5 days in photos

Grateful for this varied life.  Just that.

And, of course I took oodles of photos at the Exploratory, but I'll save the rest of them for a separate post.

positive change

OK, so, here's something that I think about often, maybe daily; my life is no more significant than anyone else's on this wide earth.  Who am I to spend my days playing with my kids, gardening, knitting, grateful and yet, privileged, really.  We struggle to make ends meet on one income sometimes, but there is abundance in our lives still.  My husband and I made choices and sacrifices that brought us to this place in our lives, but what of all the others who didn't have opportunities and support?  What about hunger and war and catastrophe?  What is my role on this earth?  I often feel undeserving.

And yet, wouldn't I be a fool not to appreciate every joyful thing that I experience.  It wouldn't make the world one bit better if I sunk in despair instead of rose up joyfully at the light in my own children's eyes. So, I will continue to donate to worthy causes like Heifer International and I will continue to offer a hand to those in my community who might be in extra need of help or friendship.  I will attempt to spread peace and joy from my tiny li'l spot on the globe.

And when it just doesn't feel like enough, I will continue to search my heart, my community, and my connection with the world to see what else I can do.  Even if it's just sending out my prayers and thoughts of peace into the universe.

I guess I have a recurring desire to write about these thoughts.  I have written a similar post before.

"One generation of deeply loving parents would change the brain of the next generation, and with that, the world." ~Charles Raison

Do you think we can make positive change in this world by the way we raise our children?  What do you do (with or without children) to reach out and be the change you want to see in the world?

“If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. … We need not wait to see what others do.”

~ Mahatma Gandhi

OK, I'm going to leave these thoughts here for now, and go help Ayla peek at the baby robins growing in the nest under our deck.  She will undoubtedly blow them kisses and whisper, "grow sweetly,"  as she does to all seedlings and hatchlings that she encounters.

all in a day's play

 Let's see.  There were computer games and Netflix.  There was more wiffleball, with Mama joining in this time.

Camille played with our dog and took her for a mile-long jog.

 Ayla helped me plant pickling cucumbers, mini sweet peppers, and some kind of tomatoes.  Our varieties are all mixed up at this point.

 Sylvia played on the computer on Pixie Hollow and then constructed a super duper living room fort with Discovery Kids construction pieces.

 There was some basic geometry involved in figuring the best way to construct the roof and the 'guest bedroom'.

 It was covered with a sheet.

 looking up

My children don't have arbitrary limits on their time spent on the computer or watching television or daydreaming.

People often say things like, "If I didn't limit screentime, my child would just stare at a screen all day."  There is a lot of educational value in computer games, video games, YouTube, TV shows, documentaries, and movies (yes, even the ones that aren't billed as educational).  However, given an environment of support and interaction, with interesting people, places, and things surrounding a child, even the most die-hard fans will participate in other activities as they find them engaging.  I love that without limits TV and computer use can just be one more option, as can wiffleball and audio books and building forts in the living room.

If you're interested, there is a short article written by Pam Sorooshian on the Economics of Restricting TV Watching of Children.  Marginal utility, anyone?

life, at its pace

Well, I guess a whole week has gone by since I posted last.  Much of that week was spent outside in the sun and rain with dirt under my nails. 

There were dandelion crowns to weave (for a favorite chicken, of course),

  blossoms to be gathered, and chicks to be admired.

 Our chicks are almost 4 weeks old.  They've hit that awkward phase of growing big-chicken pin feathers and still having downy lil heads.

 There was a play to perform,

and grass to be mowed.

 I spent a lot of time in the garden.  It's not quite half way planted, but sometimes it goes like that with a three-year-old-helper, and plenty of distractions.  My garden is haphazard and full of worms, glorious and from-seed, weedy and wild and all around worth it.

  Sometimes, Ayla set up shop while I worked, but mostly she wanted to be in the garden as much as I did.

 I have plenty of extra seeds and extra seedlings, so the 'help' can be low stress.  When I first had kids, I pictured us all gardening together, happily and productively, maybe singing while we planted.  Ha!  Expectations, right?  The bigger girls were in and out, playing wiffleball, playing on the Wii, snacking and squabbling and playing some more, but Ayla, she stayed the course.

 And actually, she did sing sweet little lullabies as she tucked her seedlings into the soil.  "Grow sweetly, li'l one, la di da, I'll tuck you in."  They might be all mixed up, out of row, with herbs and beans, grains and flowers, veggies and berries growing where they will, but they are well loved so far.

 On the hottest day, there was water and bucket play, spun round and round and over the head,  which led to questions about centrifugal force and gravity.  

 There was a day in town for errands, class, park play with friends,

 sandhill cranes, and a ride on the Merrimac Ferry to carry us home,

 with an extra passenger for a sleepover.

 There was a day of rain to soak the new seeds and for adventuring in.

I do believe they were prepared to live in the forest as they set off that rainy morning with their faces painted, a bow and arrow, extra clothes, snacks, water, stuffed animals and a blanket, but the sleepover eventually had to end, as they do.

Expectations and tidy gardens, be darned.  Life, at its own pace, naturally, where the joy can be found.

Actually, I think my favorite moment of the whole week, was a quiet one indoors.  Ayla had been sick the night before, up all night, and the next day she was much better, but wiped out (me, too).  I was standing by the computer, holding her, listening to songs by Medicine for the People.  She wrapped her warm little arms and legs around me and I held her and swayed for a looooong while.  She still felt so tiny, her little three-year-old body felt effortless to hold.  I breathed it in, this moment, knowing that my baby-having days are behind me, I held on to her smallness and just breathed it in, mindful and grateful.  I don't want those moments to go unnoticed in an effort to do more.  I will sacrifice more productivity, more output, more finished products, for more attention, more mindfulness, more love, felt and shared and expressed.

*By the way, this is my 450th blog post.  450!!!