Secretkeeper September

I am so stunned at how quickly September flew by!

Luckily, we were able to have a final family vacation and say goodbye to the summer at the start of this month, which was really wonderful.

I recently took my big girl to a "Secretkeeper Girl" event, and it was amazing! I thought they did a fantastic job of setting it up as an entertainment-based way to give the young ladies messages of modesty and that it's okay (even good!)  to be different. We also got to rock out with a pre-show concert by 1 Girl Nation, and we have been playing their CD ever since - the music and singing is really fun and danceable, it sounds just as good if not better than many of the popular music on the radio, yet it still has a positive, Christian message.

At one point in the evening, one of the event emcees asked everyone to close their eyes and raise their hand if they had something they didn't like about themselves. I could hear nearly every hand around me go up in the air.

I was glad eyes were closed, because I became overwhelmed with sadness that these BEAUTIFUL young ladies, including my precious daughter, have things they don't like about themselves. I did my best to dry my eyes before everyone else opened theirs, but I am still so sad that young girls are struggling with their looks at such a young age.

We will do our best to instill self-love and self-acceptance in our little ladies, and hopefully they will be a light to each other and to all their friends.

Reflections on this summer

For many of my friends and family members out of state, school has already begun.  We won't start until after Labor Day - and I love that!

We have had a wonderful summer so far, and we are squeezing as much enjoyment as we can out of it.  Notice that I said "enjoyment" vs. activities.   We have definitely been enjoying our activities, but have also had our share of goof-off days.

I think it's good for the kids (and for me!) to have days where we do simple things such as go to the library, browse through the books, and read for a few hours.  Another mom from school set up a schedule for Wednesdays at the park, and some of us show up when we can and stay as long as the kids are playing well. As well, when we're home and the girls are playing with their stuffed animals, using their imagination, and getting along -  let's just say it's beautiful music to my ears.  Therefore, I don't want to interrupt them to go somewhere else.  They are enjoying their home, which builds a foundation for home as a place that they love to be. At the same time, I can conquer a few home chores (dishes, laundry, dinner prep, etc.) while they are occupied, which makes me feel accomplished.

I think it's important to have a good mix: activities at home and outside the home, structured and unstructured time.  The summer is coming to an end, and that means our unstructured time will be a much smaller percentage of time soon, but they know how to use it well. I think that's a lasting lesson that will reap many benefits in their future.

Settling in for the rest of the Summer!

This week marks the 3rd week of my new "at-home Mom" status, and I am really, really happy with how things are going.

Our beds are made daily, we're eating home-cooked meals most nights (part of Operation Home Sweet Home, see my previous post), and we're regularly attending Spanish lessons, swim lessons at the Y, as well as various other summer activities with friends: play dates at the park, strawberry picking, swimming at the local pool, and we even had one week of Vacation Bible School (which I was able to help with, 4 out of 5 days)!

I decided to save the majority of my "inside" activities and projects for when the girls return to school. I have a long list of things I'd like to do, but my first priority right now is to get every bit of enjoyment we possibly can over the next 5 weeks until school starts.

Operation Home Sweet Home!

I completed my last official day of (paid) work today! Now I will be home with the girls on a full-time basis. I am so thankful that I have this opportunity. I have longed to be able to do this for a while, so I feel like I do realize what a blessing it is.  I also know that there have been days with my kids that I thought would make me lose my mind, so it will be interesting to see how this plays out. I am trying not to have idyllic and unrealistic expectations going into this new adventure.

As I thought about what I'd like to focus on while staying home, I began to formulate my big idea.  I recently re-read "The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin, which inspired me to consider this new undertaking as my own personal project.

My latest undertaking shall henceforth be known as "Operation Home Sweet Home" (HSH for short).

I wanted to give myself a game plan, because I have a lot of projects waiting for me. There are so many things that I just didn't have time to get to before, while I was working. What I hope is that by giving myself a guideline, it can influence what I choose to spend my time doing. I don't want to get sucked into a myriad of activities that are overwhelming, or time-consuming without being part of the bigger picture.

I was recently working part-time for a while, which gave me a chance to learn a few things that I hope will help with the transition from working mom to stay-at-home mom.  I learned that for me, having something tangible which I have completed gives me a sense of accomplishment that eludes me if I spend the majority of my time on the never-ending laundry and kitchen cleaning duties.

I also realized that I might not do something well, but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy doing it.  Case in point  - I saw a wonderfully creative blog called "Ruffles and Stuff" which showed how to repurpose outgrown dresses into skirts for little girls, among other wonderfully inventive things.  My mother is an accomplished seamstress.  I firmly believe such skills must skip a generation. 

I managed to make a skirt out of a too-small sundress dress for my daughter, but I used a combination of hand-sewing and iron on hemming stuff rather than the actual sewing machine. Confession: The sewing machine intimidates me.  Amazingly, it worked, but the inside where I put it together in my own crazily inept fashion does not look very pretty. It looks really cute on the outside and it seems to be comfortable to wear.  My daughter loved it. So, I will continue to sew badly and if I am lucky, I will get better with time and practice. Bonus: This fulfills the aforementioned tangibility factor.

I am going to work a bit at a time on "scoping out" my project (Operation HSH).  I think it will be just as important (maybe even more important?) to figure out what is outside the scope of this undertaking, so I can say no to those things.   Wish me luck!!!