My youngest child started grade 1 this past September. I thought to myself, "now that I have 6 plus hours a day to myself I am really going to get some things done". I made the lists and set the expectations...
So why may I ask did I think that I could accomplish two to three times as much just because I didn't have little miss mouse tagging along with me? I really don't get much more done at all it is just that I feel less guilt about ignoring my child while I am working since she isn't here to be ignored.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Making Toast
So, I am in a book club. I love being in a book club; I love reading, I love learning and I love visiting with other women one night a month and hearing about their ideas, joys and struggles. I also love being in a book club because it means I read books that I did not choose and sometimes I really like those books and they open windows to the world for me. So I figured that I would do some book reviews on my blog of the books that I am reading in my book club.
This month we read the book "Making Toast" by Roger Rosenblatt. This book is a memoir written by a father whose daughter unexpectedly dies at the age of 37. He and his wife move in with their son-in-law to help him with their 3 small grandchildren. The book is very touching in some ways. The love that Roger and his wife have for their daughter and son-in-law is very palpable throughout, but I have to say that I found the book somewhat disconcerting. I am almost exactly the same age as Roger's daughter Amy who passed away. It is hard to read about someone your own age in your own situation dying and leaving behind their children. I found it especially difficult to read about Amy's children's experiences after her death and to think what would happen to my own children in the same situation.
I also found the book difficult to read because of the lack of hope in the Author, Roger. I am sure that it is true to his experience because I think that he did and does feel hopeless about the loss of his daughter, but I do not believe that this life is the end of everything so I found Roger's bleak outlook rather depressing. Everyone works through the grieving process differently; I just don't know that I will always benefit from reading about that experience.
I would give this book 2 1/2 stars out of 5.
This month we read the book "Making Toast" by Roger Rosenblatt. This book is a memoir written by a father whose daughter unexpectedly dies at the age of 37. He and his wife move in with their son-in-law to help him with their 3 small grandchildren. The book is very touching in some ways. The love that Roger and his wife have for their daughter and son-in-law is very palpable throughout, but I have to say that I found the book somewhat disconcerting. I am almost exactly the same age as Roger's daughter Amy who passed away. It is hard to read about someone your own age in your own situation dying and leaving behind their children. I found it especially difficult to read about Amy's children's experiences after her death and to think what would happen to my own children in the same situation.
I also found the book difficult to read because of the lack of hope in the Author, Roger. I am sure that it is true to his experience because I think that he did and does feel hopeless about the loss of his daughter, but I do not believe that this life is the end of everything so I found Roger's bleak outlook rather depressing. Everyone works through the grieving process differently; I just don't know that I will always benefit from reading about that experience.
I would give this book 2 1/2 stars out of 5.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Happiness is...
So I just finished listening to Jian Ghomeshi on CBC. This man drives me nuts! He is the furthest thing from plain; he loves all things superficial and pretentious as far as I can tell. So he is interviewing this woman who wrote a book called the happiness project where for a year she did sort of normal low key stuff that made her happy. So Jian says to her, "does having a bestselling book help the happiness quotient?" of couse the woman responds that it does, but she says that she loves writing and that the process of writing makes her happy. With some incredulity in his voice Jian says, "so you would have been happy even if no one bought your book?"
I can't believe how shallow this man is that he can't even imagine something making someone happy unless it turns some sort of a profit. I sing every day -- it makes me happy. I do it because I love it and it makes me feel wonderful both emotionally and physically. No one pays me to sing, no one even listens to me sing, and yet it still makes me happy. Happiness is something inside of us not something that we do that others recognize. I'll hop down from my soap box now.
I can't believe how shallow this man is that he can't even imagine something making someone happy unless it turns some sort of a profit. I sing every day -- it makes me happy. I do it because I love it and it makes me feel wonderful both emotionally and physically. No one pays me to sing, no one even listens to me sing, and yet it still makes me happy. Happiness is something inside of us not something that we do that others recognize. I'll hop down from my soap box now.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Snow
We have had a ton of snow here in my hometown. Three times more snow than we normally have in the month of January and it is only the 18th... The snow has completely covered over my hedge; it's like it doesn't exist anymore.
Me? I like snow, but everything in moderation. I am not sure when the kids and I will get to go tobogganing again simply because who is going to try to slide the hills with this much powder on them? It will take forever to get a good snow pack again, by then it may have started snowing again...
At least my home isn't underwater. You gotta be grateful for small blessings.
Me? I like snow, but everything in moderation. I am not sure when the kids and I will get to go tobogganing again simply because who is going to try to slide the hills with this much powder on them? It will take forever to get a good snow pack again, by then it may have started snowing again...
At least my home isn't underwater. You gotta be grateful for small blessings.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Spiritually Plain
So I had a wonderful "aha" moment when I was reading my scriptures yesterday. Our Heavenly Father and the prophets praise plainness too. In the Book of Mormon, Nephi quotes the prophet Isaiah and then says this to his readers:
"Wherefore, hearken, O my people, which are of the house of Israel, and give ear unto my words; for because the words of Isaiah are not plain unto you, nevertheless they are plain unto all those that are filled with the spirit of prophecy. But I give unto you a prophecy, according to the spirit which is in me; wherefore I shall prophesy according to the plainness which hath been with me from the time that I came out from Jerusalem with my father; for behold, my soul delighteth in plainness unto my people, that they may learn" (2 Nephi 25:5).
I feel like the prophet Nephi. My soul delights in plainness, in simpleness and in that which will help me return to my Father in Heaven when I have finished my work on this earth (the most important bit of which for me is raising 4 beautiful children to be lovable and loving human beings.)
"Wherefore, hearken, O my people, which are of the house of Israel, and give ear unto my words; for because the words of Isaiah are not plain unto you, nevertheless they are plain unto all those that are filled with the spirit of prophecy. But I give unto you a prophecy, according to the spirit which is in me; wherefore I shall prophesy according to the plainness which hath been with me from the time that I came out from Jerusalem with my father; for behold, my soul delighteth in plainness unto my people, that they may learn" (2 Nephi 25:5).
I feel like the prophet Nephi. My soul delights in plainness, in simpleness and in that which will help me return to my Father in Heaven when I have finished my work on this earth (the most important bit of which for me is raising 4 beautiful children to be lovable and loving human beings.)
Friday, January 14, 2011
Sick Days
So, one of my children is home sick from school today. The weather has turned incredibly cold outside and so I must admit that I was happy to keep her home. We have stayed in our pajamas and cuddled in mommy's bed. We have watched movies and sipped hot lemon to ease sore throats. I realized part way through the morning that there is a positive side to having a sick child. It forces me to slow down and while everyone else is out of the house my little girl and I have had an opportunity to bond together. I also realized that some of my most positive memories from my own childhood are times that my mother was caring for me while I was sick.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
What's in a Name?
I will tell you what is in my blog's name; I get weary of feeling like my children and I somehow have to be remarkable, different, extraordinary... Isn't there some virtue in just being ordinary people who do ordinary things? For example today is a beautiful sunny day in a cold northern city, the snow is glistening on the ground and it is warmish outside; wouldn't it be great just to go out tobogganing? Perhaps after school instead of getting right to the grind of homework and practicing music we will enjoy a few runs down the hill on a sled, maybe we will giggle a little and then come home and make some hot chocolate.
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