"How's the campaign going?"
It's the question I get most often. It's also the question I'm never quite sure how to answer.
Good? ... Great! ... Your guess is as good as mine. ... We'll see May 17th!
The truth - I suppose - all depends on what you're measuring.
This weekend we hosted a Winter ONE-derland party in honor of Felix's first birthday. Considering this child was born during a snow, it seemed like an appropriate theme. Well, the weather had other plans and it was 70 and sunny! I could have hosted the dang party outside!
For my 30th birthday, I created a list of 30 things I wanted to do. One was to write a historical fiction short story. This is the story and as Ruby keeps calling to me here lately. I thought I'd share it here.
One of Nicholas's New Year's resolutions was to try freezer meals. He'd prepped meals for the week on and off through 2015 and wanted to see how it would work to prepare an entire month's worth. Then, we could just pull a meal from the deep freeze, throw it in the crockpot, and on a busy day dinner would be waiting for us.
It’s a safe bet that I’m going to have a problem with any article that begins “James Dobson believes…” I’m not a fan of James Dobson. I’m not a fan of his views on child-rearing in particular.
So, it should come as no surprise I disagree with Tim Challies and his article “Why My Family Doesn’t Do Sleepovers,” which begins by citing Mr. Dobson.
Many of you have asked for ideas on how to keep kids entertained. We had a blast recently with this craft I first saw on Reading Confetti so I thought I'd share. It's basically half cornstarch, half water then however much food coloring you want to add. I did it a little bit different by letting Griffin add the food coloring to the individual pop containers and then just pouring in the chalk. You can tell by the separation that he might have gotten a little carried away so use this approach at your own risk!
The Happiest Mom recently wrote a fantastic post on the things she doesn't do as a mom. Blogs and social media are both wonderful inventions that give us an outlet and sense of community. We can log on and share all the things we are doing. Unfortunately, sometimes that translates into pressure to DO even more.
In the spirit of "everyone take a deep breath and calm the hell down," I'm going to share a list of what I do NOT do. (I do love lists as we know.)
Things I don't do (and don't care to do):
1. Clean my floors. Sounds gross. I know. But hear me out. My kitchen floor is right off my garage so it sees a lot of traffic. My husband cooks every night so it also sees a lot of grease and grime. Last week, we literally got down on our hands and knees and scrubbed it with OxiClean. Two days later, the bottoms of my feet were black again after walking on it. I've been at war with this floor for two years and I'm ready to admit defeat.
2. Garden. I want to have a gorgeous landscaped yard. I want to compost and have my own vegetable garden. However, I have accepted the reality that it is just not going to happen. I have two small children. Hello! I can barely take care of the inside of my house! (See #1.) There is a reason retirees have the best lawns. It's because they are the only ones with time to tend to them.
3. Play with my kids. Again, sounds terrible but hear me out. I don't really like trains or cars or blocks. Plus, Griffin doesn't really want me to play with him. Whenever I have grand designs of an afternoon of play time, he always wants me to just sit there andwatch him play. I've found the really special moments are when we are just spending time together and stumble across something we both enjoy doing...like dancing or watching Teen Mom. Just kidding!
Sort of...
4. Scrapbook. I love memory keeping. I love pictures. I love journaling. But when it comes to traditional scrapbooking, I'll pass. My children don't have beautiful books chronicling their first years. Instead, I use sites like Moment Garden and projects like A Week in the Life to capture all those special memories without a fortune spent on stickers and die cuts.
5. Cook. My husband cooks. Enough said.
Things I don't do but would like to:
1. Sew. My mother and grandmother are master seamstresses. I own a high quality sewing machine, which my grandmother fixed up for me. Yet, I still can't get my act together. I'm so crafty in other ways. I knit. I crochet. I think if I really knew how to sew I would be unstoppable.
2. Bike. I see people biking around town and it looks so fun and relaxing. Alas, I have no bicycle, which seems pretty essential.
3. Camp. I am married to a dang Eagle Scout! Doesn't it seem like I should be camping every weekend? Well, apparently, Eagle Scouts are camping snobs. According to Nicholas, it's not "camping" unless you hike for miles into the middle of nowhere with pounds of gear on you back. Call me crazy but that doesn't quite seem feasible with a two-year-old.
4. Date Night. I'd say we average one date night a month. With all the free babysitting available to us, that's a disgrace.
5. Volunteering. I want my boys to grow up doing for those less fortunate than themselves. I have big plans to volunteer at local charities (especially around the holidays) but I can't quite get my act together. I do better when I'm part of a volunteer organization. Luckily, I just joined our local Charity League so hopefully I can make this a thing I DO do soon.
What's on y'all's Don't Do lists? Things you wish you did? Things you're glad you don't?
This post was originally published on Salt & Nectar.
“But when you think about it, summer break is really pretty short. Why do we put so much pressure on ourselves to fill so little time with so much activity?... a neatly checked-off “summer bucket list” isn’t a requirement of being a good mom.”
On the one hand, I agree. Of course, one doesn’t need a summer list to have a season filled with sunshine and happy memories.
However...
I have a summer list and I love it.
Spray park - CHECK!
I made it at the beginning of May, printed it out, and hung it in our kitchen. Over the past few months, we’ve been slowly checking one activity off after the other.
I won’t lie and say I feel no pressure to complete the list. I’m a completist from way back. Lists keep me motivated. Lists keep me focused. If too many days pass filled with Sesame Street and errands, my summer list reminds me that these warm, wonderful days are in short supply and we better make the most of them.
My summer list is a good mix of simple pleasures and the special experiences that make a summer. Plus, I leave lots of wiggle room. I’m not sure if we’ll make it to the zoo but the Nature Station at Land between the Lakes is just as good. Check! We made it downtown for the Saturday night street fair...even if we got rained out minutes later. Check!
Sandcastle - CHECK!
It's not even just about my kids. I've been wanting to take a canoe trip with my husband forever. I'd see the trips on the LBL calendar and think, "I want to do that!" Then, I put it on the list and it was NOT going unchecked. We went on a canoe trip over Memorial Day weekend. Just us. It had been so long since we did an "activity" - not just dinner and a movie - together. We had a blast and I have the summer list to thank.
The best part is I’ve noticed the list has motivated our friends and family. People constantly ask me how the summer list is coming. A close friend printed out a list of her own. Several family members have commented that they love to see us check items off via Instagram and Facebook.
Canoe Trip - CHECK!
My favorite moment came when my in-law’s came for a visit. My mother-in-law brought water balloons because they wanted to be a part of the summer list - which contains a now checked off “Water balloon toss”. Maybe she would have brought the water balloons anyway but I loved that the list was a big part in creating a very special memory for everyone.
The summer list is only a source of positivity - not pressure. (Click to tweet.) There will be no penalties if items go unchecked. The list is for us and no one else.
And there will definitely be another one next summer.
Do you have a summer list? If so, is it a source of pressure or positivity?
These popsicles were inspired by Kentucky bourbon and Texas heat. I created the recipe last summer for A Southern Fairytale blog but thought they deserved a repost as the temperature starts to rise!
Ingredients
Instructions
First, based on my own personal history, I have a passion for the specific methods of contraception being discussed in this case and the persistent myths surrounding them. After graduating from college, I spent a year running an emergency contraception (EC) hotline. At the time, EC was available only by prescription. When a woman would call, I would collect her information, ask her several medical questions, and have a prescription called in. I dealt exclusively with the hormonal EC levonorgestrel.
I like to tell people I prevented more abortions in that year than most people do in their entire life.
