Happy Mother’s Day!
Happy Mother’s Day!
Happy Mother’s Day!
Tag: Motherhood
Nothing New: Repair
It’s just a matter of days now… soon the little man and I will be in Cyprus. I am hectically trying to tick off items on our travelling checklist and it is actually quite a thing if you consider that I have pledged that nothing new will be bought this year. The fact that we’ll be jumping seasons makes it even more interesting… clothes-wise and shoe-wise.
My wardrobe has very little to show for itself. I keep on wearing the same pairs of trousers ever since my son was born and those trousers are looking really sad now. They are frayed and damaged and have been in need of repair for almost three months now … so today I eventually organised myself to take them to a tailor. I couldn’t mend them myself – the damage was far too extensive – a professional was needed.
I also had a few items to repair for my son like his trainers and shorts but these I decided to fix myself as the repair cost far exceeded the purchase cost of these items. It was just about simple sewing anyway and my box of threads and needles proved to be sufficient for bringing those items back to their original look and function.
In the corner of my wardrobe there’s a bag of items of clothing and accessories that need repair. We all have them, don’t we? Often they are not bags only but attics and garages that store those items in need of fixing. Those things make me really uncomfortable. I feel that I should be doing something about them and so I am now. I decided to take the bull by the horns and I’ve created a list on my desk of all the things to fix and I’ll slowly work my way through them this year… just because the time seems right for this and I feel like giving them a second life. At the end of the day, repairing is part of caring, is it not?
So I gave myself a promise to fix at least one item per month before they clutter our house further or end up in landfill. Are there any items that need repair in your house too? Do you think you could also try to fix some of them this year?
Would you like to learn more about Nothing New Project? Visit Inked in Colour.
Busy calendars are not so bad really
A lot is happening in our family life recently – so much so that I find myself having to sit at the table more often than usually in order to plan. And this planning is no longer only for a week or two and no longer for work only – I am trying to organise our next three months. A few travels before us, some family events, some house maintenance to do, deadlines to meet, projects to complete, routines to carry out and ideas to capture. So I am sitting in front of our calendar today and am making lists of all those things to do and the things to remember about and I am feeling slightly overwhelmed by our commitments. But I am hopeful and positive as most of the things and events are of positive nature and I think that ultimately it will give us a lot of joy to attend to them.
So many of the events and commitments in our lives are of such character… they are supposed to enrich and fulfil us in some manner… bring us joy, pleasure, satisfaction, happiness, dignity… there’s always a bigger and brighter purpose behind things… behind things even as ordinary as ironing… because it’s not about the chore really… but about carrying your human self with dignity, respect and grace… Isn’t it?
And so I’m thinking today that I don’t want to complain about too many things to do anymore… because actually there is something bigger than me and bigger than my tired body and busy mind behind most of them… there are family ties behind them, there’s health and well-being of my husband and son, there is a community of determined and caring people, and there is love and knowledge and growth of me and many. There is a strong purpose behind most things in my calendar and I am very happy that I can make these plans and hopefully carry them out in the coming months.
Calendars are those funny things that are not really what they appear to be… they make a pretense of being packed with duties but in fact they chock-full of strong and serious meanings…
No wonder we like to fill them up so much…
Walking with ideas
When the weather is as beautiful as it is right now, being outside is the only option. It’s so easy to think outside. To plan, to analyse and to be imaginative. The best thing about thinking when walking is that somehow the weak or silly ideas just leave you in peace… they go to play in the grass or hide in the bushes… it’s just the good ones that hold on to your shoe laces, walk the mile with you and only jump off your shoes when you get home. They run to your desk and dance around your keyboard… until you are ready to sit in your swivel chair and feel the rhythm yourself… and they are nice and kind and patient ideas… they do wait for you to eat your dinner, wash the dishes and put your child to bed, they don’t mind that you read a book and sing a lullaby to him. When you turn up, they just greet you with a smile excited that you have found a minute to pick them up and engage with them… they have a nice character those ideas… they are… good ideas. Are any of them on your shoe laces today?
Observing Your Toddler: Creating a Record of Today
Photography is only one way of capturing the growth of our children. Writing memories, diaries and stories down is another wonderful way of storing these precious-but-fleeting moments. However, parenthood is busy and so sometimes you just want to jot some facts down in your calendar and perhaps repeat it later on to see your child’s development and changes in taste. This list might help you. I did it yesterday for my son. At the end is an empty one for you to copy and fill in if you’d like to do it too. It’s a really enjoyable process that will give you many smiles. If you want to, you may also give it to your partner to fill in just to check if there are differences in the way in which you see your child. :) Enjoy!
My child today:
Doing: walking long distances, sliding, exploring the garden, lying down on the grass, turning and giggling
Watching: people on the bus, Curious George, Mickey Mouse, Peppa Pig
Listening to: his father singing to him Italian nursery rhymes
Pointing to: children
Repeating: beka, keba (no meaning) to, ta (this, that in Polish), heya, croco (short for crocodile)
Commenting on: everything, everywhere to everyone
Making: a soup in his cup
Looking at: food being prepared, trees, children
Playing with: wallets and purses, water and containers, broomstick and vacuum cleaner
Creating: a mess
Picking up: leaves, sticks and stones, bits of threads from the carpet
Drawing: lines and doodles and preferably on the desk not on paper while biting on rubbers and pencil tips
Reading: people’s business cards
Likes to be read: Pulcino Pio (Italian book), Pinocchio
Eating: porridge and pears, pasta, sweetcorn
Drinking: water, milk, orange juice
Exercising with: his tricycle, balls
Cuddling: Koko (his monkey), a pillow before he goes to sleep
Pulling: toilet handle, internet connection cable, his zip in his jacket
Pushing: food away when he has finished; computer power button
Climbing: onto a dishwasher’s door when open; any ladder or slide; onto his toy chest to open the door
Caring for: an old tiny teddy bear without an arm
Dancing to: Cztery Slonie (a Polish children song) and everything else that he hears on the radio
When sad: a cuddle, a friend, a song, a dance
Sharing: food, laughs
My child today:
Doing:
Watching:
Listening to:
Pointing to:
Repeating:
Commenting on:
Making:
Looking at:
Playing with:
Creating:
Picking up:
Drawing:
Reading:
To be read:
Eating:
Drinking:
Exercising with:
Cuddling:
Pulling:
Pushing:
Climbing:
Caring for:
Dancing to:
When sad:
Sharing:
This taking stock list was adapted from Pip’s Taking Stock list at https://meetmeatmikes.com/ Pop over to her blog to see what she’s up to. :)
Postcards Without Stamps 