Life is a Verb – Chapters 1 & 2

Posted on May 6, 2013 by Hethr

I’d prepared to write this post on Thursday – then something happened and it got put off to Friday – which was a day filled with laundry, packing, working, cleaning, and preparing for my romantic getaway with Mr D.  Then…the weekend was spent romantically getting-awaying – so…yeah.  I’m late guys.  Sorry!

As I read through Chapters 1 and 2, I thought about how I was able to relate to them.  How often had I been woken in the middle of the night with strange little philosophical questions from the kids?  Okay, not that often, but how often had I pondered these types of questions as I stared at the beauty of a sleeping child?  A LOT.

I find that through the day, I’m so busing doing and getting and moving that I don’t often have the time to think – I do that at night…laying awake in bed, replaying my day in my head and taking mental photographs…and wishing I was more engaged in it all.

So when I read the following, I could totally understand.

What does it take to fully inhabit your life?  It takes realizing how important the I that is you is to the equation.  This is not about other people, it’s not about changing the world in big ways, it’s not even about doing great things – rather, it is about doing small things that give you life, bring you joy, help you inhabit the stories of your days – and, by extension, help change the world and the lives of others around you.  To fully live, you must be present in the biggest way possible.
-Life is a Verb, page 8

Yeah, I’m not often present.  I mean, I’m physically there, but in my head I’m thinking about what needs to be done later, tomorrow, next week, next month, etc.  I’m so busy planning out what’s coming next that I forget to enjoy what is happening right now.  Which brought me to the next passage that hit me:

Why do I step back from participating in my own life? To whom am I giving over the power of my own life?  Why am I waiting for permission?  Why am I letting other people measure my worth in cubicle wall height?  What story am I telling myself about myself?  What stories do They tell about me that I’ve started believing?  What does it mean to be in the shadow of Their story about me?
- Life is a Verb, page 10

Yeah – that too – why I do I let people define me?  What right do they have to do so?  Better yet, why do I let them?

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Life is a Verb Book Club – Introduction

Posted on April 27, 2013 by Hethr

I read books a lot.  I like, and sometimes even love many of the books I read.  It’s rare, however, that I read an introduction to a book and am moved to tears.  This is what happened when I read Patti Digh’s Life is a Verb.

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The book is basically about living as if your time is limited.  I know – not an unusual thought – I mean, how many of us are immortal?  Not anyone that I know!  Anyhow – rather than just just living, she talks about embracing life and making each day count.  Ironically, this is easier said than done.

In her introduction to the book, she talks about how you need to carry around a pencil to read the book.  She explains that you need to use the generous space in the margins to reflect on what you’ve read – and how this is an example of what we need to do in our lives.

Instead of a book what if we’re actually writing (or not writing) in the margins of our lives?What if our lives are books? What is the sign of our presence?  Are we pressing into the margins our interpretations and questions?  Are we circling offending verbs and drawing furious arrows to the margin where we scrawl “irony,” “frustration,” “voiceless,” “unfair!”  Or do we simply turn the pages, passively receiving what’s given, furiously disagreeing but remaining silent about it?
- page ix, Life is a Verb

I read that and was stunned into silence.  I remember we were driving along a busy section of road in the city, Mr.D cursing at other drivers, the kids in the back fighting – and yet somehow, everything stopped.  Those words sung so true into my soul…am I really just a bystander in my own life?  Am I living passively?  Is life happening to me, or am I living it?  Sadly, I know the answers to all of these questions, and I’m not happy with them.

As you continue to read the introduction you’ll see that she talks about how she tells a story with the intention of making the reader to reflect on what that story means to them.  She follows up these stories with two challenges – a Do It Now challenge which is intended to immediately reinforce the story.  These are typically prompted writing challenges where she encourages the reader to “stop thinking and write” and are limited to just 10 minutes.  Following that – she has what she calls Movement Challenges which she describes as challenges that “…are designed to be things you can dip into, come back to later, try out, practice over time.” (page xiii, Life is a Verb)

Since the Movement Challenges are meant as a long-term reflection, and the Action Challenges are more about our guttural reactions and may not be something we want to share with the whole blogosphere…what I’m asking of readers is to talk about what they are comfortable with.  Mainly – what did you think of this story?  Did it cause you to stop and think about how you’re living?  Are you going to be making changes?

I think that as each story comes up, these questions may differ.  I don’t want to be a Book Club Power Lord – I’ll ask questions as I read each story and complete the challenges – but please feel free to chime in with your own questions and thoughts.  I think this is better to be a dialogue rather than a simple question/answer type thing.

I’m hoping to write 2 blogs/week – the stories are very short (some are even just 1 page) and as I said, the challenges are only supposed to take 10 minutes.  I don’t want to overload with book club stuff though.

I’m still planning on starting this book club on May 1st.  For those of you who already have the book – please go ahead and read the introduction all the way to page 14.  We’ll start our conversation with a simple review of all that, and go on with the challenges in the following week.  I’m hoping to posts on Mondays and Thursdays – which should give everyone plenty of time to read, write and reflect.  One little story for each posting.  Please feel free to post your thoughts here, or on my Facebook Page…or if you happen to see me out and about – chat with me about your experiences then!

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Juice Cleanse – My Thoughts

Posted on April 19, 2013 by Hethr

So – the juice cleanse…not bad…not good.

Here’s most of what I’ve been asked:

How did you feel?
Not really any different than on any other day…with the exception of feeling full all day long and, of course, the weirdness that showed up on that last day.

Would you do it again?
Yeah – I don’t see why going a couple days of juicing every few months would be bad…or even a juice a day.

Did you have any side effects?
Other than the pink pee (but that will happen when you have the juice of 4 large beets over a period of 3 days) I didn’t really see any side effects, good or bad.  Well – I had trouble…uh…doing #2.  But, if you’re not taking solids in, I guess none come out??  I dunno.  It took a meal of real food to get my intestines rolling again (sorry for the TMI)

What about the cost?
This is the biggest deterrent for me.  All those fruits/veg are expensive.  I don’t understand why healthy, natural food should be more expensive than the processed junk.  I just don’t get it.  However, I have a hard time justifying spending $15-20 or more each day on myself.  Seriously, that’s more than my weekly budget for my family of 5.  :(  

 

So all in all, juicing was an interesting experience.  Some of them were delicious (carrot-apple-ginger is my favorite!) others were not so hot (I still shudder at the though of lawn tasting one)

For me I think that meat and a little dairy are something that I need.  I don’t eat tons of either…and really, as a society, we tend to go overboard with the whole thing.  Our meat servings aren’t supposed to be larger than the palms of our hands and no thicker than a deck of cards.  What size was the last steak you ate?  I know it’s not unusual for people to chow down a piece of meat that’s nearly the same size of their plate!  In the last few months I’ve only eaten meat every other day…it’s just not something that I even crave any more.  I load up my plate with my salad and vegetables and will usually put my meat on there out of habit, but end up not eating it (or only having a few small bites).

I think that it’s really important that we listen to our bodies…I know I’d gotten out of the habit, especially for drinking water.  Eventually, my body’s signal for thirst turned into a signal for hunger…and I’d eat instead of drink.  The same thing with filling up our plates - we load it to the point of overflowing – and will eat it all because it’s there and because we’ve been taught to “clean your plate” – we just shovel all that food in our mouths instead of listening to our stomach saying “woah! We’re all filled up here, you can stop now!”

So – I kinda got off track there.  Sorry.  End result – the Juice Cleanse isn’t a bad thing – though I wouldn’t suggest doing more than the 5 day one without a doctor’s consultation.

If you have any other questions – ask them in the comment box or on my facebook page and I’ll edit this post to answer them as they come.

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Daily Childcare Report (Product Review)

Posted on April 18, 2013 by Hethr

I have to share this awesome site with you…I don’t care if you run a childcare center, a family childcare home, or bring your child to one – I’m telling you – you need to use this (or tell your caregiver about it so that you can!). I am not being compensated for this review – I just love this product so much, I feel that every childcare provider should have it!

Let me just set the stage for you – from a provider’s perspective:

I have 6 kids here from 6 different families.  These kids all range in age from 0-12 years.  All day long we do a variety of activities and crafts and eat our meals.  I plan on taking them on a Field Trip to (random place) and now I have to nag each family to sign a permission slip.

Meanwhile, as my day goes on – I have to prepare the meals and snacks, ensure that everything is clean and sanitary, remember to tell Little Johny’s mom that he is developing a bit of a diaper rash, tell Sally’s grandma that she’s has been tugging at her hear all day (possible ear infection?) and not to forget to ask Mary’s dad about her pickup schedule for the following week.

While I’m doing all of that, I also have to write out – by hand - every where we went, everything we did, and everything we ate.  You can bet that by the time the 3rd of 4th report – my writing is illegible.

Then there’s the chaos of pickup time.  Mom is thinking that she forgot to pull out the meat for dinner, so now she’s going to have to figure something else out for dinner.  Dad is worried about leaving here with his kid so that he can get to the school to pick up the other one on time.  A thousand other worries are running through parents’ heads as I try to give them the low down on what went on that day, bundle a kid into his coat/shoes, jam a piece of paper into the parents hand (hoping that I’m giving the right paper to the right parent) and trying to get them to initial the sign-out sheet while I’ve got 5 other kids pandering for attention in the background.

This is not an unusual day for a childcare provider.  Notes sent home often end up crumpled in the back seat of the car.  Rushed conversations between myself and the parent are quickly forgotten.  Chaos ensues.

Enter the DailyChildcareReport.

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Now my day looks pretty much the same – but instead of having to fill out 6 different reports, I am putting notes into my DailyChildcareReport.  Checking off if a child needs a change of clothes, more diapers, or if a parent needs to sign something.  The foods served, and how much the child ate are completed with a click.  Same thing for naps, mood, and diaper changes (right down to the consistency of the stool!).  It takes me less than 5 minutes to fill out a complete report.

There’s a section where I can type a quick note to the parents about their child – knowing that it will be legible, and is going to the right guardian is great!  Parents can even have it set up to go to aunts, uncles, grandparents…whoever they like.

And how does the parent get their child’s info?  Through an email or text that’s sent automatically at the end of the day!  Simple, quick, easy.

My brain is no longer fried.  I’m no longer telling kids “just a minute hun, I have to write this down for mommy to read….sorry baby, just another few minutes, now I have to write a note for Emily’s mom…”  Now, I get to say “You built a tower? Awesome, let me come take a picture!”

Oh – and speaking of pictures – you can attach pictures, video and PDF documents for parents to see.

I love DailyChildcareReport, and I love that I can contact Christian, the creator, if I have a question, comment, idea for improvement…whatever I need – and he’ll reply within 24 hours.  So, what does it cost?  Free for parents it’s free and for providers, it’s a whopping $3.12 per child (and it’s a tax write off!)

I would never go back to any other way of communication with parents.  This works, works well, and I find that my parents are more involved now that I use this than they ever were before.

Click on the site – and scroll down to the bottom where they have a YouTube video explaining the process.

Best of all – you can try it for FREE for the first 30 days.  What’s better than free??

Posted in children, daycare, dayhome, Delusional Mom, Product Reviews, Thoughts | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Juice Cleanse – Day 3

Posted on April 16, 2013 by Hethr

A continuation of the juice fast that I’ve been trying out.  Read about Day 1 and Day 2, you can watch the film that inspired me to do this, and you can get your own copy of the 5 Day Plan that I’m on.

Day 3 Juices:

Breakfast: Sunrise
More beets…I’m not sure I ever want to see a beet again.  Folks, I’ve been peeing pink…very faint because I’m also drinking tons of water, but my pee is pink!  That’s not normal.

Anyhow – on to the drink. This was a “meh” for me.  Wasn’t bad, but wasn’t great.  Certainly the breakfast juices from Days 1 & 2 were much better.

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Lunch: Green Lemonade
Yup, as there are only 3 “green juices” in this plan – and you’re supposed to drink 2 a day…and one of them tastes like lawn clippings – I repeated the Green Lemonade.  It was no better or worse than yesterday. (and yes, same picture from yesterday)

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Snack: Watermelon Crush
Wowzers – I loved this one!  The watermelon flavor was what put this over the top!

IMG_0731Supper:  FAILURE
Yup, that’s right – with a combination of how I was feeling (read about that below) and the fact that my family were tucking into a delicious dinner of butter chicken, I caved.  I ate real food.  I enjoyed every bite. (sorry, no picture)

Dessert: Red, White, Blue (& Green)
In fully honesty, I made this today but haven’t had the chance to eat it.  After dinner we went to the hospital to visit with my father, and now I’m just tired and more than ready for bed.  So, I’ve decided I’m going to drink it for breakfast tomorrow (and take a pic) and write a “final thoughts” type of thing.

Today’s Time & Cost of Juicing
I had a light bulb moment today and made all my juices in the morning and just stored them in the fridge for later in the day.  DUH…why I didn’t do this before is beyond me.  In about 10 minutes I was able to prep all my fruits/veg, juice them, store them, and clean up.  Genius.

The cost for today’s juice though…ouch…today had bluberries and watermelon.  Both are out of season, and both are priced high right now. Today’s total is a whopping $19.  Ouch.

How I’m Feeling
As has been typical of the last few days, I’ve felt full all day long and had to pee like a racehorse.  The morning started out fine (other than the pink pee) but around 2pm, my legs started feeling all jiggly – you know when you ride a bike really fast and then get off it?  Yeah, that’s the feeling.  I was dizzy and was getting floaty-like spots in my vision.  My girlfriend, who’s a raw food/juicing genius, told me it was fairly typical detox symptoms – and a few of the ladies on my Facebook Page told me to stick it through.  I decided that it was in my best interest to stop now.  I do feel like a bit of a failure though…but it is what it is.

 

 

Posted in Delusional Mom | 3 Comments