Tag: Parenthood

Your dreams are your directions

Poppy-seed Bread

Someone said to me once: ‘Dreams, needs and wants are also given to us from God’. I was surprised because I had never thought of them like this… But then I thought maybe this person had a point… maybe our dreams and wants are God’s little messages sent to us on a very individual level… the whispers of our eager but fearful souls…

Sometimes those dreams are so subtle that they are easily over-talked by other persuasive voices, by people around us, by the media and their future forecasts, by promises of greatness and fortune elsewhere… Why would you like to be a carpenter if the money is in law and banking type of suggestions.… or… Your own business? But it takes so much effort and it bites into your evenings and weekends. Dancing classes? What would you do with your dancing in the future? Chess? Who’s got time for chess these days? You’d better… be watching your telly, eh?

In my life I also went elsewhere… in directions that I was persuaded to go to… in directions that I went because everyone was going there… but those choices drained me… they did not give me my energy back… they were fine for others but they were just not mine to make… and I made them because they presented opportunities and because they were safe… I played safe, I lost. Because they were not my dreams. But someone else’s. Maybe God was whispering to me and I didn’t listen…

I’ve always had three very strong dreams: 1) Contribute to knowledge 2) Give people jobs 3) Have a home that smells of bread. These are my three big dreams, my three life-long tasks that I want to fulfill, my aspirations that I’m still not entirely sure how to go about, how to develop and implement. I guess that there are different ways and methods… different routes… I am currently working on those dreams… they are big dreams.. they are challenges… but hey, it’s good to challenge yourself in life… you learn and you go into places… places where your talents and values fit…. places that you can nourish and that nourish you.

During my holiday in Cyprus I had time to close my eyes, feel the sun on my face and dream, dream, dream a lot… and see the images of those dreams cropping up in my head… I was dreaming for myself, for my family, for my town and for the world. I was dreaming of knowing more people in the town where I live, of exchanging stories with them and learning about their lives, I was dreaming of being able to drive to see them and of taking my son to see their businesses, farms and pottery making, I was dreaming of lazy Sundays with my husband when we just don’t need to do anything other than hold hands, walk, chat and be together, I was dreaming of cooking for friends and family and sitting together at the table, sharing love and laughs, I was dreaming of growing my own herbs and making my own yoghurt and baking once again my delicious poppy seed bread… I was dreaming of reading inspiring texts and of pouring good words on to the page… and I felt connected again. I felt happy and comfortable and I liked those dreams, those whispers of my hopeful soul… my signposts… my directions to take.

What are you dreaming of right now? What are your directions?

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Happy Mother’s Day!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother’s Day!

Nothing New: Repair

clothes to mendbw

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?

shoes done

Would you like to learn more about Nothing New Project? Visit Inked in Colour.

Busy calendars are not so bad really

IMG_9533sunpencils

 

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…

Observing Your Toddler: Creating a Record of Today

let's get to know the world

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. :)