Hazel's Healthy Halloween

My 10 year old daughter was just looking through our Halloween picture books and told me this is her favorite. "Hazel's Healthy Halloween" has mixed reviews amongst parents (in fact, I remember my mom reading this to my kids once when she was visiting and she said, "Oooh, this is disgusting!") but we've always loved it.

I guess if you've grown up in the dieting era and have seen all the extremes that people go to in order to lose weight, you can see the humor in it. Hazel is an overweight witch who is invited to the Halloween ball and decides, after trying on many dresses that don't fit right, that she will go to fat camp to lose weight.

Hazel's regime and diet is so extreme that it's even understandably absurd to children. She does over a thousand reps of this and that and is only rewarded with cardboard replicas of her favorite, much-missed desserts. After a week at camp, she does lose the desired weight and fits into the sleek dress for the Halloween ball. (I love the rhythm and rhyme of "Hazel is greeted by Boris the Boar, he's never seen Hazel so lovely before.") When Boris asks her to dance, Hazel sees "the spread" over on the table with a giant cake in the middle and decides to go for the food instead of Boris. To which the narrator says, "Hazel, what manners! Don't you care? And look, your dress is beginning to tear." This is the part that grossed out my mom because it is pretty unsightly to see Hazel on the floor stuffing herself with cake, with her dress completely ripping around her stomach -- but I give her the benefit of being a witch -- she can be scary and horrible looking if she wants. She actually wasn't any *prettier* when she was slimmer :)). Anyway, the ending is where it all comes together.

The narrator says, "Dear friends, I'm sorry. It's no use pretending. This is what I call a happy ending." The narrator had given the reader the option of ending the book after Boris had told Hazel that she was so beautiful there at the ball. But the ending the narrator enjoyed was Hazel not starving herself for the man -- just being herself. Granted, she could have gone for the giant bowl of fruit off to the side of the cake, but it's still a fun look at the absurd means many go to in order to lose a few pounds for some special occasion, when it's not going to last as long as the habits aren't solid and sound. And how many of us have dieted to the point of just unleashing and making worse food choice in the end? Certainly, most children won't see any of that in the story, but they enjoy the rhyme, the story, the watercolor pictures and the humor of Hazel going a bit crazy at the end.

On the back cover, it reads:

"Gentle Reader:

Accept yourself the way you are
And you'll be happier by far.
Remember though, whatever you do,
That exercise is good, and
Too much food is bad for you."

I'd probably add in some little blurb about the difference in healthy and unhealthy foods, but it's true that too much food is bad for you, too. This book was written in 1988, a few years before my youngest daughter was born and that was pretty much the focus of dieting then at the time. Calories. Too many vs. really cutting back. I got this book when she was a baby in 1990 (because I sold Discovery Toys for about a year while managing apartments so I could stay home with my daughter). We get it out and read it every year when Halloween rolls around. It's still a family favorite after almost 20 years.

What to do for Halloween

Just the other day, I heard a friend say, "How can anyone NOT like Halloween -- it's centered around candy!" I'm sure that's how most kids look at it. I used to LOVE that we had candy in our home for at least a few days after Halloween. My mom never bought candy unless it was a holiday and even then, it was minimal. In our stockings, we got a candy cane along with a variety of nuts that needed to be cracked and an apple and an orange (in my dad's sock, no less). In our Easter baskets, we got some jelly beans. I used to look at my aunt's chocolate bunny each year with the hope that I'd get one someday (little did I know they were hollow and didn't have 1/2 the chocolate they appeared to have).


On Halloween, my mom bought candy to give to the trick-or-treaters and we'd get as much as we could as we went around the neighborhood. I had four brothers and we ate up the candy as fast as we could. I used to envy my friends who had Halloween in their lunch pails a week, two weeks, or even a month after Halloween was over. Ours was gone so fast.

Now it seems like Halloween candy is available before, during, and after in abundance. The stores start selling Halloween candy before school even starts. I used to be a sucker for holiday colored M&Ms -- I thought they looked so great in fall colors in a glass candy dish. At school, they have candy and a variety of sugary-spooky looking treats in the class and at the carnival (there's something so fun about seeing kids walk around the cake walk to "The Monster Mash.") I'm always impressed with the teachers who keep the candy to a minimum (or not at all) in their parties since they know the kids will get more than enough that night anyway. Our church often has a Halloween party too, as well as other activities with sugar "refreshments" at the end. Then there's the actual Halloween night.

Maybe my memory is fuzzy, but when I went trick-or-treating, each grown-up at the door gave me one candy to eat. It didn't matter if it was little like a tootsie roll or not. We got one piece. Now the people at the doors give a handful to my children, even if it's the good chocolate! I'm amazed. Some people even give out full sized candy bars! Then there's those that set up BBQs and serve hot dogs or hot chocolate in the cold misty weather. I used to love that when I didn't care about what I ate.

About 4 years ago after trick-or-treating with my children, I went back to my friend's house in the busy neighborhood (we've always lived where there weren't trick-or-treaters, so we liked to go where we knew someone so we could come back to their house with our younger children to rest while the older ones kept running around with their friends). We often use this opportunity to dump out the candy bag, sort it into groups of chocolate, favorites, gross candy, toys, and whatever. We had sorted out the candy and I was eating the "good" chocolate right and left. It wasn't long before I had indigestion to the point of embarrassment. I started feeling sore-throatish and by the time we left, I wondered why I succumbed to eating sugar when I knew it wasn't doing my body any good. I was sick for the next few days (flu symptoms) and vowed to clean up my eating once and for all. That's when I explored with eating raw foods and saw tremendous improvements in my health.

That was the year I conquered my battle with candy and Halloween, but I've never been able to figure out how to convince my children to do the same. Some people let their children eat their candy the first night only, then throw it all out. I have such good memories of finally getting candy in the house when I was a child, that I struggled with doing that. Yet, I also have childhood memories of horrible allergies and severe asthma and frequent colds and flus. So how great is that? I don't want to contribute to their health problems if I can help it.

Here are a few things I've done. I'm not saying it's my ultimate. I wish they'd just be happy to do without candy like I am, but this is a start:

* Let them eat their candy for a few days, then tell them to choose their favorites to save for Christmas stockings and the rest gets tossed. They've been pretty willing to do this and don't really end up with that many favorites in the end. Maybe they get tired of eating it too since the candy fest begins before Halloween at school and church festivities. By Christmas, we end up using some of it for little gifts they get asked to bring to school (white elephants or Secret Santas), so very little of it ends up in the stocking).

* After Halloween, offer them a dollar a day for each day they can go without eating ANY sugar up through the end of November. They can use the money for their Christmas shopping. My kids have really enjoyed this tradition. They've even turned down pumpkin pie! They've gotten to where saying "No, thanks, we're not eating sugar" is pretty easy for them. Now to just stretch that out into the rest of the year.

* Talk to them more about what foods are good for them and why artificial foods like candy are so bad for their health. They seem to like the power of knowledge and see food through different eyes after our discussions, even if they don't always turn sugar down.

* Fix more homemade healthier versions of traditional fall treats to fill them up - - banana bread, zucchini bread, pumpkin bread, cooked apples, baked potatoes (we love those when it's cold!), whatever fruit is in season (especially pomegranates), berry/oatmeal muffins, green smoothies, spiced apple cider. Okay, I realize that green smoothies aren't traditional treats, but they're becoming that way in our home, thank goodness.

* Focus on non-eating ways to celebrate Halloween -- carving pumpkins, lighting the pumpkins or luminaries outside, cutting out bats and other decorations out of paper, making window art decorations, stuffing a scarecrow, singing songs (Gorkin was a Goblin by Tim Cain is a HUGE hit with kids), or just watching a movie together. Hocus Pocus is a family favorite, although that song Sara Jessica Parker sings creeps me out; my older girls used to love "The Worst Witch" -- corny, but fun; my boys loved the Magic School bus about the bats and sound. Or we get out an old sit-com like the Brady Bunch where the kids try to convince the realtor that their house is haunted so their parents won't sell it, or more obvious magical TV shows like Bewitched, The Addam's Family or Sabrina, the Teenage Witch. And the greatest of all Halloween kids movies ever made -- the Charlie Brown movie about the great pumpkin! So fun.

If you have any ideas to share, let me know. I know some parents don't have their children go out trick-or-treating anymore. I just love seeing all the children dress up and go from door to door. I love seeing how excited the people at the door are too to see the childrens' costumes. It's just such a fun community event. Maybe someday I'll move on from that, but for now, we'll continue on and try not to let the candy-eating go too far.

Here's a post that Dr. Fuhrman's wife wrote on this subject a few weeks ago. I wish I'd started as early with my children so they didn't even desire sugar, but I am where I am and I'm glad to be this far in my own journey with healthy eating. My hope at this point is that I can continue to teach my children by example and conversation the benefits and essential-ness (I know, I made up that word, but I can't think of a better one) of healthy eating so they can improve their eating ways as they grow up and teach their children from the start.

Mother's Day Musings

I was just thinking about how to relate my post to Mother's Day. I think I'll write about how my mom influenced my thoughts on eating and exercise and how I hope to do the same for my children.

When I was growing up, my mom cooked simply. She was married right after high school (I can't imagine if my either of my oldest daughters were married that young) and learned to cook from what her mom had taught her. She cooked many "dishes" from "the south" -- like lima beans and hot water cornbread (loved the cornbread, hated the beans). We learned to love fruit, but didn't eat many vegetables that weren't from a can besides potatoes and corn -- oh, and iceberg lettuce. I never really developed a love for any vegetables that weren't starchy.

My mom liked to bake so I learned to love baking too. We baked bread, cakes, and lots of cookies. My mom didn't buy junk food, but she bought sugar, flour, and shortening, so we baked up a storm with that. She went through what many called "health food kicks" back then. She'd buy things like brewer's yeast and would go to "The Happy Belly" health food store from time to time. The doctor would tell her about the health benefits to certain foods and she'd try cooking with them or"taking them" for awhile. It seemed like these foods came in glass jars or were kept in brown paper bags. Sometimes she'd buy liver to help us get iron. That was the grossest. None of us liked liver. She'd have us use lots of ketchup to drown out the taste.

I think at that time we thought eating healthy wasn't very tasty and was kind of difficult to do -- so it came in phases. As I've learned in my adulthood how eating healthy can be just as delicious and mouth-watering, I've seen that it doesn't have to come in waves. I guess it can come in phases, but not in short bursts that go away. It's more in phases of progression, learning as I go. I've known that my children will be watching me and didn't want them to think "this is just some thing mom's going through and won't last for long." I've wanted them to see the wisdom in the changes I've made and we've made as a family. I think that's worked for us.

I started out with small things like giving up dairy for myself or not buying foods with refined flours/sugars or hydrogenated fats. Sometimes they'd complain (especially when I stopped buying refined maple syrup -- they asked and begged me to buy Aunt Jemima or Log Cabin syrup again when I started buying pure maple syrup. They liked the thicker texture). But I held strong, explained why the newer purchase was better for our bodies, and told them if they wanted some, they could eat it when they were at their friends' homes. This they did, but not very often. Eventually, they'd tell me that when they'd eat a more refined version of something at a friends' house, they didn't like it as well. It didn't always make them feel good afterward either.

So I'm thinking I've taken what I learned from my mom - - the importance of seeking out healthy alternatives for eating -- and have taken it a few steps further with my own children. I think they've seen how I've changed our shopping and eating and have grown to understand and appreciate it. I'm not saying I've done a perfect job at it. I surely wish I'd started much earlier -- before any of them were born. And I wish I were a little stricter in some areas. Overall though, I'm happy I'm where I am now.

As for exercise, I don't know if any of my children have ever remembered me not exercising. I've either gone to a health club to swim or take classes (which they probably don't even remember) or have done home video fitness workouts since they were born. I really grew to love fitness in 1996, when my oldest daughter was 6 and my 4th child was born. They probably don't have a memory of a mom who said "ugh" to fitness. Even though we're not a very competitive sports-oriented family (we average about one sport a year, which isn't much for a family with 6 children), they all like to challenge themselves and enjoy running, playing outside, swimming, bike riding, and sometimes even working out with me. I love it when they do yoga with me -- so soothing and so much fun.

Since my mom was young when she had us, she played with us like she was a kid too. She did gymnastics with us in the living room, jumped on the beds with us (we didn't have trampolines back then), took us swimming all summer long, and encouraged us to play baseball (probably our family's favorite sport). She started running (they called it "jogging") when that became the fad of the 70s and joined a health club and taught aerobics when that became popular in the early 80s. I taught aerobics when I was a senior in high school (mostly to ABBA music - - loved it!) Had I kept going, I might have been right up there in the video fitness world with some of the early aerobic queens, like Denise Austin and Kathy Smith! Fun thought :).

Happy Mother's Day to you all, whether you are a mother or not. If you are, cherish the mothering you have been blessed to do. If you aren't, cherish the mother (or mothers) in your life.

These are the moments for big chunks of chocolate

I thought my kids were settled and about ready for bed. Well, most of them. The oldest two are at a high school basketball game (not counting the very oldest one away at college -- have to include her in case she's out there reading this. :)). The younger three were either supposed to be in bed or were finishing up homework, reading books, etc.

Long gone are the days that my school children are in bed asleep by 8:00. I think my oldest girls used to get in bed at 7:00. Now with teenagers in the house, it's hard to get anyone to sleep before 9:00 at night. Our 12 year old son has never required much sleep and is up till about 11:00 every night. I learned when he was about 2 years old that if he took a nap, he'd be awake past midnight. Once we went to sleep and he was still awake. I woke up around 2:30 and he was playing in his room, walking around in circles with toys all around. Thankfully, he likes to read late at night, so it's not too disruptive, but I really like my quiet time at night.

I grew up with 4 brothers and had my own room since I was at least 8 years old. I'm used to solitude at night. You'd think I could get that out of my system. I've been married longer than I was a child growing up in my home, but the habits of enjoying a quiet room all by myself are ingrained deeply. I loved to read until my eyes wanted to close. My mom would tell us that all the lights had to be out, but she knew I liked to read. So she'd just ask me to put a towel along the bottom of the door so the light wouldn't shine out into the hallway for my brothers to see. I guess she just wanted peace and quiet like I do now.


That leads me to now, wanting a little solitude tonight. I came down here to the computer to write a blog entry about yoga, but I found not long after pulling up my chair that all 3 children were up and about, asking me for an apple or orange, trying to find a highlighter for homework, or telling me what time it was (the clock matched her birthday right at that moment). It took some energy (understatement) to help them each get back to where they were supposed to be and the resulting reaction was "Oh, I wish I had some chocolate in the cupboard!" Like that solves anything. It sure is a strong feeling though. I guess it's that pattern of stress and seeking a soothing stress reliever. Chocolate has been found to provide that relief in studies and in my life (not to mention the lives of countless others -- especially women). But it really doesn't change anything. It is like jumping into a pool on a hot day. It feels good. (I guess that wasn't a good example because a pool really does change things -- gets me cooled off AND wet. But then again, the chocolate changes things too -- it quite often sends me on a sugar cycle of wanting sugar around the clock, prevents me from eating foods with vital nutrients, causes me to gain weight, and if it has dairy in it, can give me allergy and asthma problems).

Enough of my rambling thoughts. It sounds like the house is quieter now; I think I'll go up and read. Just as I type those final words, my older kids walk in the door -- their team lost, but they have other fun news to share. Time to be a mom just a little bit more. No chocolate needed.

1-11-11

Today's my Grandpa Southwick's birthday. He was born in 1911 on January 11th. 1-11-11. I love that. He died many years ago, but I think of him on every January 11th and think of what it was like to have him in my life and what my life would be like if he'd lived any longer. He died a year before I graduated from college, two years before I met my husband, and five years before I had any children. I imagine he met my children before they came to earth though. He loved children.

My grandpa loved children more than any other grandpa I've seen. He loved to take the little ones up onto his knee, hug them, and kiss their cheeks. He'd look at what they were doing and would comment on how precious they were to everyone else. You always felt loved by grandpa and you always sensed his love for everyone else.

He broke his neck when he was young and suffered head aches when he was older as a result. Severe headaches. Headaches that no doctor or no medication could remedy. But when there was a child in the room, my grandpa would say, "This is the best medicine there is" and would feel relieve and joy from his pain as he beheld his granddaughter or grandson. It makes me think of Jesus gathering the children around him and saying "Behold your little ones." My grandpa loved us that much.

Happy Birthday to Me!

I don't really sing the Birthday song to myself, but I certainly feel like SINGing! It's my 44th birthday today and it's been a very HAPPY day!

From the time I went to bed last night, I've been planning out my day. I thought through my workout options, knowing it was a cardio day and thought, "Do your favorite form of cardio" (which for a long time has been Cathe's step). I felt like rebounding a bit too, so I did her Cardio & Weights workout, which I know (and love) like the back of my hand and is mostly cardio, with 4 breaks for weights. During the weight segments, I got on the rebounder and did jacks and jumps.

After I had fun getting the kids ready for school, I drove home and thought, "What would be the perfect thing to eat for breakfast on my birthday?" I remembered that my friend Cherie gave me some pomegranates yesterday. So I ate a huge pomegranate (my very favorite food) and relished every bit of it.

As I went to do the next thing (check e-mail -- hear from good friends, read up on fitness and food, etc.), the thought hit me, "Should I take such care in choosing what I do and loving each moment like I have for my birthday?"

Perhaps I should. But what if it didn't meet my expectations? Would I live a life of frequent disappointments? Maybe so. I know that's a problem for some during the holidays -- they build it up to this big happy day and if it's a time of loss, sorrow, or sickness, it's an extra hard time for them. I don't want to have that happen on a regular basis.

So maybe just having these perfectly planned moments are better for special occasions -- or even for serendipitous moments, but it may be a bit much for every day.

The rest of my day followed in a similar fashion -- fun birthday wish phone calls , out for lunch to my favorite Italian restaurant (rigatoni w/vegetarian marinara -- a side of steamed veggies and another side of mushrooms -- all mixed together -- yum!) with good friends, opening festive packages that came in the mail from family and friends, unwrapping beautifully wrapped gifts from my children and husband, and eating more food with my family than I usually eat. My youngest daughter even filled a hot bath for me with my new candles (banana nut -- they smell so good).

It's all been wonderful. Tomorrow I'll catch up on the laundry. But those moments will be nice too. I like laundry. It may seem silly, but whenever I fold clothes, I feel like I've just brought the clothes home from the store and am discovering them for the first time. It may be my failing memory, but they seem new to me all over again :).

So 44 years down, hopefully at least 55 to go! Happy times!

Ch Ch Changes

No, I'm not giving a political party convention speech. I'm just talking about the changes that have come about in my life lately. Big changes. For 18 1/2 years, I've been a mother. I've taken care of my oldest daughter with delight and love. She's blessed our home with her light and her music. She's had a gentle way with her younger brothers and sisters. And now she's gone to college.

I've been thrilled for her as she set her college goals and reached them. She not only got accepted to BYU (where I went), but also got a 4 year full-tuition scholarship as well as enough local scholarships to pay for her dorm housing (which is not cheap! So a big PHEW on that!) She barely got into the dorms (my dorms 26 years ago) and got to meet her roommate on-line before-hand. It was fun to see her plan and prepare.

When the time came for her to drive away, however, it was tough. Really tough. Sobbingly tough. We drove her an hour north to meet another family who took her to college. The timing didn't work for us to make the 16 hour drive, so we were grateful she could go with them. (Plus they are a TON of fun, so that added to her college entrance adventure). But when I walked back in our door after the drive up to their house, the space that she left in our home was immense. It was rough. I had a whole new appreciation for anyone who has lost a family member. I don't know how they can handle the grief.

This eventually trickled off. I was able to share my loss with a few friends. It was nice to hear their words of experience. I paused from time to time, realizing the changes coming about in our lives -- the closing of one chapter and the opening of some others. This is always a tough thing for me. It's also exciting and joyful.

A week later, my youngest son started Kindergarten. He could have entered last year. In California the entrance deadline is early December and his birthday is late November. But he never would have sat still. It would have been frustrating for him and his teacher (even though he could read and was ready in that respect). He's been waiting a long time. He was raring to go! It was a celebration for all of us because we knew how excited he was -- plus it's a milestone for him and our family.

This is the first time I've had an empty home (not counting my husband who works from home) since my oldest daughter was born -- as I mentioned before, 18 1/2 years. My youngest son is only gone till noon, but there's a new sense of freedom in those morning hours that's really nice to have. It's peaceful. I can think without interruption and just get things done on my own. It's definitely a change.

What is it that Meg Ryan says in "You've Got Mail?" (It's actually the character, Kathleen Kelley, who's saying it :)) She says, "People always say that change is a good thing, but what it really means is that something that you didn't want to happen, has happened." That's probably true.

Perhaps in my case, it's not that I didn't want it to happen exactly, I just wasn't ready for it to happen just yet. My baby is growing up and going to Kindergarten on his own. My first baby is growing up and has left our home to start college on her own. When she used to walk from our Vanagon to her Kindergarten class, I'd watch her with her big puffy pink coat trying to hold onto her homework folder and lunch pail. And I'd say to my other children, "She's so big and she's so little." I've thought that throughout her life. I've thought that about my other children.

Now I hold my younger children a bit longer. I look into their eyes a bit deeper. I try to relish each opportunity I have with them in our home because I've learned first hand what it feels like to have one leave. I knew it was normal for it to happen when I left and when someone leaves from another family. But when it happened with MY little girl, it didn't feel normal or nice. It was quite sad.

I can't end with a sad note though. There are many joys as I watch my children grow -- even as I watch them leave. I heard a song this weekend about parenthood. We could always get in the way and protect our children, but then they wouldn't be able to grow. So we let them go and they grow. We grow as well.

I just have to add that I have this affinity for "You've Got Mail" -- stay tuned -- I've been planning a whole post on it in my head. Once I get the chance, you'll be reading about it (whether you like it or not :)). TTFN!

Looking at the bright side

Some of my friends struggle with depression. I'm grateful that hasn't been the case with me. I can think of a few times in my life when I've felt a dark cloud surround my thoughts and I'd look back to my usual self, wondering how to get there again, wondering if I ever could, thinking I probably couldn't. But I somehow snap out of it. That's my only glimpse at what depression might be like. My friend tells me it's a small glimpse.

Most of the time I'm actually chuckling throughout the day at the irony of life, the silliness of circumstances. I even laugh at myself for being so grateful for simple things, realizing that I'm unique in "getting a kick out of" little, little things. The only one that's fresh in my mind right now isn't really appropriate to write about online -- since it has to do with bodily functions, but even that can tell you how easily pleased I can be with normal every day stuff.

I don't know why I find it so easy to see the bright side of the coin (okay, I'm messing up some metaphors here, I'm sure).

If this doesn't come as easily to you, first I recommend you clean up your eating, (even if just in small ways). It will make a difference to your brain to feed it essential nutrients for maximum health (yes, even mental health is affected by eating). Secondly, pray or meditate (or both!), if you don't already. This will help you cast your burdens on a higher and helpful source and alleviate your mind from all the stuff that clutters it up in life. Third, think of someone worse off than you are. There are PLENTY out there. Sometimes just a change of perspective can help. Finding a way to help that person is even better! Fourth, surround yourself with positive people. Some people tell me they don't want to be around positive people when they don't feel positive themselves, but it can help. Laughter really is great medicine.

I found a fun piece of art about looking at the bright side (up at the top). Pretty cute (and positive!)

My husband is much more realistic than I am. That's what he calls it. (In fact, that's what my friend who battles depression calls herself too! Hmm -- maybe ignorance is bliss?) A quick example. One night I was looking out the bathroom window and exclaimed, "Wow! I see the big dipper!" This might not be as exciting for most, but we live in a misty climate and have many foggy nights. Being able to see the stars is a treat.

My husband replied this was impossible. The big dipper isn't in that part of the sky. We can't see it from our house because we live in a forest and the trees on the north side of our house cover most of it up. Granted, he does comprehend astronomy FAR better than I ever have, but this looked like the big dipper to me. So I stuck with my happy place and said, "Well, I'll just call it the big dipper" and he told me, "You can't. It isn't the big dipper." I was fine with the falsity of my experience, even if it gave me joy. He couldn't do that. He knew it wasn't there and as nice as those stars might be, it couldn't be that celebration for him that it was to me.

This wasn't an argument of any sort. In fact, we were (or was it just me) laughing about it as we went back and forth on "But it isn't the big dipper" to "I don't care -- It still looks like it to me." It's kind of become our symbol for how I see things. He calls it basing happiness on inaccuracy. I just call it happiness! :)

I've learned not to think of him as a pessimist though. Everyone's way of thinking probably plays into their strengths and talents. My husband's an industrial designer, which is part designer/part engineer. This clever comment on engineers describes his way of thinking well.

To the optimist, the glass is half full.
To the pessimist, the glass is half empty.
To the engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

School on the horizon

This is the last week of summer vacation and even though I enjoy the change of pace, the sunshine, and the freedom to take off when we like to, I miss the routine of school and having some time to myself at home. I've never completely had time to myself at home, (well at least not for almost 18 1/2 years), but it's a lighter load when my school-aged children are at school.

My youngest son will start Kindergarten on Monday and he's more than ready. I don't know if he'll come close to sitting still or keeping his racing thoughts in his head, but he definitely wants to be a part of it and is just itching to be there. It will be fun to see how he progresses without his given role of the baby of our family.

I won't be completely alone at home while he's at school because my husband works from home. I think I'll enjoy the times he goes out to lunch with a friend or leaves to run an errand -- having the house comPLETEly to myself. But I really do enjoy having him home with me. I love talking with him, having him come downstairs for lunch mid-day. Very pleasant, very nice.

I guess I'm telling you all of this to say that once school starts again, I'll have more time to write -- more time to focus my thoughts. I've missed writing as much as I was writing before. (I had problems with that sentence -- had to try a few versions to avoid that last phrase looking like an adverbial phrase with "as much as I had before." Fun to keep my brain going here late at night :)). TTFN!

Oh what do you do in the summer time? (Raw Lemonade Recipe)

Oh what do you do in the summertime

when all the world is green?

Do you fish in a stream or lazily dream

on the banks as the clouds go by?

Is that what you do? So do I.

Oh what do you do in the summertime
when all the world is green?
Do you swim in a pool to keep yourself cool
or swing in a tree up high?
Is that what you do? So do I.

Oh what do you do in the summertime
when all the world is green?
Do you march in parades or drink lemonades
or count all the stars in the sky?
Is that what you do? So do I.

I used to sing this song when I was little. I just love the memories it gives me of sunshine in the summer! I live in a cooler summer climate now, but we celebrate like no other when that sun comes out and brings the temperature up to even barely 80 degrees. Just love it!

I've been capturing that "Lazily dreaming" part this week. I have not been very productive at all! I was in L.A. last week with that infomercial filming and thought I'd just dig in this week with organizing and cleaning since my focus was away from that before the trip. But that hasn't been what I've been doing. I'm just enjoying the summer. It won't be here forever.

I've been writing quite a bit about my trip last week over on the Video Fitness (VF) Forum. I will post it here once I get some pictures to go with it. I thought I was so prepared for my trip by bringing 2 extra sets of batteries for my camera. I even emptied out my memory card (even though it only had maybe 5 pictures on it :)) before I left. I kept wondering what I'd forget. You know how every trip, you get there (or are on the way) and think "Oh, no! I forgot my razor!" (or pajamas, or underwear, or whatever -- these have all happened to me).

Once I ended up with no shoes on a trip to L.A. I did bring the pair on my feet, but we stopped off at a river on the way down and one of my shoes fell out of the car onto the river bed and we drove off without it. I rode all the way to L.A. without shoes and bought some at Target when we got there. The greatest part of that story was that we couldn't check to see if they were there on our way back because we drove back a different route. But a few weeks later when my husband traveled that same road, he stopped along the river, saw a spot where someone had built a fire and there was a collection of things someone had gathered along the shore. In the pile was my shoe! I got it back -- yay!

Anyway, this time I kept thinking "Did I forget this? Did I forget that?" and couldn't come up with anything. I was so well prepared. But the day we got to the studio, I took out my camera and it said, "No memory card" -- I'd left it in my computer!!!!! So I didn't get to take a single picture. But the other women did and they promised to send them to me. So far . . . nothing. But I haven't given up! I'll be sure to post about it all soon.

I should post a great raw recipe for lemonade while I'm here talking about summertime and lemonade. Here's a simple one I learned from Alissa Cohen:

Juice 4-5 apples
(Granny Smiths are great; others are fine too)
Add 1 big lemon into juicer

Drink up! It's super refreshing and wonderful.

Lunch pails from long ago

I'm not sure why, but last night as I was falling asleep, I started thinking about my lunch pail I had when I was young. I know that many call them "lunchboxes" now, but I called mine a lunch pail. I was born in the mid-60's and went to school in the early 70's. I pretty much had a childhood like they pictured on "The Wonder Years." (I sure with they'd put that on dvd, by the way). Thinking about my lunch pail brings back a flood of memories to my childhood and elementary school experience.

I searched around the internet a bit this morning, looking for my Bedknobs and Broomsticks lunch pail. I found that one sold on e-bay just a week ago for $6.50 plus shipping. Others go for quadruple that price or more. This was a metal lunch pail and had bumps and indentations around the pictures. One of my favorite things to do was to touch the little bumps and feel the fish on the front or the soccer ball on the back. I loved how colorful it was. I loved to look at the pictures on every side.

What I didn't like was how the top metal piece didn't stay shut. Sometimes it would, but if I was running down the hill to the bus or doing anything not mellow or careful, the lid could pop open and my lunch would fall right out. I remember one morning heading out to the bus and my sandwich spilled, my apple bounced and rolled across the street (visions of bruising rolling through my head), and my thermos fell. Then the thermoses were lined with glass and we had to be careful not to let them crack. You'd always shake your thermos after it fell to listen for broken glass. Later they made them with just plastic. They probably didn't keep your drinks as cold, but at least you didn't have the risk of drinking glass. I remember that the cup part of my thermos broke and I had to bring it to school for awhile with just the screw lid on. I'd see other children pouring their drinks into their cups to drink it and I'd have to drink straight from the thermos. I wasn't embarrassed to do it or anything, but I did long for that cup again.

We soon found a remedy for this faulty latch. The bobby pin! All you had to do was slide a bobby pin into the hole of the little barrel that the latch went over and the latch couldn't move. I did love putting that bobby pin in. And I loved the feeling of opening that latch over and over. It just felt good. They later came out with a plastic latch that would kind of spring shut and stay shut. Yes, it worked, but it wasn't nearly as fun to play with or as easy to open. This is where my thoughts traveled to last night. I was thinking about the latch change and how technology always intervenes and changes what we once loved. Not that technology isn't good. It is. But it often takes away something that we liked and replaces it with something that works better (but isn't as lovable).

Take the record player, for example. I do love my CDs (and am getting used to the whole MP3 thing), but it was really fun to stack a bunch of records on top of that tall spindle that held the records up high and eventually released them one by one as each record finished. There was something soothing about that. I learned to love the Beatles this way. I'd stack a bunch of Beatles records up so they could all play in a row, then would flip them all over to hear the other sides. (And yes, I tried playing the "Sgt. Pepper" one backwards to hear them say "Paul is dead" -- it was muffled, but if you really used your imagination and turned the record at an even pace, you could make out something :)).

Back to the lunch pails, I've wondered why I didn't have a Brady Bunch lunch pail since I loved them so much. After all, my best friend, Cindy, had a Partridge Family one (and oh, how I loved to look at that -- it came on right after "The Brady Bunch" each week and I loved that show too).

I think I probably ended up with a Bedknobs and Broomsticks lunch pail because that's what they had at Sprouse Riese, which was the only dime store in town back then (hadn't changed much -- now they just have a Rite Aid -- no Wal-Mart, K-Mart or Target). We'd go to Sprouse Riese and if they had something, that was our option. If not, we didn't even think about it. If we shopped out of town, we might find something else, but that didn't happen often, especially when all of us were little. My parents only had one car, so we stayed home all day while dad was working. Anyway, I was fine with my lunch pail. And I loved looking around the lunch room to see what everyone else had.

I think the lunch pail I admired the most was one that a girl name Jenny used to bring in. She had a completely different style that was vinyl and oval. It was tall and had a long handle like a purse. It was covered in flowers and just looked so cute. I used to look at it all the time. I can still see her walking into the lunch room and feel the emotions of excitement I felt as I oohed and ahhed about it inside. Simple joys in life.

I'd love to hear about your lunch pails if any of you have any great lunch pail memories. I spent some time looking through e-bay and a few lunchbox websites, just remembering the various pictures I used to see every day in the cafeteria. I'll end with a few photos of the Brady Bunch lunch pail. Enjoy!

Never a shy bone in my body

I'm sure I'll post this on the right side of my blog page, but I just wanted to introduce my older brother's blog that he just started a few days ago. It's called Rusted Ruminations. I'm guessing that "ruminations" means thoughts or something similar. (I just looked it up and it means "turning a matter over and over in your mind." Perfect title for how his mind works!)

If I haven't mentioned this before, I grew up in a family of 5 children. I'm the only girl. I wanted and hoped for a sister, but that wasn't the plan. Instead, I had my own room when they all shared one. I was the second oldest, but often felt like I was the oldest since I was the most outgoing and loudest. :) I didn't try to overshadow my older brother Rusty and I don't think he ever felt that way. He just smiled when I talked and talked and seemed to appreciate my ways. My younger 3 brothers seemed to hover around him like buzzing bees. They loved to watch his every move. He eventually got his own room (small narrow laundry room -- his bed was on a plank above the washer and dryer for a few years before my mom moved them out by the back door). When they got a chance to be in his room with him, they'd look around in awe at his organized display of what he loved and play silently at his side.

I love to write. I love to talk. Rusty doesn't talk nearly as much, but is a brilliant writer. I think it's more fascinating to hear what someone is thinking about when they don't talk. My school teachers must have agreed. I used to watch the shy kids at school from a young age and wished I could be like them. I'd raise my hand at every opportunity, knowing all the answers. My teachers weren't that anxious to call on me. They'd say things like, "We know you know the answer, Renee" and would scan the room for another hand. My hand would find ways to shoot higher, which didn't help a bit. I'd watch the teacher call on the quiet child and try to pry an answer from her. So as I began 3rd grade, I set a goal to be the quiet child in class.

I remember lying in bed the night before the first day of 3rd grade. "I'm going to be shy this year," I vowed. I could just see the teacher, saying "Renee?" and trying to get me to answer. That would be the best. The next day, I sat in my chair and ideas and answers flooded my head. Can I keep them to myself? I sat and remembered my goal for the year. But I couldn't do it. I just couldn't do it. I had to share what was in my head. I had to let the teacher know that I knew. I wanted to participate in whatever discussion took place. I couldn't stop myself from talking!!!!!!!!!!

So I came to grips with my ways and was amused when I went to my oldest daughter had her Parent/Teacher Conferences. Year after year, her teachers would tell me how she was bright and a delight, but she loved to talk. My oldest son had the same problem (and I'm sure my youngest will when he starts Kindergarten this year). They even came up with a word for it with my oldest son -- they said he was "blurting." His brain went so fast and he wanted to share it with everyone. One teacher called him "Mert, the Blurt" because he couldn't even wait to raise his hand. I think I always raised my hand, but I'm sure I blurted out my thoughts before called upon (the hand was just a formality on my part :)). I'd sit there in the P/T Conferences and think "Yeah, I know what that was like" and would want to discuss my past with it, instead of talking about their struggles. I was able to maintain my thoughts, keeping a rein on them (oh, it's tough though) and let the Conference go on without my every thought flying out there. So I know there's hope for my kids.

Back to Rusty, just the opposite. You don't really know what he's thinking about unless he writes. And I wouldn't call him shy. He's not afraid of anything. He's not afraid to talk to anyone or even in public. He just chooses to not do it nearly as much as I do (and not as speedily). Sometimes I talk to people and have SO MANY details or experiences to share that I can't talk enough to keep up with the flow. But not Rusty. He takes his time and divies up his words to add to the conversation.

He wrote a column in the high school newspaper that was always fun to read. I won't try to describe his clever style. And I'd better not build it up too much or he'll feel like he has a big shoe to fill. Just drop by his blog sometime and see how his brain works. It's amazing.

Summer Time & Clotheslines

I'm so out of the loop with writing. Even after school ended, the graduations were over, the relatives had gone home, and I finally caught up with ALL THAT LAUNDRY (phew!), I wasn't ready to write again. I love writing, but that groove of the kids being in school is gone and I've been directing traffic here ever since. All but two of my children are gone tonight, so it's a little quiet and I have time to ponder a bit. What to write about? I'm really not sure.

I just looked out the window and even thought it's well after 8:00 at night, it's still light outside and it hums that summer sound. I just love summer days. The warm air seeps into my soul and makes me smile from the inside out. My very favorite thing to do in the summer is to hang clothes on the line. I used to do it for all of our clothes when we lived near Sacramento with hot, hot summers. We had a tiny 110 dryer that didn't took forever to dry our clothes, so I used the clothesline whenever I could.

Our two oldest girls were little then and would play in the yard while I hung the clothes. My husband bought a long railroad tie (big square-ish post if you're not familiar with the term) at a yard sale and put it on top of the two posts that held up the clothes line. He hung two swings from the post and the girls would swing while I hung the laundry. Sometimes it was so hot that the first clothes I hung would be dry by the time I finished hanging the last of the load.

Some young boys from down the road would run by with their soaker water guns, threatening to spray us. I'd throw them off by asking if they'd come spray my head -- just soak it like crazy to cool me off. It felt wonderful, just wonderful.

I just looked for a photo of that clothesline and found just one -- but it's way in the back right side of the picture -- hardly visible. And no clothes are on it. I must have been caught up! I don't even see the swings or the railroad tie. This looks like it was close to the time we moved away. Maybe we removed it before going, I don't know. But I still get that warmth from seeing that setting. This was when our oldest son was a baby -- 14 years ago. I'll keep looking for photos though. I was pretty positive I had a few of the girls swinging with clothes up above.


Back to hanging clothes, it's somehow as satisfying to me as getting a good fire going in the wood stove. I feel a connection with the earth as well as knowing I'm doing something productive (my brain yearns for that at all times -- call me crazy). And it's just a peaceful, pleasant thing to do. It's not quite as warm where we live now, but when that sun comes out, I run and put clothes on the line.

Our climate is generally cool and moist. In fact, one thing I have to really be mindful of when I use the clothesline is getting them off before the sun falls over the redwood trees. If the clothes are still there once the sun has gone down, chances are, the clothes are cool and moist -- sometimes even damp. There have been many times that I've just left the clothes on the line for another day to dry out again (hoping some deer with ticks doesn't brush by them during the night). There have been a few times that I've done this 2 or 3 days in a row -- mindless me!

This time of the year, though, it's warmer, sometimes even hot (today, I'm thinking we hit the 80s -- woo hoo!) and the clothes dry faster and I can use it multiple times. Very, very fun!


In light of gas prices, insane propane bills, and a search for other ways to perform our modern day tasks, I wish I could find other ways to do things by hand -- using the sun or other sources to help eliminate cost and fuel dependence. The wood stove helps a bit (when I can find wood at a decent price or use tree trimmings from our yard). I just need to find a way to get hot water w/o the propane -- $200 a month for that and a little cooking with the gas stove is just too much. I'll do some research and will let you know what I come up with. Until then, I'll be smiling in the sunshine while I hang my clothes! :)

Sorry for not writing!

It's been well over a week and I realize I haven't written. My oldest daughter is graduating from high school next Thursday and my oldest son is graduating from 8th grade the night before that. I volunteered to make scrapbook pages for each of the 8th grade graduates (there are only 8 of them, but multiply that by 3 pages each) to display at Graduation, plus I'm making an album for my son of all his school day photos from pre-K on up. (This was a tradition I started with my oldest daughter 4 years go -- a wonderful thing to make and have, but takes a lot of time away from everything else).

Sooooooooooooo, once I finish this up, I'll have to catch up on laundry and all that before my relatives come to visit. THEN, I'll start writing again (and the kids will be out of school for the summer, so I'll have to regulate the computer so I have computer time myself to do it!)

My exercise is going just great -- still doing my STS-like 14 week rotation with Cathe Friedrich for weights and either Cathe, Cardio Coach, or something else fun for cardio -- and yoga here and there. My eating is pretty good, but could definitely be better. I just don't have as much time for preparation as usual. Also, my head is a little scattered......but I'll get back with it soon -- yes, I will. I can't wait to write more regularly too. See you then!

P.S. (Last night was Senior Awards night at the high school and my daughter received more awards than anyone -- a total of 10 scholarships and other awards or recognition. She's done such an amazing job in school!)

Get yourself a co-op group!

Several years ago, when my teenage daughters were toddlers, I was in need of time out with my husband, but didn't have much money for a babysitter. Some friends of mine formed a co-op babysitting group, which worked great. Three other couples joined with us to babysit once a month for everyone else's children. The plan was to bring your children to their home fed and dressed in pajamas at 6:30. We'd also bring a small blanket for each child. The children would play for an hour or more, then would lie down for movie on their blanket. Often the younger children would fall asleep -- the older ones would have fun watching the movie late together. The parents would come back by 10:00. This gave enough time for a nice date out on the town with free babysitting 3 times a month! Sometimes my husband and I would just drive somewhere and talk. It was nice to have some time together, but without the worry of finding a sitter or financial strain of paying one. And it was fun to get to know the other children better when it was their turn to come to our house. (The kids definitely enjoyed getting together as much as we did).

Time passed. We eventually move and were able to afford sitters from time to time. Then our girls were old enough to watch our younger ones. About 5 years ago, I found a new need -- help for projects that are too difficult to tackle alone or too time consuming to ever fit in. I was telling a good friend of mine about the babysitting co-op and mused about how nice it would be to form a work group of friends to take turns helping each other with huge projects. I left it at that, but her mind started to work.

A few days later, she called me and said, "Let's do it." Several of us had small children still at home during the day, so we figured if one person could watch all of the children one week, the others could get together and work. We'd rotated house to house for where the work was done and who would babysit. We started out with 6 women involved, but found that the one babysitting felt left out on all the fun -- not that watching the children wasn't fun, but being together with a bunch of friends is wonderful too. So we decided just to let the children join us. We'd just keep them occupied in a room or yard playing. The co-op work group was born!

You'd be amazed at all we've accomplished over the years. Three of us have been constant in the group while others have come and gone - - many left because they've moved and have formed their own work groups in their new towns. We get together every other Wednesday morning from 9:00 to noon. The only rules are that you can't worry about anyone seeing your house dirt or clutter and no one judges when they see what work is to be done. At times, we've taken detours on going to each other's homes and have helped out someone else in need -- whether it's someone in the midst of a move, has had something tragic happen in their lives and can't emotionally deal with the mess their left with. One of us usually just tells them we have a group of friends who love to do projects together and are willing to come in and help. Sometimes they let us do it and it's wonderful to see what we can accomplish is such a short time.

Today, my friends came to my house and helped me dig up some pampas grass (or as a gardening site says, is "a landscaping quick fix you'll live to regret.") It had just grown to monstrous proportions and was no longer pretty. We had two huge bundles of it and much of it had dried and looked just horrible. I knew I couldn't do it alone and wondered if we could even do it in a few hours together. What's wonderful about the work group is that everyone has different opinions, expertise, and hopes. What one person may deem impossible (me, thinking after seeing the HUGE pile of leaves, roots, dirt clods, etc. dug up that there was no way we could haul that back over and over with the wheel barrow to the back of the property) may seem totally doable to another ("No problem," said my friend, "I'll do the wheel barrow runs" as she made the pile somehow disappear). I can start a project thinking I know how to do part of it, but will run into a block, not knowing what to do next. When I have friends there to bounce off ideas and who may have had experience with this at their home, it's wonderful because it helps me know what to do next and gives me the motivation to continue -- not stop and go start something else.

Some of the projects we've done over the past few years have been:

Cleaning out & organizing cabinets, drawers, pantries, garages, CD & dvd collections, and books

Overhauling children's bedrooms & toy closets

Deep cleaning before relatives come to visit (such motivation!)

Washing all the windows in a house inside and out

Weeding (oh joy!), placing weed cloth, and planting bushes, flowers, and trees

Painting bedrooms, kitchens, cupboards, and even counter tops!

Sealing up grains for food storage in vacuum seal bags

Packing up friends when they move

Putting new shelf paper in all cupboards and drawers

Going through boxes from the attic from years back

Scrapbooking

Going through children's school work, papers, artwork, etc., and putting them into binders

Sewing & Mending (this is one I chose because I hate to sew, so they sewed for me!)

Taking old appliances to the scrap recycler (another one I chose because they have pick-ups and I don't)

Bringing in landscaping materials and spreading around the yard (again, no pick-up!)

Decorating Christmas trees

Taking down Christmas decorations

Wrapping Christmas gifts

Polishing woodwork

Chopping wood

Shoveling and preading gravel around a pond

Making crafts for gifts

Shopping (yes, believe it or not, one friend can't stand shopping, so we go pick out clothes for her -- another friend didn't know where to start in decorating her husband's new office, so we shopped for furniture and decorations -- very fun!)

We often have little celebrations together too. If it's someone's birthday, we'll often potluck after we finish and eat together (or just take off for lunch afterwards). At Christmas time, we each bring a small gift, some goods for brunch or lunch and do a little exchange at the end. Always fun.

I can't tell you how many times I've walk by a project that everyone's done for me and felt an overwhelming sense of joy, awe, and appreciation. It's so wonderful to see some monstrous, yet nagging and necessary task get done that I just couldn't do on my own. My friends have said the same over and over too.

Get yourself a group of friends to co-op with you. It's a wonderful thing.

The Value of Yesterday

Yesterday had more value than I could have ever imagined for one family in particular. It proved to be the last day with their husband and father. After a wonderful sunny day yesterday, we found out late last night that a friend of ours died of a heart attack. He was in his early 40s like us, a good friend of my husband's, dedicated father of 4, had just returned from a bike ride, and suffered a heart attack. That's it. That was his last day.

Here I was wondering what May 8th would bring, if it could become a memorable one and it forever will be for that family. I'll remember it too. I imagine they've relived their last words and moments spent yesterday with him. I did the same with the last few conversations I've had with him, even though weeks and months before. Those are the moments to cherish. We don't realize how important these moments are until they are no longer available.

The Value of Today

Last night, my youngest child came into our room around 3:00 a.m. He doesn't always do this, but when he does, it's crazy. We have a queen-size bed and my husband is tall, so there's not a lot of room for another person, even if he is little. Add on top of that his kicking feet aim right for my stomach, so it's pretty impossible to sleep well while he's there. After hoping it would all just go away and the slumbering will begin again, I finally got up and carried him back to bed. Thankfully, he didn't come back a little later. Still, I couldn't get back to sleep.

I thought of my 5:25 alarm setting, knowing that it was growing closer and closer. I thought a lot about what I needed to do first thing this morning (try to straighten out my oldest daughter's housing mess with college -- she got notice last night that the dorms were full and the date to apply was today :) -- I told her "welcome to the world of bureaucracy :)). I thought through what life would be like for her if she didn't get to live in the dorms -- how much farther she'd have to walk, how the students would mostly be older and not relating to her freshman experience. I thought of how she wouldn't be repeating my freshman year if she didn't live where I had. I tossed and turned and tried to turn the thoughts off. I thought of how she had AP and IBO tests all this week and didn't want to add to the stress during testing of housing problems.

Then my thoughts flipped to yesterday. What had I done yesterday? Was it a good day? As I thought it through, it seemed like a wash. I lived through the hours, but didn't feel like I was nearly as productive as I would have liked. I didn't even know what day it was -- was it May 8th? Were we past the 10th? Yes, it was late and I probably could have counted forward from Monday, which was my cousin's birthday, so I knew it was the 5th, but the point I realized is that I wasn't valuing my yesterday that much. And the more I thought about it, I wasn't sure if I had any plans to value my next day either. I was already anticipating some tiredness from sleeplessness. And if I took a nap, I'd be sure to attach some guilt for not getting something else done in that amount of time.

I understand the value of the present moment -- it's a common theme in yoga. It's a principle of Christianity -- life is a gift and we must cherish every moment in appreciation and enjoyment. But it's easy to let that all slide and just let days blend in with each other without distinction or a sense of value.

I remember when my children were little and none were in school. I craved something that would define our days. If I signed the girls up for gymnastics, at least Tuesday and Thursdays would have a distinction from Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and I actually might be able to tell one day from the next.

I just read in a past National Geographic that a woman with extreme memory capacity can draw any memory from any day since she was 11 years old. She can tell you what people wore or said, what she did, what TV show she saw and what it was about in vivid detail. The detail for her is as real in these thoughts as when I smell a shampoo I haven't used in 15 years or hear a song I haven't heard in years and the smell or song takes me back to that precise time in my life. She says she can take today and flip back to every day like it every year back for 20 years like she's flipping through a Rolodex -- seeing everything that has happened. (Not to get too far off with her, but she says this is a curse as much as a blessing. She experiences the pain and stress of those days as well as the joys over and over again. I just wanted to add that part to complete her story). But her ability made me realize that every day does have it's moments, it's flavor, it's songs, and it's meaning. I need to make each day memorable, whether I ever remember it again or not.

I need to value each day whether I'm filming an exercise video or doing laundry. I actually do enjoy doing laundry, but I doubt I'll ever take pictures or post great details about it in my blog. Who knows? Maybe I will :).

But I do know that I'll live more consciously through today. I'll feel good about what I'm doing. I will look for the value and light in each experience. I will bring any light I can to others around me. I won't waste my moments. I'll figure out the name of the day (MAY 8th today!) and celebrate it like I've been looking forward to this day for a long time. That's what I do on Christmas day or my birthday -- why not today? I feel joy just thinking about it!

Then tonight if I'm awake for hours, if I flip back through my Rolodex of memories from today, I'll smile through them. I won't be wondering what I did or if it had enough worth. I'll know it did.

Sorry!

Wow! It's really been over a week (10 days, in fact) since I've written? So sorry about that. Last week was a big whirlwind of activity and I wasn't home much at all. This week I'm playing catch-up. After I shower and get myself going today, I'll post some more -- I promise!

I even had some great thoughts on Tax Day that I wanted to write about. I wonder if I can recreate the feelings that went with them on that actual day. I'll sure try! (Well, I know what Yoda said -- so I won't try -- I'll just do it and see what happens). TTFN!

Chores can be fun!

I know I flip around here from topic to topic, but it's how my mind thinks (and how my life is!) I was just thinking about tomorrow and how I need to get the kids to really help get the house (mainly their bedrooms!) into shape.

Have you ever seen the Pippi Longstocking movie (I actually found it on YouTube if you want to click on it) where she's wearing scrub brushes on her feet and is singing "Scrubbing Day is a holiday!" as she skates across the floor (making a mess of bubbles). That's the spirit of cleaning that makes it fun for our kids. It takes awhile to get to that point sometimes. It takes some creativity. When they were little, it was as easy as singing Barney's, "Clean-up, clean up, every body everywhere. Clean-up, clean-up, every body do your share" which as much enthusiasm as I could muster up in my voice.

Over the years, I've tried all sorts of ways to help make it fun when our kids work. I've learned that variety is key. What may work one week may not work the next. Or a method may stick for years (like a daily one we're doing now).

Here is a handout I wrote up about a year ago for a Women's Conference Sharing Station (table display):

Chores can be FUN!

Really, they can! – for parents and children. Parents need to work WITH their children to teach them how to do the chores and to help motivate them. Here are some fun methods that have worked for us:

Make the job fun – if your child is helping you cook, let him/her wear a special apron to feel important. * Children love jobs that involve a spray bottle. * Play music that you all love to sing along with as you work.

Set up a simple reward system – Use a sticker chart, token jar, anything that motivates and shows their progress. Chore charts on the fridge are great reminders of what they need to do and help give order in the home.

Do what works – If your child likes variety, change the chores they do each day. If he/she likes consistency, let your child do the same chores or clean the same Zone of the house each day.

Let the smaller children pair up with the older children to work side by side.

Field Trip Fun -- Put all the chores that need to be done on bits of paper in a bowl. Tell the children they can all go . . . (to the park, swimming, for a walk, etc.) . . . together when the chores are done. Let each child draw a few chores, then get to work. This shows them how much work it takes to get the house all cleaned up and that you work before you play. * A variation for summer time is to let the children each choose a place to go to every day that week. Write down the places, then have them draw a chore or two for each day – record those too. Each morning, you’ll get up and do the chores, then go on the “field trip.” The best part is you get to come home to a clean house!

Draw names – This is our favorite cleaning activity. You write everyone’s names down 3 times (or more) and keep each family grouping separate. Put the first set in the bowl and have everyone draw a name. Set the buzzer for 15-20 minutes and have everyone disperse throughout the house to clean something for the person they drew. We try to keep it a secret, but it’s okay if a person sees what’s going on. When the buzzer rings, everyone comes back together and tells what they did for their person. It’s a time of sharing and feeling like someone did something wonderful for you. Then you put the second set of names in the bowl and repeat. If you do it 3x, it takes about an hour and you get a TON of work done and feel great for serving that person at the same time.

Make Lists – This is nice for Saturday mornings when you want to get some work done from the start of the day. Give each child a little list with their names at the top and things as simple as “Wake Up,” “Get Dressed,” and “Eat Breakfast” on it so they feel like they are succeeding and progressing from the start. Add a few bedroom chores as well as common room chores everyone can do at the same time. Cross out the chores as you go. My mom used to do this with me and my brothers when we were growing up. I loved checking things off like "Wake Up" and "Get Dressed" -- I felt like I was succeeding from the start!

Guessing Game – This is especially fun for younger children (and teaches them to clean one kind of toy or one area at a time). Ask them to clean one thing or area of their room, then come out and tell you to come look. You come in and try to guess what they just picked up or cleaned. They are so proud when you see the difference. This gives you a chance to tell them how well they did. Then you leave the room and they clean something else. You come back and guess again. This continues until the room is clean.

Make a grab bag – Using inexpensive trinkets (Dollar Store, garage sales), snacks, or even coins, fill up a little bag with surprises. Set the buzzer and have your children clean whatever they want for 10 minutes. When the buzzer rings, they get to show you what they’ve done and then you let them choose something from the grab bag. Set the buzzer again and continue. After doing this several times, they get to eat the snacks and play with what they got. We’ve done this when friends are over playing and they love doing it just as much.

Play Hide & Seek – Hide a toy in one of the rooms that the children are cleaning. Tell them if they find it while cleaning, they can go hide it in someone else’s room. The game can continue while everyone cleans.

Play outside – After chores are done, keep the house clean by encouraging your children to play outside. I tell my children that if they want to keep cleaning, they can stay in the house and do more. If they’d rather play, play outside. Sometimes they surprise me and stay in to clean. Most of the time, they’re ready to play.

Doing chores together is often an ideal time for parents and children to interact. According to researchers, "Chores that can be done with a minimum of concentration leave our minds free to focus on one another as we work together. We can talk, sing, or tell stories as we work. "

Sometimes it's easier for parents to do all the family work themselves than to nag children until they do it. Or we may give children responsibility only for their own things, such as their own rooms or toys.

But researchers have found it's wise to give children work opportunities that require them to do something for others. One study compared children who did "self-care" tasks, such as cleaning up their own rooms, with children who did "family-care" tasks, such as setting the table. The researchers found that children involved in family care tasks learned to be more concerned for others while children involved in self-care tasks only did not.

Since I didn't mention the method we currently use for daily chores, I'll tell you about it. We used to do Zones where our kids would be in charge of an area of the house and then we'd rotate. It worked okay for awhile, but there wasn't a real set time for them to do it and they weren't all that consistent. I tried having them do a morning chore before they left for school and it worked for awhile, but then a busy time would hit (Science Project time, up too late & slept in) and that would slide. We did "Everyone do 1/2 hour of work" when they got home from school before snack and that would work unless they went to a friend's house or had piano lessons or sports or something.

One night (a few years ago, actually -- they've done it well this long!) I told them we'd just have chore time right after family prayer -- the oldest 2 girls would alternate doing the dishes while the other vacuumed downstairs and our oldest son would vacuum upstairs. The younger ones were assigned to pick up toys in their rooms, and straighten up the downstairs bathroom, and put shoes away from the front & back door. This probably was actually my husband's idea because he saw me running around doing much of this late at night every night. We still need weekend chores or projects to keep our house clean and organized, but this is a wonderful thing to always wake up to a clean kitchen and nice vacuumed floor to exercise on each morning.