Pennies and popcorn

I suffer from a fairly common ailment - mommy guilt.  Mostly I feel like a lazy mama.  I'm tired.  I look at other beautiful blogs and Pinterest and Facebook of fun things other people are doing.  But when it comes actually getting my act together and doing some cool project it just falls apart.  I keep telling myself I still have time, that really the boys are too little still to really get into or benefit much from such attempts.  They would probably just turn into chaos, frustration, and wasted materials. 

But then, from time to time, he comes up with his own thing.  The WeatherMan had sorted out the pennies and put them in their own container.  And what fun Bigger had.

When I first figured out what he was up to I was not pleased - the mess of the popcorn, the germs on the change.  But I took a step back.  He wasn't hurting anything.  So what if there was a mess?  We have a vacuum.  So what if he had made his popcorn gross?  We had more popcorn.  So I let him have at it. 

He tried to get them into the cup from behind.  He didn't have great success with that and it didn't last long. 

But pouring those pennies back and forth was a serious hit.  He pushed them around, put them in things, used them to "pay" for imaginary stuff.  The digger even got involved for a while.  Although that would have been more fun if we had found the bucket for the scoop but he still made due with just where the scoop should be, trying to pile them on the spot where it would attach.  He even let Littler get involved from time to time. 

He seriously spent close to two hours doing this.  No way would anything I had put him up to suggested or planned held his attention nearly that long. 

Doesn't that face say it all?  It's a little like magic.  What will he dream up next?  And just as I finish up this post, I saw this post at No Time for Flashcards.  Makes me think I should start saving up some building materials for him and see where they lead... 

Maybe my laziness isn't such a problem, it's giving them space to make their own discoveries and create their own fun.  So maybe it's not laziness after all.  Because, after all, who do you think cleaned up most of that mess? 

Yarn Along

Books and knits, knits and books.  Mine are a little repetitive at the moment but I still love Wednesday posts about reading and projects.  And I love heading over to see what everyone is up to over at small things. 

Yup, still knitting my mom's Irish hiking scarf. 
Yup, still reading Organized Simplicity. 

I'm not feeling very inspired at the moment.  Although I did finish the book on Canadian history and really enjoyed that.  And not knit-related but I have the blocks ready to sew together for the first wedding gift quilt I have to finish before October.  Sorry, can't share those till after the joyous days because I know one bride-to-be reads here and I'm not sure about the other but she might. 

There's a good chance I've hit a snag in Organized Simplicity.  So far I'm loving her suggestions for simplifying life.  She even breaks it down into 10 specific days to sort through and organized your home and make it into the home that will make you and your family happiest and most productive.  The concept to keep what is useful or beautiful is nothing new but a really good philosophy.  Trouble is we kinda live in a storage unit.  Not in a Hoarders kind of way but just that we are seriously lacking in storage space so it spills out of closets and into our living space.  And we were storing some things at a friend's but he is moving so we had to get it out of his basement and fit it into the apartment.  In a few weeks we're visiting family and hopefully be able to store, for the example, all the outgrown baby stuff in their attic.  That will help.  Big time. 

The other trouble is her method.  I totally agree the best way to declutter and prioritize is to clear everything into a neutral spot and have to sort it all.  However the thought of taking everything out of our living room and putting it into the dining room to sort through it and clean with my two man wrecking crew little helpers does not seem practical in the slightest.  It will take me a lot longer than 10 days to go through all her suggestions since I'll have to wait for days DH can take the boys out while I work. 

So I guess I'll do what I can because I do really like her philosophy.  And try again with the intense plan later.  Maybe when we pack to move?  ;-)  And start reading the last Harry Potter to get ready to see the movie. 

Crayon sorting

Sounds really thrilling, doesn't it?  Oh but it was :) 

I should have taken a before picture of the crayon collection but it really wasn't all that nice to look at. 
But now it's divided into a baggie for taking on the road, the still nice ones for coloring at home, and a baggie of the little bits and stinky ones to melt down for making crayons or stained "glass" windows.  A much prettier picture. 

And meanwhile the boys were coloring, Bigger with markers and Littler with... well, you can see. 

Much better.  It feels so good to have this all nice and tidy.  And all in one place rather than 3 different spots in three different rooms.  And it was a good excuse to go through this drawer too and sort it all out.  Decluttering, organizing, purging the stuff we wont be using,  simplifying - good times :) 

This Week

Theme:
   ears/ sound

Plans:
   *make rolls
   *clean out the stroller
   *make granola/ granola bars
   *finish pillow covers
   *finish BSJs
   *enter GTG points
   *start quilt top
   *declutter

Meals:
  Monday - out :)
  Tuesday - ham, potatoes, veggies
  Wednesday - hot dogs, vegetarian baked beans, veggies/ salad
   Thursday - fried rice w/ ham, veggies,
   Friday - fish, rice, veggies/ salad
   Saturday - spagetti w/ sauce, salad

Special Stuff:
  Monday - soccer
  Tuesday - first day of SUMMER!
  Wednesday - playgroup
  Thursday - library
  Friday - drop-in

Let's see if this all helps.  I was once the queen of lists and have gotten away from it.  I'm thinking by putting it all together (and out there) it gives me a little accountability and motivation to get it done.  Plus I've discovered that if I don't plan ahead I'm much more likely to spend my time in front of the TV, computer, or a book than accomplishing housework.  Maybe it's a step toward simplicity - list and finish what needs doing so I can focus on the fun stuff.  Like books and blogs :)

Some days I'd like to be Amish

Don't get me wrong.  I don't want to romanticize a challenging way of life and I certainly love my modern conveniences like electricity, cars, washing machines, and zippers.  But it would filter out so many of the distractions and so much of the clutter that I feel the need to address in my life.  It is so hard to live "intentionally" with littles.  It's so tough to appreciate the small joys in life after a soaking wet potty-training preschooler snuggles up to you at 3:30 in the morning.  It's nearly impossible to find peace when shouting to get feet off the table or to stop jumping on the couch or to stop jumping on your brother or to stop throwing food because the first 87 billion times you said it it went unheard.  There are a lot of distractions from focusing on what, at the risk of sounding lame, really matters.  There is a lot of clutter in life and it isn't all stuff.  

So in search of peace, joy, and the like I started a blog.  And I love writing it and the responses I get and the ideas and encouragement I find in other's blogs.  Now, before you start thinking to yourself "Pot, I'd like to introduce you to my friend, Kettle" for taking on a whole new distraction, hear me out.  Or I guess it should be read me out.  What I'm hoping for here is a spot to point out (to myself when necessary) the good in life.  And for a place to sort out my thoughts and plans.  And maybe even a little accountability for seeing those plans through.  I don't want to miss the forest for the trees, so to speak.  Or the trees for the forest.  Or the whole kit-in-caboodle for the chaos. 

My first plan of attack is the stuff.  It's the most obvious and it honestly gives me stress.  I always had to have a clean desk to start my work in school.  Then again, that just might have been procrastination...  But the orderliness of everything having a place and everything in its place really appeals to me.  So I'm attempting to weed out the things we don't need to keep and find homes for the things that it is important for us to keep out.  Speaking of which, any opinions on holding onto clothes that aren't current with one's lifestyle or size?  I have a couple nice suits from back in the day when I worked in the consignment shop and picked up for $5 each but when am I going to wear them?  And would the skirts even stay remotely close to where they belong at this point? 

In Simplicity Parenting the author, Kim John Payne, also suggests simplifying your routine/ schedule and the input your children are exposed to from the adult world.  Both of these are a much bigger challenge.  We don't keep a "normal" work week.  The four-on- five-off 12 hours shifts schedule is sweet for travel and grocery shopping but the effect it has on the boys is rough.  Once we get into a rhythm it's shot.  Not just our schedule of days either.  It messes up our daily routine too whether Daddy is home or not or if he's sleeping.  Hence my goal of planning activities for the boys.  It's an attempt to keep them busy but also to stabilize our days a little bit. 

As to input from the adult world it is amazing what a 3 year old picks up on.  I have seriously asked him "how do you know Spiderman?"  Because I cannot explain it.  Watching him pouring over the toy pages in the weekly sales fliers and parenting magazines with obscene numbers of ads grosses me out in a way.  There really are a disgusting number of ads in parenting mags.  I counted them in the June issue of Parenting - Early Years and there were 136!  On 104 pages!  I have to ask myself why am I bringing that into our house?  (Because it was a fundraiser for the preschool and I got 2 years for $22, but still.)  So next up will be trying to put a lid on the ads the boys can get their hands on by putting away the magazines and going through the weekly grocery fliers after they are in bed.  Sure, they'll still see stuff and want stuff but they don't need to be surrounded by it. 

I have a lot of work ahead of me in my quest for peace and simplicity.  But usually at the right times inspiration and encouragement comes along.  Just in the last week, since I posted about seeking simplicity, two of the blogs I love had posts that really spoke to where I am and where I want to strive for.  And no, it isn't really to be Amish.  But there are Amish characteristics that I would like to have in my life.

And maybe I've read a few too many Beverly Lewis novels.  :) 

In case you're interested, the first blog post was Kate Wicker's comments on how different her to-do list was on vacation and that the laundry really will always be there and the second was Elizabeth Foss' timely post on grace, gentleness, and how to approach the never-ending to-do list.  I've joked for a long time that the Holy Spirit pushes me around but it's kinda true.  And I am so thankful to be able to recognize the inspiration. 

Small Success - 6/2

Here were are again, looking for the little accomplishments that deserve a pat on the back.  Check in with Sherry at Chocolate for Your Brain to find more and share yours :)

*I am currently caught up with dishes :)

*I've been doing much better in my quest to eat real food, and the scale agrees.

*I finally got around to cleaning up the dirt on the porch.  I kept hoping someone else would do it.

*I'm almost finished with the quilt.  Not quite a success yet but it's at least in the very last stage.

*Litter Boy slept more than 10 hours last night!  Granted, it started at 6pm so, you guessed it, he was up at 4:30 which was less than steller.  But I got him to snuggle with me for an hour after that and by then it was almost a decent hour. 

*I'm working through my thoughts on simplifying and making some progress.  With any luck I can write it up and post it tonight. 

*I'm really liking the "thinking out loud" that this blog is allowing me.  It'll be interesting to see where the various trains of thought end up. 

*We went to the library this morning and I only took out one book for myself.

*Both boys are dozing off on the couch as I type.  Oh, sweet, sweet nap time.  :) 

Seeking Simplicity

I should probably start by admitting to my pack rat-like tendencies.  If something is still good/ might be useful/ could someday be made into... I'm gonna want to hang onto it.  Come on, I couldn't have been the only one to grow up with a too-good-to-throw-away drawer in the kitchen, could I?  By the time I was a teenager my room looked like the dump.  But it was a very organized dump - ask me for anything and I could be back with it in about a minute.  It was organized chaos. 

Somehow I managed to keep a pretty tidy dorm room.  Maybe the pressure of sharing with someone else.  Maybe just because I didn't really take 18 years of accumulated treasures with me although I did try. 

The trouble really sets in after we got married and it's name is spare bedroom.  Instead of a too-good-to-throw-away drawer we had a whole room devoted to stuff.  Boxes of treasures from growing up.  Boxes of textbooks and notes.  Clothes.  Craft supplies.  Camping gear.  Boxes that were moved there when we moved in that held stuff that was most defiantly not ours.  Like a hot water bottle, still in the original packaging, that had dried out and cracked straight through.  Just as I was starting to think about cleaning it out to make a nursery I miscarried.  And then by the time we needed to start the nursery project again we had moved to another state.  And a one bedroom apartment.  Add on another 3 years, another move, another baby, and all the related paraphernalia and we're still in an apartment, two bedrooms now but it's growing smaller and smaller all the time.  We have stuff stored at my parent's house, a friend here's basement, and we are lucky to have two storage spaces (the size of a refrigerator) here in our building.  I was so thankful to be granted the use of the second storage space, I was starting to feel like I live in an episode of "Hoarders" - there were stacks of boxes and bins lining all the walls in our bedroom and the all closets are stuffed to the gills. 

So here is my simplification issue.  Stuff seems like the place to start but how do we do it?  I look around every room and there is so little we can do without.  Well, that's not totally true, we could get by with so much less, I know.  But where do I start?  I can't get rid of anything that will be used in the not to distant future.  So we're keeping the food processor, the electric skillet (which is perfect for making Swedish pancakes,) the bins of outgrown baby clothes and toys, the holiday decorations.  We've weeded out CDs and DVDs that we don't watch and books we wont read again.  We're still surrounded by stuff! 

I know I'm not supposed to say it but if only we had more space... 

And I know we are very lucky to have this problem.  So many people in the world don't have what they need to live let alone all the luxuries that I am struggling to fit into our home.  And so many people have lost everything in the storms that destroy whole communities that I really shouldn't complain that I have too much stuff.  Hopefully by committing this to writing I can start making some progress toward simplifying our lives.  And our stuff.  But just in case maybe I should start praying to St. Anthony to find us a bigger home...