hello there, friend,
we haven't had school all week... it's been challenging to keep everyone occupied for long stretches of time without resorting to a full on technology extravaganza! we've been reading, sledding, walking, eating popcorn, knitting, and meeting up with friends here and there for more outdoor play or indoor swimming. i can tell you right now without my daily walks, i would be losing my mind. (before yesterday, i am certain i have never taken a walk on purpose when it was 0 and the windchill was somewhere below that!)
i texted my sister last night and said something to the effect of, "i should have.... (insert any number of things here) with all this time off" and she reminded me that i wanted to live this year with no regrets. she's right. that insidious voice that says "you really should" is basically saying, "you're not enough". it's a voice we all struggle with. some days it is so loud that i have to find a way to tune it out and other days i can barely hear it at all...
i find gratitude to be one of the ways to tune it out. turning and returning to what fills me up is gratitude. writing it down, small thing after small thing: popcorn on a cold day, sleeping bags and boy bodies on the living room floor, slippers on cold floors, hats, gloves, and scarves on radiators, boots lines up by the doors, colorful triangles of fabric, a messy kitchen - evidence of plenty of both food and bodies in this house, sunshine streaming through foggy/icy windows, coffee in my favorite mug, watching my oldest learn to knit, laughing out loud while watching a silly movie, and so on...
xo,
b
