I just had an email that kickboxing is definitely ON for today (I’m not lying, I swear!!!)

Lately, I have not been feeling the thrill of making food in the kitchen, it’s not bringing me much happiness (is it the failed yogurt attempt that’s thrown me? All those damn dishes that accumulate?) so I feel like this weekend will be about easy kitchen attempts. Or maybe stuff that the kids can help me with, recipes that are simple and non-fail, kid-friendly ones.

I’m also feeling disconnected with house projects that bring me happiness and comfort and a sense of accomplishment. So I think I’ll be spending more time working on projects with the lads. We’ve been meaning to make that checkerboard all month and they’ve both wanted to do some sewing with me. I have such an overwhelming sense of urgency to clean this or organize that, I’m not doing well with balancing things.

So this weekend I’m all about balancing, not juggling, but balancing. And I want to keep up with getting the kids involved with chores. Dashiell’s been doing well feeding Monte, but half the time needs reminders – which is fine – but I think getting their involvement (while sometimes taking more time in the short term) in household stuff is supergood for everyone involved. May make them a bit less selfish, if they are a part of our family team. And keeping up with family meeting on Sunday night as well. Huxley’s getting used to the idea of using that time as a forum to air his frustration and share his ideas. YEAH!!! It’s working!!!

Red Gate Farm


If we had a farm, it would be cool to have one like this. But, with luck, our mini-homestead will at least have some chickens NEXT spring (buff orpingtons, anyone?)

 

 

 

 

Thrifty use of an ol' t-shirt

It's so easy to play around with t-shirts, we all have extras so they're readily available. Look at 'Swamp Yankees...' t-shirt reconstruction into lovely tank tops and a comfy skirt.

Winter inside Western Massachusetts

Smith College Botanical Greenhouses: a lovely geranium blossom

 

Mass MoCA Video Installation

 

Mass MoCA Sol through a Window

 

Kids Manners Matter (in the NYTimes)

The idea of someone creating guidelines and then telling me where my child's developmental social skills should be are about as welcome as physical milestones my pediatrician gives me, or like an ob/gyn telling me how to give birth.

BUT... Manners are super important to help communication between individuals and to get through conflicts, to resolve issues and to move forward together. PLUS... these are a wonderful couple of quotes that became an epiphany for understanding my children just a 'little' more:

" “Every infant is born adorable but selfish and the center of the universe,” she replied. It’s a parent’s job to teach that “there are other people, and other people have feelings.”...

But that first big counterintuitive lesson — that there are other people out there whose feelings must be considered — affects a child’s most basic moral development. For a child, as for an adult, manners represent a strategy for getting along in life, but also a successful intellectual engagement with the business of being human. "

AND THEN... tonight my older son, the gentler of the two lashed out repeatedly and finally, he and I got to the point where I could help him through by understanding it's ok to be mad, but not ok to hit because you're mad. That by hurting someone else he's gone beyond our acceptable boundaries.

Trying to balance how to parent a child feels, sometimes, like you're on a tenuously constructed bridge that could bow one way or another or that could be completely steady, depending on your choice of actions. Some of the article's insights make me feel like I can take on my childrens' episodes with a slightly firmer footing now. And teach them, gently but firmly (and consistently) how to be better with how they treat others.

Shiney printer giveaway

Mommycoddle is giving away a printer this week - but again, I'm going to have to request no one else leave a comment on her blog as that would decrease my chances of receiving it.

Thanks! ~H

Recycling is one very small part of the fix

The market for recycled paper, plastic, etc. is drying up in this economy of ours. We all need to begin reexamining not just how much money we spend (or don't spend), but how our consumption adds to the pile up of recycled materials that are now destined for landfills.

--Reuse what you can, whenever you can, as many times as you can.

--Buy items with minimal packaging.

*Leave a comment on the comment cards and/or write to manufacturers demand minimal packaging from your stores (Amazon is helping here, with 'Frustration-Free Packaging"...) Mum bought us a box of frozen Birds Nests from Trader Joes a couple months ago and I was horrified to find FOUR layers of packaging before we got to the actual food!!! HORRIFIED!

--Buy bulk when you can and reuse the bulk bags (or make your own). When you get home, repackage those items in reused jars. It makes storage easier and you can see how much of something you have left.

--Buy local: CSAs pick it, then give it to you (some dollars are passed in the process), but that sort of exchange couldn't be less complicated and less packaged. This, it turns out is even better since you can actually view, touch, and smell what you're about to take home.

--But at 2nd hand, consignment shops or have exchanges with friends, family, neighborhoods. Generally this can help out a local charity too, if you buy at a hospice shop. AND it's nice to chat with the retired ladies who work there...