Please Don’t Overprepare

Every summer a range of emotions hit the ABCJesusLovesMe Facebook Group.  

Excitement. Anxiety. Being overwhelmed. Relief.

New members to the ABCJLM family are easily influenced by the various posts in the group.

Thus, every June, July, and August I post the same reminders to help encourage all ABCJLM users steady the emotions that come with beginning something new.  And, I want to share the same reminders now.

Preparation

In creating ABCJLM, my goal was to provide ideas and objectives for busy mommas, grandmothers, and teachers in a manner that would allow them to be intentional with teachable moments and not spent hours planning. Through the Curriculum Guides and Activity Workbooks (and the leading of the Holy Spirit), I believe that this goal has been met, and I have heard from many of you who agree.

In the next few weeks, you will see many cute, fun, pinterest-worthy ideas. Your wheels will start turning and the craft juices will flow. If you are like me, you will want to push everything aside and begin because you have found the idea to help the children in your care.

You will see organization ideas that are amazing.  You will want to get the kids busy so that you can spend many hours getting prepared. You may suddenly find yourself spending a lot of money and time printing off hundreds of worksheets to prepare.

Then there is Pinterest. “Ooo, that would be fun to add. This would help!” you say to yourself.

Hold the phone…

Pretty soon, you have spent money to save money and you have missed out on hours with your children just to plan to be intentional.

A little backwards, huh?

Listen…I am not against fun charts and cute learning boards. Especially for those who left the education field to stay at home with your kiddos, I get it! It is in your blood.

I am not against organization. Organization feeds my soul!  I love seeing the ideas.

And if you do not purchase the ABCJLM Lesson Plans and Workbooks, you will have to do prep work on the front end of printing the Lesson Plans and worksheets.

But before you begin printing, please calculate the cost and your time away from your kiddos.  Most people who print from home discover that they spent more in paper, ink, and time than if they would have purchased the Complete Curriculum Bundles.

You can say that this is just a sales pitch, but remember that the purpose of the ABCJesusLovesMe Preschool Curriculum is to be intentional in teachable moments and draw learning from play.

I missed out on a lot of teachable moments and play while spending hours of time on ideas to help my child learn and organize our family.  If truth be known, very few of the items that I created were used for very long.

Yes, a little planning will be needed to make sure you have supplies on hand and you are familiar with the objectives of the week.  (I highly encourage the “I am Learning” Objective posters.)   But, if the scales tip and the planning turns into busyness, stop and enjoy those kiddos.

Here’s why…

This fall my baby goes to Kindergarten and I would do anything to go back and read another book before naptime, laugh at another not-so-funny joke, and spend one more morning helping him cut his pancake. And very soon your children (if they haven’t already) will be big kids. The time is fleeting and I don’t want you to regret, like so many mommas do, wasted moments.

So, please continue to post ideas and tips to the ABCJLM Facebook Group. But if you post, please know that if I feel newer members are feeling like the idea is required to be successful with ABCJLM, I will add a little blurp to the comments to make sure they understand. It’s not personal and it’s not a judgment. Simply to help steady the emotions.

Now…I am off to grasp hold of the fleeting summer days that we have left! Hugs, family!