That Kind of Parent

Some parents buy their children dolls or toy cars.  Apparently I'm the kind of parent who buys her child a sonic screwdriver.  And I am perfectly ok with that!  Allons-y!

(P.S. Any guesses who we're dressing him up as for Halloween?  Don't worry, there will be pictures!)

Self Care

Sometimes I don't cope with life very well.  And often the transition from doing ok to not doing ok can be quite sudden.  I go from doing pretty well to crashing physically and emotionally within the space of a couple moments, and then all I want to do is hide myself in some sort of computer game, puzzle, social media, or other such thing that seems to just make everything worse.  And it can take quite a bit to pull myself out of one of those negative spirals.

I recently came across this list of suggestions of things to do when you're not coping with life.  While nothing on it was new to me, I find that I often need a reminder of the things that will actually help me feel better, rather than make things worse.  (Why is it that it is so much easier to do the things that make you feel worse?  That a very strange phenomenon, now that I think about it.  But that's beside the point.)

So I decided to write up my own personalized list of things that help me when I'm "crashing".  I wrote them on a poster and put it on the wall, so now I have a very visual reminder!  I thought I would share my list with you, and encourage you to make your own list of things that help you feel better when you're not doing well!

1. Have a glass of water.
I try to drink enough water, but often I forget.  Sometimes a simple glass of water is enough to help me start feeling better.

2. Eat something with protein in it.
Sometimes I forget to eat, or only eat carbs, which doesn't give me the energy I need to get through the day.

3. Have a shower.
 Feeling clean is wonderful, and being in the shower is undisputed "me" time.  I'm not on baby duty or under pressure to make dinner, clean the kitchen etc. because I'm in the shower!

4. Get outside for a walk.
Exercise, fresh air, God's beautiful creation... why do I stay inside so often?

5. Say something nice to someone.
It helps to get my focus off of myself and look for what I appreciate about the people around me.

6. Put some upbeat music on and start moving.
I find that helps me get out of a negative head space.

7. Hugs.
Hugs make me happy.

8. Wear something nice.
Dressing up as if it's a special day helps me remember that every day is special.

9. Go to bed.
So often I stay up later than I need to.  But sleep helps a lot.

10. Remember it's ok to have a break.
Often I put really high expectations on myself when I don't need to.

Wooden Spool Toy

With the arrival of cooler weather, I have started wearing one of my favourite winter sweaters again.  Steven quickly discovered that my sweater has drawstrings with wooden beads on them.  He proceeded to hold onto the bead, and wouldn't let go, even though it meant that he couldn't move more than a foot away from me.

That reminded me that I had a bag of wooden thread spools from Jesse's grandma, that I could use to make Steven a toy!  Since he loved my wooden beads so much, I was sure he would like it.

I decided that I wanted to paint the spools and thread them on a cord to make a chain.  I used food colouring, since Steven will probably end up chewing on it a lot.

One way I coloured some of the spools was by soaking them in a mixture of food colouring and water.  I found that it took a long time to dye the wood that way, so I tried a different approach.

I tried using the food colouring like paint and applying it directly with a paint brush.  That worked more quickly, but did have a greater risk of messiness.

I also put the food colouring directly on the spools in a bag, which worked quite well.  After the spools had all dried I used a damp paper towel to take off the excess dye.

I painted designs on a few of the spools too.  (With acrylic paint.)

I found a short cord in my box of craft supplies, knotted one end, and strung the spools on like beads.

And that's it!  Steven enjoys chewing on it, making noise by banging it on the ground, and dragging it around as if he has a pet on a leash.  When he is a little older it will be great for recognizing colours and learning to count.  I love how the simplest toys are often the best toys!

Small Rays of Sunshine

Sometimes when you are tired and struggling, small things can make a big difference.  Today there were a few things that encouraged my heart, and I thought I would share them with you.

Pies

Today I had a friend come over and we made apple pies.  It was really nice to have someone to talk with, and to have the help with the pies.  One went right in the oven, and there are three for the freezer.


Friends

When I decided to ask around and see if anyone wanted to join me for pie-making, I ended up contacting twelve people.  I was surprised by the number of people I could think of to ask.  And that didn't include a few people that I knew wouldn't be able to come and so didn't bother asking.  And then later on I thought of some other people I could have also asked.  So it ended up that I thought of eighteen women who live not too far away and that I know well enough to invite to make pies with me.  Only one of them was actually able to come, but I was still encouraged.  I hadn't realized that I have that many friends here! 


Family Time

Today we got to go hiking as a family.  I was really needing to get outside, and the time in the peace and beauty of God's creation was very life-giving for me.  And I love family time.

Speaking of family, our precious boy has now been living in the wide world with us longer than he lived inside of me.  What an amazing milestone.

Yes, I am tired.  And I often feel overwhelmed.  But my heart is full.

A Quest for Ethical (part 2)

As a household, we have been trying to reduce our waste.  We recycle whatever we can.  This year we got permission to put our compost in our townhouse complex's greens disposal bin.  We use cloth diapers for our son.  But we still want to reduce our waste even more.  One way to do that is pay attention to what different things we throw in the garbage.  There are a few key culprits that still fill up our trash bin.  Here is the one that I have been working on lately:

Facial tissue (commonly known as klenex)

Tissues are something I used to just take for granted, but I started to notice how much they were filling up our garbage, especially when we all came down with colds a few weeks ago.  That got me thinking about the fact that tissues haven't been around for all that long, in the grand scale of things.  According to Wikipedia, Klenexes were introduced in the west in 1924.  So I decided to give something else a try.

Handkerchiefs!  Those things of legend.  Extremely valuable to all adventurers, whether peasant, princess, or hobbit.  They seem to show up a lot in stories, at any rate.  And as the stories attest, they have many more uses than simply being nose-wipers.  I decided I would make some "reusable klenexes" to have around the house.

As far as sewing projects go, this is about as easy as it gets.

I bought a couple 50 cent receiving blankets at a local thrift store, and cut them into smaller squares, and did a zigzag stitch around the edge of each handkerchief.

That's it!

I put them in these fabric boxes, ready to be used!  Right now we have one box in our bedroom and one in the living room.

So far the handkerchiefs seem to serve their purpose well, and are easy to throw in with any load of laundry once used.  We will see how they hold up the next time we all get sick! 

Edit: I just thought of another perk of using handkerchiefs - you don't need to keep checking pockets for those stray tissues that end up in the wash and get stuck over everything!  Hooray!

Thanksgiving & Lament

I am thankful for our home. We have a comfortable, safe place to live. It's full of books, music, clothes, furniture... everything we need. But we would really love to have a place where our son could have his own room instead of sleeping in ours. And our place is so cave-like with no sunshine coming in our north-facing windows. And there's no yard for our son to play in. And no room for animals or a garden. We aren't city people, and yet here we are, living in the middle of a city. I am thankful for our home, but I feel trapped.

I am thankful for enough food to eat. Even though the budget is tight some months, we've never gone hungry, and we always have more than enough to share. So much of my day is taken up by food. Planning, shopping, preparation, eating, cleaning up... sometimes it's too much and I ignore it for a while, but then we end up eating nachos again. And to eat ethically is so expensive! Especially since we don't have the space to grow it ourselves. It is frustrating how simple, ethical living can seem so impossible. I don't want how I live to have a negative impact on others around the world, but sometimes that seems like an impossible ideal. I am thankful for our food, but I feel so frustrated.

I am thankful for our friends. There are many wonderful people who we share laughter and games and food with. We love it when our home is full of people. That doesn't happen as often as we would like. People are so busy, with work and other commitments. I can sometimes go a whole week without seeing anyone except for the people that I live with. I try, but it is easy to be discouraged when people are always too busy. And other friends live far away. I am thankful for our friends, but I feel so lonely.

I am thankful for my family. I get to be mom to the most amazing boy I could ever ask for. He is so smart and funny and cute. It is a privilege to watch him learn and grow. It is also exhausting. Especially since he had been waking up a lot more in the night lately. I want to be more interactive, more fun, and give him as enriching a childhood as I can, but many days I just want to hide in my smartphone games, and I feel guilty. I have a loving husband who does whatever he can to help me, and he is so understanding and gentle. But he can't fix everything. And there are times when he is tired and discouraged too, so I try to be there for him even when I feel like I have nothing to give. I am so very thankful for my family, but I feel overwhelmed.

I am thankful for Jesus, our Saviour, and all that he has done for us. He is the one who gives purpose and meaning to our lives, and he wants to be in relationship with us. But I invest so little in that relationship. I know he should be the first priority, but when I have to choose between reading the Bible and making dinner or sweeping the floor or doing the laundry or checking Facebook or watching YouTube or sleeping, those other things win every time. I feel ashamed, but discipline seems to take more energy than I can muster. I want to live a life of purpose and joy, but the song is gone from my heart. So I lean on unconditional grace, but still feel far away from him. I am thankful for Jesus, but my heart is tired.

Cheeseburger Cups

Sometimes I google "What should I make for supper?".  I am not proud of that fact.  I really do try to put together meal plans and think ahead, but as you can imagine, some weeks that goes better than other weeks.  And I have been trying to break my habit of googling anything I am not sure about.  Of course, google is a very useful tool, but one day when I was tempted to google "What should I do with my life?" I realized that perhaps it had gone a bit too far.  But there are still days when I ask brother google about what to do about some baby-related issue, or for meal ideas.  A couple days ago I had one of those kinds of days.  This recipe came up as one of the suggestions, and it turned out so well that I thought I would share it with you!  Now you don't have to google what to make for supper tonight.  You're welcome.

Cheeseburger cups are actually really easy to make.  They involve biscuit dough, a ground beef mixture, and cheese/ any other toppings you fancy.

First is the biscuit layer.  The original recipe calls for refrigerated buttermilk biscuits, but homemade biscuits are really easy to make.  Here's a recipe I use:

Mix in a bowl: 2 cups flour, 2 tablespoons sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 4 teaspoons baking powder.  Then add 1/2 cup oil and 1 cup milk.  Mix.

Put some biscuit dough into the bottom of muffin tins that have been greased.  Press the dough up the sides a bit so that there is a well in the center.

Next add the ground beef mixture.  I fried the ground beef with onions, garlic, barbecue sauce, and spices.

Add any other toppings you want!  I used some diced tomato.  Then finish by topping with cubed/crumbled cheese.  Bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes.

That's it!  We had the cheeseburger cups for supper with a salad.  It was really good!  I think they would make great appetizers too.  You can check out the original recipe here.  What are some of your favourite go-to meals for when you don't have anything planned?

Nine Months

Our busy little boy is nine months old now.  He loves "playing music", listening to stories, and crawling after the broom while mommy tries to sweep.  He walks along furniture, insists on feeding himself, and just discovered that there are interesting things inside the kitchen cupboards.  Our hands are full, but so are our hearts!

When Your "Some Day" becomes your "Today"

Many years ago I knit a baby sweater.  I have no idea exactly how long ago, maybe when I was 14.  I put it away, thinking that maybe someday it would get used.  Now I have a son who is almost nine months old, and he fits the sweater.  It feels like there are worlds of difference between that young girl and the wife and mother I am now, but this sweater is a connection to that young girl and her hopes and dreams, and encourages me to look eagerly ahead to what the future will bring.