I have decided to join with Mary Robinette Kowal in her Month of Letters challenge. For every day the post runs in February, I will be sending out a letter or something in the mail to someone...probably some of you...Here's the website: lettermo.com It's pretty cool. I've been wanting to be more connected with people who have impacted my life, and mail is such a fun way to do it. I am really enjoying writing letters to people and will probably continue this (perhaps not every day) for the forseeable future! Who doesn't really love getting a real letter in the mail? So fun!
Oh, and if you haven't read Shades of Milk and Honey by Ms. Kowal, then you should...especially you Marie! :) It's a very fun combination of Jane Austen style writing with a fun twist of fantasy! I highly recommend it! Jane is the main character and she's a homely but very accomplished woman. She is especially talented in glamour (which is basically an art of illusion-making). She has a younger, beautiful sister which makes for some interesting sibling-jealous moments which I would have liked to see a little more fleshed out, but were true and endearing all the same. There are, of course, several elegible men in the story. One is a glamour artist, one a kind neighbor, and one a naval officer. I was impressed with Ms. Kowal's ability to give both positive and negative character traits for all of them, and therefore the reader is sometimes unsure as to which way the wind will blow, so to speak. For me, one was obvious, but the other was not. I won't say more unless you ask me after you read the book. I don't want to spoil anything. Even with as well as I know Austen, I will admit to being surprised by one maybe not-so-small part. Afterward, I actually though "I should have seen that one...wow." and I felt pretty dumb, but I'm going to just put that as praise toward Ms. Kowal instead of beating myself up over it. I'd love to know if she surprises you too! :)
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Personal Goals
Hahaha! I suppose that since it's February now, I've passed by the goal-making time for the year... But I'm going to ignore that fact because these are things I've been thinking about for over a month now. I just haven't had time to post it, but that's probably because I've been writing so much on my novel (I made the 20k goal, btw). However, thinking about them is mostly all I've been doing. I should have been trying to implement them, but since I hadn't put them on my blog yet, I didn't have the accountability of actually needing to do them - or something like that. So here goes:
Gratitude. I've actually always considered myself an optimistic person, but recently I've been annoying myself with my grumpyness. I have been focusing on the negative things in my life rather than on all the blessings that I have. That really needs to change. I blogged about a book I had started to read last fall called One Thousand Gifts by Anne Voskamp which totally blew my mind. However, I haven't gotten past chapter four yet! Partly that was because I was trying to read it with another woman, but she was extremely busy and couldn't continue it, so I'm going to finish it on my own. Also, over on her website aholyexperience.com she has instituted the Joy Dare for the year and challenged us to count 1000 blessings this year. I've even downloaded the free app! However, I haven't been very good so far on this one. Of course, this is the type of goal that just doing a little bit helps and hopefully as I become more accustomed to seeing blessings again, I'll see more of them and get the ball rolling - so to speak.
Excercise. I've been doing well since I joined the gym last February. I try to go three times a week. Sometimes I do that, sometimes I don't, but I usually get two times fairly regularly. I think I'm good with this. The YMCA is 20 minutes away so it ends up taking up most of a morning, and I don't want to take that time away from my kids more than that. However, I need to implement daily stretches. You would think that I've been doing them for years because I should have. I have had several doctors over the years tell me that I needed to do these stretches daily for my health. But I haven't. And I hurt. All the time. I have neck and shoulder stretches that really do help with the headaches. I have back and leg stretches that really do help with my lower back and knee issues. So why do I not do them? Well, because they take time. Because I forget. Because the moment I get on the floor my children are climbing all over me? Maybe. Or maybe it's because I feel like I'm okay for the moment, so it's not so important today. But over time, I'm not doing them at all and I need to. So, I am going to add these in somewhere. Yeah, that's about as thought out as I am about it. First, I'm going to find the papers that have all the stretches. Perhaps I can combine them with the prayer time in the morning, since I'm praying anyway...I can pray and stretch at the same time! Okay, we'll see how that goes. Oh, and I'm going to see how adding some video excercise on the days when I stay home...pilates...or at least crunches, push-ups and weights...yeah, we'll see how that goes!
Skills. Hahaha, okay I don't really know how else to label this one. I kinda want to learn how to knit. And I really want to learn how to play the piano. Random, I know. I'm still not sure I can do much this year. I know someone who can knit, so I think I'll ask her about it sometime. And the piano thing probably means starting a piano fund in our budget somewhere so in a few years we can buy one. But I thought I'd put it out there.
Apparently there was another one, but I can't think of it at the moment. I'll have to write it up later. :) Well, we'll call that done. Thanks for reading.
Gratitude. I've actually always considered myself an optimistic person, but recently I've been annoying myself with my grumpyness. I have been focusing on the negative things in my life rather than on all the blessings that I have. That really needs to change. I blogged about a book I had started to read last fall called One Thousand Gifts by Anne Voskamp which totally blew my mind. However, I haven't gotten past chapter four yet! Partly that was because I was trying to read it with another woman, but she was extremely busy and couldn't continue it, so I'm going to finish it on my own. Also, over on her website aholyexperience.com she has instituted the Joy Dare for the year and challenged us to count 1000 blessings this year. I've even downloaded the free app! However, I haven't been very good so far on this one. Of course, this is the type of goal that just doing a little bit helps and hopefully as I become more accustomed to seeing blessings again, I'll see more of them and get the ball rolling - so to speak.
Excercise. I've been doing well since I joined the gym last February. I try to go three times a week. Sometimes I do that, sometimes I don't, but I usually get two times fairly regularly. I think I'm good with this. The YMCA is 20 minutes away so it ends up taking up most of a morning, and I don't want to take that time away from my kids more than that. However, I need to implement daily stretches. You would think that I've been doing them for years because I should have. I have had several doctors over the years tell me that I needed to do these stretches daily for my health. But I haven't. And I hurt. All the time. I have neck and shoulder stretches that really do help with the headaches. I have back and leg stretches that really do help with my lower back and knee issues. So why do I not do them? Well, because they take time. Because I forget. Because the moment I get on the floor my children are climbing all over me? Maybe. Or maybe it's because I feel like I'm okay for the moment, so it's not so important today. But over time, I'm not doing them at all and I need to. So, I am going to add these in somewhere. Yeah, that's about as thought out as I am about it. First, I'm going to find the papers that have all the stretches. Perhaps I can combine them with the prayer time in the morning, since I'm praying anyway...I can pray and stretch at the same time! Okay, we'll see how that goes. Oh, and I'm going to see how adding some video excercise on the days when I stay home...pilates...or at least crunches, push-ups and weights...yeah, we'll see how that goes!
Skills. Hahaha, okay I don't really know how else to label this one. I kinda want to learn how to knit. And I really want to learn how to play the piano. Random, I know. I'm still not sure I can do much this year. I know someone who can knit, so I think I'll ask her about it sometime. And the piano thing probably means starting a piano fund in our budget somewhere so in a few years we can buy one. But I thought I'd put it out there.
Apparently there was another one, but I can't think of it at the moment. I'll have to write it up later. :) Well, we'll call that done. Thanks for reading.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Family Goals 2012
This goal topic is much more subjective. I think it's the reason I was having trouble writing the big blog post about all of my goals for the year. I'm trying to come up with some measurable, objective goals...but I think not killing my kids is probably a given. The rest is just so... Yeah, I'm having trouble finding the words! :) Anyway, I'm going to try.
My goals as a wife: My first is to be more intentional about praying for my husband every day. In actuality, I probably pray for him every day, but it's more quick prayers when things come up rather than intentional time with specific, thought-out things. I recently got a 30-day prayers for your husband thing from somewhere on the Proverbs 31 website (I think - or Renee Swope who's affiliated with them). I'm going to start there and then I think I'm going to read The Power of a Praying Wife by Stormie O'Martin. I think I've read it before, but I'm going to re-read it! :) Second is that I am going to try to put on makeup and do my hair every morning. That sounds silly, but I don't really ever do it except on special occasions. I know that my hubby likes it when I make an effort to look nice, but before now it was an effort. It was just one more thing I didn't have time to do. Now that he has been taking the 'first watch' so to speak (getting the kids up and dressed and breakfasted) I have a little more time in the morning, so I am going to use that time to look a little more put together. I think this is a win-win goal! I can't tell you how much better I feel about myself taking that extra time to look pretty! I have another one, but it's big enough I'm going to save it for another blog.
My goals as a mother: I will pray specifically and intentionally for each of my children daily. We pray a lot with them during the day, but I need to set aside that time for my kids just like I do for my hubby. Also, I need to be more consistent in my discipline. I find that I get tired and let them get away with things I shouldn't and then I get angry when they do it one too many times. I'm not sure how to track this one. I think what I have to do is give myself permission to change my mind. To stop warning them they will get in trouble and just take a ticket and put them in timeout. Next, I want to spend more quality time with them. That may sound silly since I'm with them all day long, but I find that I spend less time doing things like crafts and such than I did when I just had one. Anyway, I have decided to put together a special half-hour time or so that is specifically mommy-child when I'm not trying to get anything else done. I'm going to put activities in a container and let the kids pick out what we will be doing that day together. I'm excited about this one...And I'm hoping that by spending some 100% time with them, they will not be as needy when I need to do other things like cleaning and cooking and whatever else I need to get done during the day.
Family goals: We have decided to implement a family night and a date night into our weekly routine. We actually started the family night a couple of months ago, but we are continuing it this year. So Saturday nights are a time when we do an activity as a family and have a Bible story. Date night was re-implemented at the start of the year on Thursdays. We would have one once a month, but we thought that wasn't enough. We will still probably only go out once a month, but we decided that putting the kids to bed a bit early and spending that evening doing an activity together was an important time for us. We tend to get distracted at home with the many different things that we need to do, so it's a mental reminder that we don't do those things on Thursday nights.
I'm going to call that done. I'll have one more blog of goals for the year in a bit, but that's enough for now. I'd love to hear about some of your goals! Have a great day! :)
My goals as a wife: My first is to be more intentional about praying for my husband every day. In actuality, I probably pray for him every day, but it's more quick prayers when things come up rather than intentional time with specific, thought-out things. I recently got a 30-day prayers for your husband thing from somewhere on the Proverbs 31 website (I think - or Renee Swope who's affiliated with them). I'm going to start there and then I think I'm going to read The Power of a Praying Wife by Stormie O'Martin. I think I've read it before, but I'm going to re-read it! :) Second is that I am going to try to put on makeup and do my hair every morning. That sounds silly, but I don't really ever do it except on special occasions. I know that my hubby likes it when I make an effort to look nice, but before now it was an effort. It was just one more thing I didn't have time to do. Now that he has been taking the 'first watch' so to speak (getting the kids up and dressed and breakfasted) I have a little more time in the morning, so I am going to use that time to look a little more put together. I think this is a win-win goal! I can't tell you how much better I feel about myself taking that extra time to look pretty! I have another one, but it's big enough I'm going to save it for another blog.
My goals as a mother: I will pray specifically and intentionally for each of my children daily. We pray a lot with them during the day, but I need to set aside that time for my kids just like I do for my hubby. Also, I need to be more consistent in my discipline. I find that I get tired and let them get away with things I shouldn't and then I get angry when they do it one too many times. I'm not sure how to track this one. I think what I have to do is give myself permission to change my mind. To stop warning them they will get in trouble and just take a ticket and put them in timeout. Next, I want to spend more quality time with them. That may sound silly since I'm with them all day long, but I find that I spend less time doing things like crafts and such than I did when I just had one. Anyway, I have decided to put together a special half-hour time or so that is specifically mommy-child when I'm not trying to get anything else done. I'm going to put activities in a container and let the kids pick out what we will be doing that day together. I'm excited about this one...And I'm hoping that by spending some 100% time with them, they will not be as needy when I need to do other things like cleaning and cooking and whatever else I need to get done during the day.
Family goals: We have decided to implement a family night and a date night into our weekly routine. We actually started the family night a couple of months ago, but we are continuing it this year. So Saturday nights are a time when we do an activity as a family and have a Bible story. Date night was re-implemented at the start of the year on Thursdays. We would have one once a month, but we thought that wasn't enough. We will still probably only go out once a month, but we decided that putting the kids to bed a bit early and spending that evening doing an activity together was an important time for us. We tend to get distracted at home with the many different things that we need to do, so it's a mental reminder that we don't do those things on Thursday nights.
I'm going to call that done. I'll have one more blog of goals for the year in a bit, but that's enough for now. I'd love to hear about some of your goals! Have a great day! :)
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Writing Goals for 2012
It doesn't seem like I'm going to have an opportunity to write my full 2012 goals blog that I have in my head. Instead I'm going to try to post several smaller blogs with individual goals that hopefully won't take me as much of a chunk of time to complete, so maybe I can get them done!
First, I'm going to tackle my writing goals for the year. After writing my NaNoWriMo post last month I've been seriously thinking about my career as a writer. I believe this is what I am supposed to be, so I need to make it a priority. Even right now, when my life is seemingly completely consumed by my young children, I can make time to write. I have decided several things. First, I will expect and plan for writing time each day. It is extremely surprising how much I can get done in an hour a day! It has been very exciting to see my story moving forward. Second, I will attempt to complete 20,000 words every month. I came very close to that goal in November, so I thought it was an achievable yet difficult goal. It will take some sacrifices and intentionality to actually meet that goal, but it helps me to make sure I'm prioritizing my writing. My third and final writing goal for the year is to finish my first novel. Theoretically that could be done in 3-4 months (which would put the final first draft at 100-120 thousand words). Then I would have to do at least one major rewrite before I could give it to anyone to read and critique and such. So even if it takes me twice as long as I want it to and the rewrite a few months more, I can still get the book completed by the end of the year. So that is what I'm going to do.
I have chosen to do several things to make it more likely that I will accomplish these goals. First, I have downloaded the WriMoDemon app for my iPhone. It allows me to set a goal for the month and it tells me how many words I need to write per day (622 for 30 days gets me to 20k). It will then average my total words and let me know how many words I'm averaging (633 so far). I am also tracking my daily count in a word document because I decided that I wanted to keep that info (and WriMoDemon doesn't keep it at all). Finally, I have told people my goal. By sharing it I have people who will be asking me about it and therefore keeping me accountable. That is super important! :)
Feel free to ask me how it's going. I welcome the accoutability because I am so excited about you all getting to read the book when it is finished (some of you may even get to be beta readers for me - you know who you are!). Also, just to share my excitement, I have written 5,070 words so far this month! That's 25% of my goal! And there was one day I didn't get to write at all. I didn't let that get me down though. I knew I could make it up. And I did. Yay! Anyway, it's a good thing I decided to split these into several blogs because this ended up really long! (I'm watching the Broncos beat Pittsburg, fyi) :)
First, I'm going to tackle my writing goals for the year. After writing my NaNoWriMo post last month I've been seriously thinking about my career as a writer. I believe this is what I am supposed to be, so I need to make it a priority. Even right now, when my life is seemingly completely consumed by my young children, I can make time to write. I have decided several things. First, I will expect and plan for writing time each day. It is extremely surprising how much I can get done in an hour a day! It has been very exciting to see my story moving forward. Second, I will attempt to complete 20,000 words every month. I came very close to that goal in November, so I thought it was an achievable yet difficult goal. It will take some sacrifices and intentionality to actually meet that goal, but it helps me to make sure I'm prioritizing my writing. My third and final writing goal for the year is to finish my first novel. Theoretically that could be done in 3-4 months (which would put the final first draft at 100-120 thousand words). Then I would have to do at least one major rewrite before I could give it to anyone to read and critique and such. So even if it takes me twice as long as I want it to and the rewrite a few months more, I can still get the book completed by the end of the year. So that is what I'm going to do.
I have chosen to do several things to make it more likely that I will accomplish these goals. First, I have downloaded the WriMoDemon app for my iPhone. It allows me to set a goal for the month and it tells me how many words I need to write per day (622 for 30 days gets me to 20k). It will then average my total words and let me know how many words I'm averaging (633 so far). I am also tracking my daily count in a word document because I decided that I wanted to keep that info (and WriMoDemon doesn't keep it at all). Finally, I have told people my goal. By sharing it I have people who will be asking me about it and therefore keeping me accountable. That is super important! :)
Feel free to ask me how it's going. I welcome the accoutability because I am so excited about you all getting to read the book when it is finished (some of you may even get to be beta readers for me - you know who you are!). Also, just to share my excitement, I have written 5,070 words so far this month! That's 25% of my goal! And there was one day I didn't get to write at all. I didn't let that get me down though. I knew I could make it up. And I did. Yay! Anyway, it's a good thing I decided to split these into several blogs because this ended up really long! (I'm watching the Broncos beat Pittsburg, fyi) :)
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Jesus Loves Me
As I lay awake in the middle of the night, trying very hard to fall asleep without the horrible dreams I was having, God brought this song to mind. I've been working on adding verses to the original "Jesus Loves Me" song because it's fun, so I added a few more to round the whole thing out. The fourth stanza I worked on last summer, but the rest I came up with last night while I wanted to be sleeping! I hope it blesses you like it did me (giving me something positive to think about and work on in a frustrating situation).
Jesus born in Bethlehem
Fully God, yet now a man
Shepherds, Wise Men come and see
Worship, Worship at his feet.
Jesus lived a perfect life
Full of love and truth and strife
Healed the sick and calmed the sea
came to set the captive free
On a cross our savior died
Son of Man was crucified
He was buried in the grave
once for all our lives to save
Three days later he was raised
from the dead out of the grave
Now he sits at God's right hand
Soon he's coming back again.
Jesus whispers in your ear
"Come to me and have no fear
This I did so you could live
Tell the world, my life I give."
Jesus born in Bethlehem
Fully God, yet now a man
Shepherds, Wise Men come and see
Worship, Worship at his feet.
Jesus lived a perfect life
Full of love and truth and strife
Healed the sick and calmed the sea
came to set the captive free
On a cross our savior died
Son of Man was crucified
He was buried in the grave
once for all our lives to save
Three days later he was raised
from the dead out of the grave
Now he sits at God's right hand
Soon he's coming back again.
Jesus whispers in your ear
"Come to me and have no fear
This I did so you could live
Tell the world, my life I give."
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
NaNoWriMo: Maybe Someday Becomes Maybe Now?
I will start with an apology for not posting for the last month or so... You see, I had decided (last minute) to participate in NaNoWriMo. For those of you who are unfamiliar with that term, it is shorthand for National Novel Writing Month. The 'goal' of NaNo is to write 50,000 words in the month of November on a new novel. I'm going to confess a few things. One, I did not start a new novel for NaNo. Two, I did not reach 50,000 words for the month. Three, I didn't even reach 50,000 words total for my novel so far. However, I feel like a Winner. I may not be able to 'legally' win for the purposes of NaNoWriMo, but there were many things I learned that make me a Winner in my mind and NaNo a great thing for me to have done.
I started with a novel of around 22,000 words. I have been working on it, off and on, for two years or more...maybe even three! (Wow, it's been longer than I remember!) I have been really excited about it and enjoying the little time I had to write. In ONE MONTH I almost doubled that wordcount! I wrote just under 20,000 words total during November. How can I NOT be a winner with a novel that is now over 40,000 words???
It was really great to learn of all the time I actually had to write during the day. Having an impossible goal caused me to rearrange my life so that I could make time where there wasn't time before. Granted, I will probably not have any large chunks of time in which to write until the twins start full day school in, like, 4 years. I needed to use the little chunks of time that I had. It used to take me a long time to get into my character and time to come out of my character, which makes even two hours seem very short. I now get into my character a lot faster so I can maximize my writing time. I kept my novel on the back burner of my mind all the time. That was a really great discovery. I kept thinking that I didn't have time to write at this point in my life. "Maybe someday" became my mindset. Granted, I probably don't have time to write 50,000 words in a month, but even in a month that contained all three kids getting a stomach virus and travelling to Colorado for Thanksgiving I came close to 20,000. That's amazing. If I did that every month, I could be finished in a few more months! Finished! It could happen. It's not in the 'maybe someday' category anymore, it's in the 'baby steps' category. A little at a time and it could be done. That is my Win for NaNoWriMo.
Another Win was meeting local authors. I really needed a community here where I could talk about my writing, and I didn't know anyone. Now I know a few people. Sure, I don't know them well, but maybe it'll turn into a writing group or something. That would be totally awesome for me. We had a lot of fun at our meet ups and I'm super excited about continuing them after NaNo.
Finally, I just want to encourage you in your "maybe someday" category. Sure, maybe some of those aren't doable right now, but maybe some of them are. Maybe you need to take a hard look at where you're spending your time and where you want to spend it. Do you find yourself wasting time? Set yourself a goal that seems really high, but just maybe possible. 50,000 words is only 1,667 words a day. That wasn't so impossible as to be really impossible it was just highly unlikely but maybe possible. I even had a couple of days where I made that goal. More shocking to me was the 'word wars' we would have during meet ups. I could do 400 or so words in 15 minutes (I was always one of the slowest). But that number puts the rest of the numbers into perspective for me. Does that mean I can write 1600 words in an hour...not that I know of, but maybe I could be more productive with my time. Instead of checking one more website or my twitter feed again or facebook or turning on the tv to see what's on or whatever the distraction is...maybe I can use that time to take a baby step toward my goal. What is your goal and what might you do now to take some baby steps toward it? Get moving. Have fun.
I started with a novel of around 22,000 words. I have been working on it, off and on, for two years or more...maybe even three! (Wow, it's been longer than I remember!) I have been really excited about it and enjoying the little time I had to write. In ONE MONTH I almost doubled that wordcount! I wrote just under 20,000 words total during November. How can I NOT be a winner with a novel that is now over 40,000 words???
It was really great to learn of all the time I actually had to write during the day. Having an impossible goal caused me to rearrange my life so that I could make time where there wasn't time before. Granted, I will probably not have any large chunks of time in which to write until the twins start full day school in, like, 4 years. I needed to use the little chunks of time that I had. It used to take me a long time to get into my character and time to come out of my character, which makes even two hours seem very short. I now get into my character a lot faster so I can maximize my writing time. I kept my novel on the back burner of my mind all the time. That was a really great discovery. I kept thinking that I didn't have time to write at this point in my life. "Maybe someday" became my mindset. Granted, I probably don't have time to write 50,000 words in a month, but even in a month that contained all three kids getting a stomach virus and travelling to Colorado for Thanksgiving I came close to 20,000. That's amazing. If I did that every month, I could be finished in a few more months! Finished! It could happen. It's not in the 'maybe someday' category anymore, it's in the 'baby steps' category. A little at a time and it could be done. That is my Win for NaNoWriMo.
Another Win was meeting local authors. I really needed a community here where I could talk about my writing, and I didn't know anyone. Now I know a few people. Sure, I don't know them well, but maybe it'll turn into a writing group or something. That would be totally awesome for me. We had a lot of fun at our meet ups and I'm super excited about continuing them after NaNo.
Finally, I just want to encourage you in your "maybe someday" category. Sure, maybe some of those aren't doable right now, but maybe some of them are. Maybe you need to take a hard look at where you're spending your time and where you want to spend it. Do you find yourself wasting time? Set yourself a goal that seems really high, but just maybe possible. 50,000 words is only 1,667 words a day. That wasn't so impossible as to be really impossible it was just highly unlikely but maybe possible. I even had a couple of days where I made that goal. More shocking to me was the 'word wars' we would have during meet ups. I could do 400 or so words in 15 minutes (I was always one of the slowest). But that number puts the rest of the numbers into perspective for me. Does that mean I can write 1600 words in an hour...not that I know of, but maybe I could be more productive with my time. Instead of checking one more website or my twitter feed again or facebook or turning on the tv to see what's on or whatever the distraction is...maybe I can use that time to take a baby step toward my goal. What is your goal and what might you do now to take some baby steps toward it? Get moving. Have fun.
Saturday, October 22, 2011
On thankfulness...
I have always considered myself to be an optimist. I tend to look at the world through rose-colored glasses, always seeing the best in people and in situations. Sure, some may call me naive. Some may think I'm delusional or unrealistic. But I enjoy being optimistic. I like being upbeat and positive. However, I've noticed that my positive attitude has suffered recently. Not because of politics or the economy, but because of something I never expected...children.
I have wanted to be a mommy for most of my life. I have always loved children. I love hanging out with them, talking with them, playing with them, and teaching them. From babies in diapers to teenagers in drama and everything in-between, I just really like hanging out with them and loving on them. So with all of these happy-happy-joy-joy feelings floating about my head concerning children, what is my issue?
My children. Or, more precisely, my response to them and what I've learned about myself through having them. All children can be frustrating, disobedient, stubborn, and mean. They are completely selfish and self-centered...Any you know what? So am I. Why don't they just do what I ask them to??? Why can't they understand that I want what's best for them? Why do I feel like their failure to behave to my standard is a reflection of my failure as a parent? ...Probably because I'm a mom. I'm sure my frustrations in raising my three little ones are not unusual. However, I have found myself focusing on those frustrations, and I think that's what has been bringing me down.
I realized this recently. I don't know why I didn't notice that I was doing it before. My husband would come home and ask about my day, and I would relate to him all the things that went wrong. Who hit, who was in time-out, who disobeyed, who broke what, etc. There were so many fun moments in the day, and I would remember all the bad ones. I practically had my husband convinced that I had the worst job in the world! I almost convinced myself. Then I started reading One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. I'm only on chapter four right now, but chapter three blew my mind. The practice of seeing the good in every moment of the day, and giving thanks for it, has changed my perspective. Making sure I'm on the lookout for the good things, helps me to stay calm when the bad things come. No, my children don't scream every moment of every day...but that's how I felt. I would tune in from scream to scream and miss the giggles in-between. It was a sad and depressing way to live.
The first day of my new thankfulness mindset started with my trying to get the kids out the door to an activity and them not moving quickly enough. I was frustrated and exasperated. I pulled out of the garage in a really bad mood and waited to see if my garage door went down. Yeah, the sun shines just wrong into the laser safety light mechanism at that time of the morning and it thinks there is someone under the door, so it goes back up. I usually have to stand so that my shadow covers the light receiver so the the sun doesn't interrupt the laser. I paused the car anticipating the need to get out and be another two minutes late when the door just went right down. I was so surprised that it shocked me out of the frustrated mood I was in. That was when I remembered the thankfulness thing I was supposed to be doing. I smiled so big! Thank you for garage doors that go down like they're supposed to! It changed my whole day. We went on and had a great time at our activity and I had a great day to report to my hubby! Thankfulness for the little things really does change your perspective on the bigger things.
So I'm seeking to take back my optimism and move forward with thankfulness...because I really do have three amazing children and the best job there is! :)
I have wanted to be a mommy for most of my life. I have always loved children. I love hanging out with them, talking with them, playing with them, and teaching them. From babies in diapers to teenagers in drama and everything in-between, I just really like hanging out with them and loving on them. So with all of these happy-happy-joy-joy feelings floating about my head concerning children, what is my issue?
My children. Or, more precisely, my response to them and what I've learned about myself through having them. All children can be frustrating, disobedient, stubborn, and mean. They are completely selfish and self-centered...Any you know what? So am I. Why don't they just do what I ask them to??? Why can't they understand that I want what's best for them? Why do I feel like their failure to behave to my standard is a reflection of my failure as a parent? ...Probably because I'm a mom. I'm sure my frustrations in raising my three little ones are not unusual. However, I have found myself focusing on those frustrations, and I think that's what has been bringing me down.
I realized this recently. I don't know why I didn't notice that I was doing it before. My husband would come home and ask about my day, and I would relate to him all the things that went wrong. Who hit, who was in time-out, who disobeyed, who broke what, etc. There were so many fun moments in the day, and I would remember all the bad ones. I practically had my husband convinced that I had the worst job in the world! I almost convinced myself. Then I started reading One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. I'm only on chapter four right now, but chapter three blew my mind. The practice of seeing the good in every moment of the day, and giving thanks for it, has changed my perspective. Making sure I'm on the lookout for the good things, helps me to stay calm when the bad things come. No, my children don't scream every moment of every day...but that's how I felt. I would tune in from scream to scream and miss the giggles in-between. It was a sad and depressing way to live.
The first day of my new thankfulness mindset started with my trying to get the kids out the door to an activity and them not moving quickly enough. I was frustrated and exasperated. I pulled out of the garage in a really bad mood and waited to see if my garage door went down. Yeah, the sun shines just wrong into the laser safety light mechanism at that time of the morning and it thinks there is someone under the door, so it goes back up. I usually have to stand so that my shadow covers the light receiver so the the sun doesn't interrupt the laser. I paused the car anticipating the need to get out and be another two minutes late when the door just went right down. I was so surprised that it shocked me out of the frustrated mood I was in. That was when I remembered the thankfulness thing I was supposed to be doing. I smiled so big! Thank you for garage doors that go down like they're supposed to! It changed my whole day. We went on and had a great time at our activity and I had a great day to report to my hubby! Thankfulness for the little things really does change your perspective on the bigger things.
So I'm seeking to take back my optimism and move forward with thankfulness...because I really do have three amazing children and the best job there is! :)
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