It feels strange to have been away from this space for so long. But I have, and now I am finally ready for the new year. When I returned here, to Facebook, Pinterest and email, I was welcomed back by several new likes, subscriptions, and comments. Thank you! I love spending my free time here. The fact that people read it and like it, makes it even more purposeful to me. I’m very glad to be back, and thankful to have had this quiet rainy day to sit by the fire and write.
We had a wonderful winter break from school. It was somewhat of a magical break, where I loved spending everyday with my children. In the 24 straight days they were at home with me, I didn’t have a single instant when I was wished school would hurry up and start back.
There must have been some magic in those Christmas toys, because they have kept my girls happily engaged and playing imaginatively together for weeks. Seeing them play together, read together and help each other, fills my heart with smiles. (I wanted to share a favorite gift list from 2012 – I apologize if you’ve been waiting for that – but I missed that window so now it will now get rolled into a few winter activities at home posts).
But now onto 2013. For the first time in several years I had no resolutions and I ate no black eyed peas on New Years Day. Maybe I really hadn’t thought about it enough, maybe I was not quite ready to think about it, maybe I just didn’t care. I was too busy being in the moment with the girls. And for the past few weeks, that felt like the right place to be. Not sitting at my computer while they played, but joining in on a game of Candyland and puzzles. Not staying up too late where I couldn’t be fully present for them the next day, but tucking myself in with them, at their bedtime.
So these leaves me with a new form or resolutions for the new year, as our family grows another year older, needs grow bigger, parenting decisions are raised up a notch and we reach a little deeper to figure out what that all means for us.
After giving it some thought, I’m not going to make a definitive list of things to check off, home improvements to do, places to travel or things to want. Instead I’ll focus on the little things that surround us everyday.
- I’ll be figuring out better ways be organized at home, when it comes to meal planing, scheduling and household duties. Sarah over at Memories on Clover Lane does a helpful job of detailing how she organizes her beautiful home life with six kids.
- I’ll be getting my girls more actively involved with chores and helping to make dinner. It’s so much easier to do things for them, than put the extra effort into incentives, teaching, coaching and the mental game of trying not to nag them about it. I want these things to be are part of their routines, doing them for themselves and for the good of our environment, similar to the weekly “work jobs” they do at their Montessori school. Large families like those at Raising Olives must have these things in place for their days to function smoothly. If they can do it with 11 kids, I can do it with 3!
- I’ll be taking better care of myself. The dog is benefitting from this one, with regular walks. And the yoga schedule from the Glowing Body is now posted by my computer. I dusted off my yoga mat, again (the one that has been through three pregnancies). Only to discover it was stained by a coffee spill – which is so picturesque of how things go for me. Maybe I will treat myself to a new mat.
- And then, I’ll take a deep breath, say no to more things without feeling guilty, slow down for more moments of beauty – Like this simple one reminding us to pause – and let more things go when they are not perfect. The past is the past and the future will be different. The present is in between.
- I’ll seek out reasons for a spontaneous trips to the mountains, quick road trips to places we’ve never been, and say yes to a friend who wants me to go hear live music with her on a Monday night.
With all that said, I know this year will be full of adventures, inspiration and happy times.
Welcome 2013.
