Tag: life

Living a Large Fall

Posted on October 28, 2015October 27, 2015 by Mama

We have been enjoying such a gorgeous fall that I’ve hardly made the time to blog at all. Amid the apple orchards, pumpkin patches and trips to the zoo, we have been soaking in the warm breezy days and living large before winter swoops us up in another cold embrace.

I’ve been baking, making and sewing up a storm while not outside with my son, leaving little extra time to type my thoughts to the world or share what’s been happening at the other end of my camera. So on this chilly, rainy turn of a day, I finally took the time to peruse some of the photos from our last visit to the KC zoo. While the kids didn’t cooperate much, the animals seemed to be in rare still form. Here are a few of my favorites. . . I hope you enjoy.

Is Meanness a 9-1-1 Offense?

Posted on October 27, 2015 by Mama

My husband and I have been talking to our now five-year-old son about emergencies and dialing 9-1-1 in the event he needs help, but I wasn’t prepared for yesterday’s morning conversation. . .

As I tried to usher our son out the door for preschool, he asked to bring a toy to show his friends. This is a little something he often requests, and ever so often I allow him to carry a dinosaur, truck or train to school to show his buddies, then I promptly cart it back home with me. I try not to indulge this activity too often because it disrupts the start of school, but I figure as long as we make it quick, it doesn’t hurt every now and then.

So yesterday morning as coats are flying, lunch pails flinging and we are running a few minutes late, my son asks to bring a toy. Mind you, not a specific something, but just something. Knowing the search for the perfect toy would add several minutes to our departure time and he showed and told just last week, I nixed his request. To which, he ignored my nixing and headed for his room. More forcibly , I told him no and asked him to get in the car.

Other than a foot stomp (yeah, he’s five going on fifteen), his simple response was, “Where’s your phone?” Bewildered, I watched him walk round and round the kitchen and living room looking for my phone.

When I finally asked him why he needed a phone, he answered with a huff, “I need to dial 9-1-1, because you’re being mean.”

Less is More Between Now and New Year

Posted on October 5, 2015 by Mama

I always think of October as the gateway to the new year, probably because as soon as I start decorating for Halloween it seems like January before I’ve had much time to register even another thought.

I spruce up the homestead for Halloween, take it all down in a day, add a few fallish touches just in time for Thanksgiving, travel, eat, shop, deck the halls (and the living room, bathrooms, front porch and basement) for Christmas, celebrate multiple times, travel some more, eat some more, return items I shopped for during the last month and a half (or week and a half, depending on how far behind I happen to be), welcome in the new year, make resolutions I never intend to keep, and take down all the decking while promising myself to keep it simple the next year. Yikes, it makes me tired just thinking about it!

So where does it all go awry? Since I’m looking for a scapegoat, I’m going to go with this — Pinterest and HGTV. How dare they fill my brain with so many incredibly wonderful projects to make, dishes to bake and 1001 uses for toilet paper rolls. “If I was Super Mom, I could do this. If I was Wife of the Year I could do that. If I was The Hostess with the Mostess, I could do it all. . .” but in the end, I’m usually just left feeling a bit deflated and completely exhausted by all the half-executed “thises” and “thats” that I impossibly tried to cram into an already full, and fulfilling, life.

So here’s a challenge to myself and all you awesome moms, wives and friends who subscribe to the over doing, over making, and over decorating way of life: step back, simplify and enjoy your family between now and the new year. Pare down a bit on the projects, enjoy some beautiful Fall walks, make some simple homemade decorations with the kids, and invite some friends over for quiet conversation and a few good laughs instead of planning an all-out party; all the while knowing that you could have done more, oh so much more, but you chose not to and it’s all good.

photo credit: Autumn is indeed… via photopin (license)

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