Sunday, September 19, 2010

stormy weather

An analogy for life, this mad and unpredictable weather we're having right now...the promise of a sunny day, invariably stolen and replaced with rain, wind and today, hail...
One week out from school holidays and I am desperate for the term to end. We have had a seemingly neverending run of tonsilitis, tummy bugs, coughs, colds, and nits. meetings here, donations there, cakes to bake for fundraising, newsletters to write, real work to do....
On the upside, the days are stretching out, which means (well, when the weather improves) time to be outside after dinner, breakfast on the deck in the sun, leisurely walks in the sun to the icecream shop...The children are becoming friends more and more with each day as they seem to get closer together in age (does that make sense?)...they are enjoying some similar activities, can play a board game or cards with proficiency, have scooter races, beat me at said card game, bring me breakfast in bed...
I read an old blog of mine tonight, where I considered the authenticity of my values - yep i'm still a bit of a plastic sandle and candle girl (I think that's kind of like doing semi-conscious parenting...), but i'm getting there. the vege garden is full, there's blossom on the fruit trees, the mending pile is actually almost non existent, there's a promising collection of books on my nighttable.

Wednesday, September 01, 2010

Motherhood

This week I watched 'Motherhood' a movie starring Uma Thurman about a day in the life of a mother in NYC - she's a blogger, has two kids, a bike with a flat tire and a birthday party to organise. it wasn't even a great movie but it really resonated - it was so easy for me to identify with her.
I have referred to myself sometimes as a 'semi-conscious' kind of mother - you know, I WANT to be TV free but i'm not quite there yet, my kids should eat healthily but I still sometimes put chips in the lunchbox, I like cotton sheets and woolen jumpers - but polyester and fleece just wash and dry so much easier!...
Lately I've been reading www.Flylady.net... www.destitutegourmet.com...www.simplesavings.co.nz - there are heaps of inspiring stories and ideas (yeah some of them are mind...) but I've decided that most are an ideal not a reality - so much easier to think this way and then less chance of feeling inadequate - we women are pretty tough on ourselves and each other anyway!
nevertheless, here's my bits of wisdom and tight-assing for this week:
held a babyshower for a friend having her 4th baby, who SO doesn't need anymore 'stuff'. So, on the advice of another friend this is what we did:
instead of a gift, each person brought a frozen meal for her to keep for D-week.
instead of huge amounts of food (although there actually was) with hours of preparation, I made 2 fondues - a cheese/wine and a chocolate. Each guest brough something to dip.
Easy as.
Secondly, I've started my Christmas shopping...yeah I know...I sell Avon and buy from the bargain bin for distributors, take advantage of all the free with purchase offers, make a trip to the $2 shop about 4 times a year and spend say $20, and keep my present box (an old suitcase) topped up. The kids can 'shop' from here for birthday presents too - it's easy because I'm not having to monitor the money they're spending and I know everything in there is 'appropriate'! And now I'm about 75% done, just the foodie type stuff to get right near Christmas. feeling smug...