hey Lynnae,
I know what you mean about change – I don’t like it either. As a pastor’s wife, we’ve moved many times and every time we had to leave behind one church and get to know another one, it was sad but fun to make new friendships too. We have kept in touch with many of our old friends from past churches. Maybe you can do that too.
We also homeschooled our youngest daughter for 1 1/2 years – it was a challenge but it was the best thing for her in many, many ways.
You’re in my prayers!
Change can be a good thing. My Dad actually had a saying that: ” All you can expect in life is change”. I grew up in a very rural part of Tennessee.Everyone in my family had lived in the same area for generations. We had family traced back to the 1790′s who had come to the region.
I was one of the first to move far away. I lived on the East Coast, and now California. I had no idea what metro areas were like, It was really scary. I became acutely aware of economic and social disparity. I learned what it was like to compete with lots of other people. At the same time I learned about people from other countries whom lived there, about other religions, other types of food and people with many different opinions. It really opened up my world and let me see a bigger picture.
It also made me appreciate what life was like back home and to recognize many of the things I simply took for granted, such as affordability, people who were more friendly and of course the regional Southern food you can’t get anywhere else.
I don’t love change either. But its been a great learning experience for me. I think the more experiences people have, the better they are in being able to see other points of view and to maybe see why one group or person might have the opinions they have.
Given that my interests/life are so similar to yours – frugality and homeschooling (and we also use Math U See and Sonlight!) I’m happy with posts on anything you want to talk about – I look forward to all your posts.
My piece of advice: schedule at least two hours of “quiet time” into the mid-afternoon. Your older child can use it for reading and the younger can either nap or read to themselves, play with puzzles. I don’t use the time for the same thing everyday, and lately it has tended to be my time to take care of whatever is most pressing due to some family obligations :(, but it definitely necessary for your sanity!
I also schedule two 10 minute “activity breaks” into the morning – young boys REALLY need them. I require running, bike riding etc during that time – it really is great for getting the kids focused and it gives you 10 minutes to prep for something or get some housework done.
Change is a good thing. It’s part of life.
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Without change, a flower would still be a seed in the ground.
One of my favorite sayings :)
Adapt and grow :)
Frugal time use would be a good topic, imho. My time is way more precious than my money! There are just too many things to try and cram into a day! Today for example, I went clamming first thing – it’s about a 1.5 mile walk out on the sandbar thru mucky sand and that’s my exercise – plus I get clams during the walk. Pumped sand shrimp and went fishing – no luck, but fun. Cleaned clams. Had a dehydrator going full of celery par cel for winter stews and jarred it up at the end of the day. Cut up 3 turkey breasts (from a sale) and canned the meat. Then pressure cooked the bones down for soup. Outside it was water the stuff in the greenhouse and plant the rest of the garden. Cut some poles out of old cedar fence posts and made teepees for the green runner beans. Then I babysat the grandkids from 5-9 – we made fresh potato salad, fried fish and fried clam strips, and a fresh rhubarb-strawberry cobbler for dessert. Needless to say, it was a full day :)
Oh yeah, there was a load of laundry and dishes in there somewhere also…So….. any tips about frugal time use would be great :)
Wow, I feel as though you are me. Our kids are different ages, but today marked a significant milestone of change for our family too. It was the last day (as the Lord leads) of sending our children to public school as well. I have the same mixed emotions and bittersweet feelings. I am confident that this is the direction the Lord wants our family to move in, but there are still the “school experiences” that I am sad my children will not experience. However the good of homeschooling far outweighs those fond experiences, and the bad far outweighs the worth of those experiences (from our perspective and for our family). Sorry to be so long, but I can totally relate. What lies ahead feels so uncertain, but I think it is possible to be CERTAIN even in uncertainty. In fact I think the Lord wants us to be uncertain, it keeps us depending on him. However, we CAN be certain that God is God and He loves us dearly. I am holding onto that certainty even in these times of change (many, many changes) and uncertainty. Thank you for your blog and for sharing your heart.
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