Life and Affirmations

Stuff of Life Another episode of "Things I Never Thought I'd Say" #64 No, bathwater is not yummy. #842 Please don't wash the bathtub with your toothbrush #353 Could you please stop hugging the cheese. And there you have it... life goes on in our humble home. The good, the bad, the odd - we've got it all! Here's a bit of a recap of our lives at this time and in this place. You may know that I am taking a course at the U of A as part of my Master's Degree program. It's the 6th of 8 courses I'll be taking (I'm registered for another in the winter semester, and will need to travel for my last course which with be Orff Level III). Following these it'll be thesis time! Fun, fun, fun! I still have not narrowed down a thesis topic. And quite honestly, this course is kind of making me regret the whole thesis route. Research methods is a very boring course which my unfortunate professor is trying to make at least bearable if not actually interesting for us. Bleah. The text is horrendous - poorly written, redundant, redundant (just kidding), and seriously makes me want to fold laundry or load the dishwasher rather than read it - and the fact that I found our that some of my classmates bought it direct from the publisher for $40 while I bought mine at the bookstore for $135 plus tax makes me want to cry. I have 2 more classes (full days on Saturdays) and then I'm done, so hooray! Other than my course, I am also doing a little scrapbooking here and there. I just love this activity. It's a bit of a creative outlet with a purpose, and reflecting on my life and the people in it is a very positive experience. I'm planning for our next Triple Treat Scrapbook Club which I think went really well this past month and am excited for next month. As well, I am finishing my Week in the Life album and look forward to letting it sit on our coffee table and entertain our friends, family and neighbours. The rest of my activities pretty much consist of housework, driving, errands, story time, playing games, organizing, nursing, neglecting Carmen's unfinished baby quilt, helping Jim with coursework, infrequent get togethers with friends, and occasionally trying to avoid my children... Speaking of my children, I have begun a self affirmation project to help me not be so hard on myself as a parent, especially towards my most challenging child (Bossy Betty as we like to call her!) Here are my affirmations for today: 1) When I was brushing her hair today I was intentionally very gentle, and instead of just getting the job done I brushed with long strokes down her back past where her hair ended, which she enjoyed as she likes having her back tickled. 2) I encouraged her to learn the name of a new little girl at preschool so that she would learn to be friendly towards newcomers, and would practice intentional friendship. 3) I made sorting the laundry into their bins ("shirts", "pants", "pajamas") fun, not arduous by playing games of find ten socks as quickly as you can, and throwing items to be sorted onto their heads which they thought was hilarious. I am a good parent. I am a good parent... Like the little engine that could I just keep reminding myself. Well, at least I'm better than my sister (just kidding! Melissa I know you're reading this and I thought I'd yank your chain). I do sometimes look at the way she parents and wish I had some of the personal attributes that she brings to parenting such as a physical level of interaction, intimacy of reletionship, and apparent high tolerance for noise. She's a good egg that one.I can learn from a lot of people close to me about different ways to parent. Jim... well... Jim is working. All day. Every day. Every night. Frequently long into the night (2 a.m. last night). This is life for him and I feel bad that it's so singuar in dimension. I try to help out but there's a lot to be done. Next semester will be better as he is teaching some repeat courses. Good. So other than the fact that my man works like a dog I have no new news on Jim. Miriam, Finnegan and Carmen are such joy to be around when I really think about it. (Okay, honestly, in the moment I often don't feel this joy, but stepping back reminds me). It is so neat to see how developmentally different they all are. Different ages and stages and they all have their benefits and challenges: Miriam: Benefit - super independent able to be creative and explore with little help from me. Challenge - super independent and sometimes not able to take external direction without flexing her independence muscles in my direction.

Finnegan: Benefit - verbal skills are so neat to see growing daily and my presence in his life is so important to him. Challenge - rigid in his perception of the world and the way things should be, and sometimes still really whiny and demanding.

Carmen: Benefit - Sits up on her own and can play with and explore toys and just goes with the flow. Challenge - Sleeping through the night with less than 3 wake ups. I realize I should "sandwich" these statements so I don't end on a negative, so I'll sandwich them all be saying they all make me soo proud and I think they are simply the best thing since sliced bread which isn't actually a great comparison. They're the best thing since chocolate, classical music, indoor plumbing and peppermint tea combined. I've gotta go... 9:30 and we're trying to get to bed early to balance out the late night yesterday. Write me a comment... I opened them to non-googlers and I'd love to hear your thoughts.