Politics, Stories
Sarah Holland
Campaign Update: March

"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. 

Campaign Update: March
Celebrations
Sarah Holland
Felix's Winter ONE-derland

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! 

Felix's Winter ONE-derland
Stories
Sarah Holland
Ruby

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. 

Ruby
Food
Sarah Holland
Nicholas's Freezer to Crockpot Meals

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.

Nicholas's Freezer to Crockpot Meals
What I Learned
Sarah Holland
5 things I learned in January

Dear 2016, Slow. Up. I just picked my word for the year and finished off my New Year's Eve champagne like five minutes ago and now it's two days until February!

Whew.

5 things I learned in January
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Why I signed the Duggar petition

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The Duggar family - stars of the TLC reality show 19 Kids and Counting - is in the news again and not because they added a 20th child to their brood. No, an internet petition on Change.org is calling for TLC to cancel 19 Kids and Counting because of the family's recent opposition to an anti-discrimination ordinance in Arkansas.

The ordinance - which passed by the way - prohibits businesses and public accomodations from discrimination against people based on the person's sexual orientation or gender identity. 

I signed the petition.

Easy ways to have a peaceful holiday season

As snow falls and lights twinkle, we can all hear Andy Williams singing loudly in our ears that the holiday season is "the MOST WONDERFUL time of the year."

Unfortunately, high expectations - both internal and external - can make the last two months of the year the most stressful time of the year as well, especially for women. Over 40% of American report feeling increased stress about time, money, and relationships during the holiday season.

Avoiding Financial Stress

  • Think about what you TRULY value. Setting boundaries is one of the keys to a peaceful holidays and no where is that more important than with regards to spending. What traditions are worth spending money on? What gifts do you give merely out of obligation? Can you trade out the fancy holiday party for a potluck with close friends and be just as happy? 
  • Give experiences not gifts. Gift-giving is a huge source of holiday spending - and holiday stress! So, this year avoid giving more stuff and consider experiences. Is there a child on your list you could take to the movies? What about an older relative you could treat to a home-cooked meal? The Simple Dollar has several other great ideas. 
  • Do It Yourself. With a few exceptions, making a meal, decoration, or gift yourself is usually cheaper than buying it at the store. Now, trying to make EVERYTHING yourself is a recipe for disaster. However, making a cake instead of picking one up at the grocery store or putting together homemade hostess gifts instead of buying gift cards will add up to real holiday savings over the course of the season. 

Avoiding Relationship Stress

  • Setting personal boundaries. Much like financial limits, we have to understand our relationship boundaries to avoid holiday stress. We cannot be responsible for other people's happiness during this time of year. All we can do is understand what situations trigger our own stress and do our best to avoid or defuse them. Self-care goes a long way in this area. Can you take a walk before you react in anger? How about volunteering for dish duty to stay out of fray?
  • Give empathy this holiday season. Many times those who are difficult to be around during the holiday season are experiencing their own personal troubles. Maybe an angry relative is lonely themselves? Or a competitive friend is feeling insecure? Remember their reactions are usually about them not you.
  • Embrace the chaos. Instead of trying to control everyone or avoid any unexpected changes, embracing a certain amount of the chaos that comes with this time of year can make you happier in the end. Keep an eye on your boundaries but also try think about when your expectations are getting the best of you. Are your kids ruining your perfect Christmas cookies or are you missing the chance for some messy - but happy - new holiday memories?

If you're interested in more ways to avoid holiday stress and create a peaceful holiday season, then check out 21 Days to a Peaceful Holiday consists of 21 days of emails beginning December 1st and running through Winter Solstice on December 21, as well as membership in our 21 Days to a Peaceful Holiday Facebook group. 

This course is basically like an online holiday season life coach and support group.

Imagine starting your day with a dear friend who just wants the happiest holiday season for you. Or how would you like to share your morning coffee with a friend who gently asks "Are you taking good care of yourself?" or has conveniently scoured the Internet for quick and easy Advent ideas to make you feel like a Christmas queen with minimal effort?

That's us!

Nurtured Mama and I have written gentle reminders and inspirational ideas on how to decide what holiday memories are important to YOU, how to capture those Christmas moments that come and go so quickly, how to keep the consumption and indulging to a healthy minimal, how to simplify gift giving, and much, much more!

We tackle everything from the emotional, like how to deal with difficult people during an already stressful time and how to embrace the romance of the season, to the practical, like simple gift DIYs and easy traditions to start tomorrow.

Nothing is required. You can give as little or as much energy to our suggestions as you want. What WE want is to make this holiday season brighter, easier, and yes more peaceful!

To register for the class, please click here!

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Toys that help your kids learn to code

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Steve Jobs once said, "Everybody in this country should learn to program a computer... because it teaches you how to think."

Learning the language of computer coding was once thought to be a niche skill needed only by those wanting to pursue a career in programming. No longer. As our world (and economy) changes, computer literacy as valuable an asset to anyone in our information age as a second language and parents want their own children to learn this important language along with reading and writing.

Luckily, a degree in computer science is not required to teach your kids how to code. Initiatives like Code.org have touched off a wide variety of products that remove the intimidation factor and teach the basics of coding to children as young as 4.   

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Is your child racist?

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Recently a friend of mine shared an incident involving her son that left her extremely upset. Her young son had innocently expressed a preference in playmates based on the color of another child’s skin. My friend was horrified and wondered where he had gotten the idea that we would judge one another based on the color of our skin.

I absolutely understood her reaction. No parent wants his or her child to express racist attitudes or stereotypes. However, the reality is that racism pervades our society and children – while maybe not tactful – aren’t stupid and are perceptive. They understand that race is important. So important in fact, that the adults in their lives don’t often talk about it and when they do they tiptoe around it.

5 Easy Projects to Update your Holiday Decor!

This weekend I confessed in my weekly email (subscribe if you haven't already!) that I've been preparing for Christmas for months. The presents are bought and wrapped. The Christmas cards are ordered, addressed, and stamped. And this week I started decorating. 

Instead of killing myself to get my entire house decorated the weekend between Thanksgiving and December 1st like I usually do, I'm taking my time decorating each room at my own pace. The biggest benefit so far is I've had time to redesign my decor and complete projects I've been wanting to do for years. 

Pinterest is a great source of inspiration but I'm hoping this post to be a great MOTIVATOR. Here are the projects I pinned - primarily holiday themed - that I completed this weekend!

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"The Perfect Mother" and Self-Compassion

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I would never have described myself as a perfectionist. My house is frequently cluttered. My desk is covered with projects and reminders and stray papers. My kitchen floor is filthy.

For the longest time, my desktop was giant colorful graphic proclaiming "DONE IS BETTER PERFECT." That creed is not empty words to me. I believe it. I don't let perfection slow down my desire to complete a project. Perfectionism is paralyzing, as I would often lecture other people.

No, I was not a perfectionist.

Except...

I've recently realized that perfectionism is a deep, deep river that flows far beneath my attitude towards my house's cleanliness or craft projects. Just because I'll publish a blog post with typos or slap together class treats that are far from Pinterest-worthy doesn't mean that perfectionism doesn't affect me. 

The perfectionism that haunts me is far more insidious and harmful.

Why I'm a Democrat

I wrote this post 8 years ago in 2006. I still feel the same way. 

If I had to pinpoint a time when I began describing myself as a Democrat, it would be the winter of 2000. By this point, my transition from a good little Baptist conservative to what Cartman describes so aptly as a "college know-it-all hippie" was really in full swing. As you can imagine, 2000 was not the best year to switch parties because we started losing...a lot.