Happy Car-Free Day everyone!
If you are able to be car-free today, join thousands (millions??) of us, all around the world, celebrating healthy transportation choices. If you can't be absolutley car free, at least think about what it would take for you to ditch the car and walk...or bike......or take the bus...or roller skate....or whatever, even for just one day.
The kids and I will be tabling at our local CFD celebration downtown. It's going to be a fantastic event.
Go ahead. Park the car.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Sore Tongue
Ouch.......I've been biting my tongue a lot this week.
Lately I've been doing a lot of thinking about the parts of my life which feel inconsistant. At park day last week a few of us got to talking about housework and chores and who does what. As the conversation carried on, I felt really clear. I've written here about my struggles with expecting (premeditated resentment, right?) help around the house on my terms. Most days I'm able to keep the nagging at bay, and take responsibility for my own needs for "neat and tidy" without demanding it of others. I ask for help or make my needs known and let others pitch in and help without demands, bribes, nagging, whining....whatever. But a few days passed and the conversation haunted me a bit.
I hadn't actually been walking my talk lately. It's not that I had suddenly assigned chores, or demanded made beds by noon or anything, but something about the whole housework situation wasn't sitting well with me. Mostly, I think it's about expectations. I've been carrying around an expectation that everyone else in the house has the same level of need for "neat and tidy". Not true. I think I've also been carrying around a beilef that if I remind sweetly (rather than nag loudly) that dishes go on the sink or remind someone (who will remain nameless, of course) that shoes go under the bench (for the one millionth time today) that one day I would wake up and these little annoyances will be gone.
The kids and I talked about it yesterday and I explained that I didn't think I was doing such a great job letting go of my need for control in this area and that it didn't feel respectful. I had lots more to say, but their eyes were glazing over and Charley suggested I just pay him for chores like at his dad's house and they'll get done real quick. Whatever. It's not so much a conversation that needed to happen but a shift on my part. More alignment with my beliefs, I suppose.
Therefore......I've been biting my tongue A LOT today. Shoes are not under the bench (ghastly!). Dishes didn't make it into the sink (horrors!). But I think I'll live. And it feels a bit more peaceful inside me.
Lately I've been doing a lot of thinking about the parts of my life which feel inconsistant. At park day last week a few of us got to talking about housework and chores and who does what. As the conversation carried on, I felt really clear. I've written here about my struggles with expecting (premeditated resentment, right?) help around the house on my terms. Most days I'm able to keep the nagging at bay, and take responsibility for my own needs for "neat and tidy" without demanding it of others. I ask for help or make my needs known and let others pitch in and help without demands, bribes, nagging, whining....whatever. But a few days passed and the conversation haunted me a bit.
I hadn't actually been walking my talk lately. It's not that I had suddenly assigned chores, or demanded made beds by noon or anything, but something about the whole housework situation wasn't sitting well with me. Mostly, I think it's about expectations. I've been carrying around an expectation that everyone else in the house has the same level of need for "neat and tidy". Not true. I think I've also been carrying around a beilef that if I remind sweetly (rather than nag loudly) that dishes go on the sink or remind someone (who will remain nameless, of course) that shoes go under the bench (for the one millionth time today) that one day I would wake up and these little annoyances will be gone.
The kids and I talked about it yesterday and I explained that I didn't think I was doing such a great job letting go of my need for control in this area and that it didn't feel respectful. I had lots more to say, but their eyes were glazing over and Charley suggested I just pay him for chores like at his dad's house and they'll get done real quick. Whatever. It's not so much a conversation that needed to happen but a shift on my part. More alignment with my beliefs, I suppose.
Therefore......I've been biting my tongue A LOT today. Shoes are not under the bench (ghastly!). Dishes didn't make it into the sink (horrors!). But I think I'll live. And it feels a bit more peaceful inside me.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
That's a good thing....right?
Living with a hormonal pre-teen is taking all the patience I can muster these days. I find that when I hear Janey's footsteps coming down the stairs and into the kitchen, I often feel like hiding, or pretending I'm on the phone. It can be grim.
Tonight, I got home from the grocery and she was upstairs listening to music with Charley. I didn't hear any screaming or ranting, so i breathed a sigh of relief and started dinner. Then i heard the footsteps. I braced myself, but continued making pesto (yes, it was delicious, thank you).
Janey walked into the kitchen and stared at me. Her face went from grimace to look of confusion in a split second.
Janey:"I can't remember if I was mad at you before you left for the store."
She looked perplexed. After a moment of strange silence, we burst out laughing.
Me: "That's got to be good thing, right?"
Thank god for the laughter!
Tonight, I got home from the grocery and she was upstairs listening to music with Charley. I didn't hear any screaming or ranting, so i breathed a sigh of relief and started dinner. Then i heard the footsteps. I braced myself, but continued making pesto (yes, it was delicious, thank you).
Janey walked into the kitchen and stared at me. Her face went from grimace to look of confusion in a split second.
Janey:"I can't remember if I was mad at you before you left for the store."
She looked perplexed. After a moment of strange silence, we burst out laughing.
Me: "That's got to be good thing, right?"
Thank god for the laughter!
Monday, September 15, 2008
Blech!!!!
We're all recovering from the stomach flu around here.
Yuck.
Thank goodness I wasn't sick until after I had to scrub vomit out of the carpet at 2:00am...that would've sucked. Today was actually a sweet day. We were all in varying degrees of recovery, but done with the puking. We watched movies and napped and played card games and read. macy made Jell-O. No one really needed to eat until tonight, so it was an easy, and low energy day.
Looking forward to tomorrow.
Yuck.
Thank goodness I wasn't sick until after I had to scrub vomit out of the carpet at 2:00am...that would've sucked. Today was actually a sweet day. We were all in varying degrees of recovery, but done with the puking. We watched movies and napped and played card games and read. macy made Jell-O. No one really needed to eat until tonight, so it was an easy, and low energy day.
Looking forward to tomorrow.
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