My Life in Letters - Dear Children

Dear Children,

I'm writing to let you know that I am going on strike: that's right. I am no longer going to continuously pick your stuff up off the floor as I follow you around the house all day, before and after each meal and before bed.This includes the my daily routine of the following (to name a few): placing the footstool back in the bathroom 10 times, vacuuming three times, doing dishes 5 times, folding 3 loads of laundry, picking up pencils, placing toys in the basket, picking up food off the floor multiple times, turning the air conditioner back on 6 times, stacking books in the book basket multiple times, folding blankets 3 times, and more. You will now have to pick up your own clothes, and personal belongings off the floor (gasp!) and put away your own toys! In other words, you will follow the rules; rules we put in place a long time ago, and that we have just been too lazy to enforce. But, because your mom is tired, fried, and emotionally drained, things are going to have to change. 

I might not be homeschooling you (um, no thank you!) but if I'm going to be a stay-at-home mom, I plan to teach you something: the Golden Rule.  I plan on teaching you how to be good, responsible human beings, hopefully one day, good responsible adults. 

I want you to LOVE each other and RESPECT each other. I don't care if you LIKE each other, because I know that you won't all the time. Just work it out already! No pinching, kicking, hitting, hair pulling, biting, smacking, or shoving! And, here's something else: Yelling really only gets people's attention: it makes them hear you, not listen to you. If you really want someone to listen to you, yelling is not the way.

I really want to enjoy the summer with you. I want to take you places like the park, the pool, and the library without constant fighting and bickering. I want to have fun and make new memories with the three of you and Dad.

I'm not only going on strike because I'm worn out, but because I love you and want to you be good, happy, loving individuals. I feel the only way to help you learn this lessons, is to do a better job as your mom, and enforce the rules. Now, I'm not sure how long this strike will last. My goal is 5 days. Please bear with me, and try to do your best to help out and be good. Just remember, I'm not the maid, I'm your mom. 

Please clean your room. 

Thanks. 

Love,  Mom  

The Purge

Trash or treasure...

It's amazing the amount of things we accumulate in our lives. Over time (and after countless trips to Wal-Mart) we end up with so much junk....how much of it do we really need?

Since deciding to quit my job and stay home, I've been in full "purge" mode, going through rooms and the cupboards and/or closets in those rooms and getting rid of "stuff." If it doesn't mean anything to me, or if I haven't used it or worn it in the past 6 months, it's on its way out. After having three kids (an no immediate or future plans for more) I felt I could have started up a baby supply store on our barn...no joke. It was stifling! Seeing it every day was driving me nuts and I couldn't take it anymore. Something had to be done about it.

In all honesty, I despise having garage sales and think it's a bit weird when I go to them: walking among other people's belongings, judging, debating, wondering about their tastes ("they're selling that?") or having one myself: it's way too much work, and I really don't want to have to "counter haggle" my price on something with a fellow towns-person I may run into in the not-so-far-in-the-future, future. It's just uncomfortable!

So I had a garage sale. And, by garage sale, I mean YARD sale (as we don't have a garage), which ended up lasting not just the initial weekend, but the next week and into the following weekend! See, why move it twice? I figured that by leaving it on tables in my front yard, it would give people plenty of chances to check out the goods.....(ha ha). When it was all said and done (and a whole week of my life gone, evaporated) I made a little cash, and got rid of a bunch of things.

Even better than the meager income I made from the yard sale is the improvement in my health, both physically and mentally: my mind feels more clear, and my shins are less bruised too.  I gave up the need to do the 400M hurdles every day, and gained the increased ability to breathe: the calm that comes with a cleansing breath, so to speak. With less clutter, I feel like I can finally evaluate and appreciate what I have. I can SEE and use the things that have value and meaning to me and in my life. And deep purging may just uncover something valuable that you forgot you had! Using my grandma's silverware means more to me than the set we were using before: half of it was lost to the trash thanks our 2 yr old, I suspect.Quite frankly,  I don't see the point in having something if I'm not going to use it.

So, if you're feeling a bit stifled, suffocated, or like you're drowning in your surroundings, satisfy that urge to purge and try it for yourself. You'll feel much better, your house will look better (or, empty if you happen to take the whole thing too far) and you'll be able to focus on what matters to you most, which isn't actually tangible after all. Deciding to love your life is lovely :)

- Em