After glancing through a month's worth of daily posts, it occurred to me that I'm fairly optimistic, posting what I HOPE will happen almost as much as what daily details just did happen. I really don't want to give the wrong impression, so here's a few short "updates" from this month's posts...
Nov. 28 - Sunday Adventures- I'm not sure I can adequately express the struggle I have with Kaden's church behavior. While he IS cute, and I do want him to feel at home, I'd also like it if he learned to consistently play quietly in the pew. There's a lot of embarrassment and pulled attention away from the group prayers when he and I are sitting next to each other... his father seems to handle it a tad better, but we (Jim and I) don't always agree on what's acceptable toddler church behavior!
Nov. 26 - Buy Nothing Day- I love this idea, but I usually wind up buying something. I'm not sure if that was clear :)
Nov. 24 - Thanksgiving Cooking - I did no cooking, almost no cleaning this year. And never did get to that detox weekend.
Nov. 23- Holiday Group Activity - I had planned for two: one was a "fingerprint" sweatshirt for Jim's mom... when the grandkids did fingerprints instead of handprints since there's so many of them. We had the fabric paint and then never actually bought the sweatshirt. Doh! The other was a thanksgiving centerpiece: first, the kids hunted the "turkey" feathers in the yard, then wrote something they were thankful for on it, and stuck the feather in the turkey body. I had supplies but no gumption when thanksgiving day turned out so cold! So I totally missed this year's craft ideas.
nov. 17 - Holiday Travel - I realized, after the fact, that a lot of what Jim and I go through is a sort of 'anticipatory anxiety.' We don't get to spend a lot of time with his family, and we'd both like it to go really well, so we worry ahead of time about how to make it a good visit for everyone. Add to this my own personality quirks, which means I *need* alone time to read/think/be, and traveling thoughts turn anxious easily. Even though we love traveling, and the J clan too!
Nov 15- comment about Holiday Photo- still haven't taken it. I realized ONE of my possible ideas wouldn't work because the mini palm tree out front is totally crooked. And then a nother idea wouldn't work because it was too much "chippendale" style for a toddler. So we're working on it... 
Nov 10 - Harvest - We actually pulled a few more radishes today. Which means we have room for... something?
Think that's it. Let me know if YOU find any hanging questions or stuff like that. Merry Christmas Preparing!
3 comments:
What a great recap! And hey there Suzanne!!! As for church behavior, I have a very specific strategy that has about an 87% success rate. And I even recently tried it with the 3 littles and just my mom & I. I usually like a 1:1 adult/child ratio. I take: Colorwonder, sticker books, a few regular books and 2 snacks per kid (goldfish, fruit snacks, teddy grahams). The kids know they are NOT to make a mess. My theory is this: If I can hold the snack until the Eucharistic Prayer, we are probably safe. If I have to bust it out during the homily, it's generally a bad sign. I also make a big deal out of the collection and the sign of peace (takes up time). I am still distracted throughout Mass but it is less frequent b/c at least the boys now know the expectations. So if they aren't exactly attentive, at least they aren't too disruptive. Once in a while, I even get to reflect on the message. The rest of the time, I am praying for peace during the service ;) I'm not sure what you are okay with at Mass but for now, this is what gets us by. Eventually, food will go away and books/coloring will be replaced with more relevant stuff. My first goal is to teach quiet behavior. It's one of the very few things that we do well as parents...sigh.
Sorry for my novel in your comments section!
Question for you (and then I will leave this comments section alone, I promise!!!):
What helps you balance work/mommy/life-in-general? What is the biggest challenge? What is surprisingly easy?
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