Posts Tagged ‘Mamahood’
Mothering with a timer
Posted on: August 24, 2010
- In: Life
- 12 Comments
One of my biggest mama-ing tactics is to create order for the girls. It doesn’t have to be clean order {like I’d want} it just has to bring calm to chaos. The best way I’ve been able to do this over the last 2 years is by using my kitchen timer. Sounds strange, but it is a miracle worker! When I set the timer, the Windhamettes know that the timer trumps all {even fits – sometimes…}. Here are my top ten ways of implementing the timer:
1. Sharing – When both girls want the same toy, I set the timer and make them take turns. Once the timer dings, they give the toy up until it’s their turn again.
2. Quiet time – We aim for daily quiet time, where for a specific time they girls sit quietly reading/playing until the timer goes off. This might bring me the most calm in the midst of chaos. I love quiet time.
3. Playing – Before bedtime, we set the timer so the girls know how much longer they have to play. There’s no arguing about when it’s time to be done, since the timer declares that the activity is over.
4. Finishing eating – Julia might be the world’s slowest eater. Ever. At almost every meal I set the timer to let her know she needs to finish her food before I clear the table.
5. Cleaning – This is more for me than the girls, but I set the timer and clean until the timer dings. Once that time is done, there is no more cleaning {except dishes} while they are awake. It helps me keep a balance of not cleaning all day.
6. Time out – Come by my house during the 5 o’clock meltdown and you’ll most likely find Julia in time out.
7. Resting – Some days the girls {read Julia} just needs a break and some rest. Perhaps she didn’t nap well {or at all}, so I make her lay down on the couch for 5-10 minutes and rest.
8. Waiting – We’re working on having the girls wait. Patience is a virtue, right? Seeing me set the timer helps them know their waiting isn’t going to last forever {even thought at times Julia is convinced it will}.
9. Learning numbers – I will point out the time and numbers to the girls and then start counting, explaining the numbers to them. Not sure it’s totally set in, but Julia did count to 10 this morning, so maybe it’s helping!
10. Transitioning – Moving from one activity to the next, I want to give the girls a heads up. I set the timer and when it goes off we move on. The switch tends to go much smoother than abruptly changing activities.
Visit Oh Amanda for more Top Ten Tuesday.
My New at Home Getaway
Posted on: August 23, 2010
- In: Life
- 9 Comments
For the last couple of months, I’ve been daydreaming about having a mother’s corner. Just a little nook all to myself for reading, sewing, relaxing. Jonathan and I agreed that the best spot in the house would be the laundry room. It gets the least traffic {especially from the Windhamettes}, is rather large and has a door for more privacy. The only draw back is that it looks like this:
Not exactly what you would call homey and inviting. But Jonathan said with some paint and rearranging, he could make me the best mother’s corner possible. And about 6 hours later, this is what we had:
The laundry area
My sitting area
We painted the floor and started on the walls {mostly focused on my corner so that it would be completed first}. And if you couldn’t tell the amazing difference just of the floor, I’ll show you:
Before
After
Amazing, right?! Just one more reason my husband rocks. Rather than relaxing on his well earned day off, he works all day just to create an area for me to relax. Seriously, he is always this awesome.
- In: Life
- 13 Comments
In the last week Jonathan’s grandma moved in with us, our whole family got sick, and I freaked Jonathan out by suggesting we use re-usable toilet paper. And during all that time, I learned some real life lessons.
1. Flowers from my husband “just because” makes my heart flutter.
2. Mamas don’t get sick days. Ever.
3. I have a wonderful community of friends. I already knew that, but felt it even more this week.
4. I still can’t sew a straight line. But I’m learning.
5. Hannah is not pleasant teethers.
6. Cola icee + no naps + Sam’s club = absolute craziness.
7. Cocoa roasted almonds are delicious.
8. Dyson makes the best vacuum in the world.
9. Mattresses on the floor will provide hours of entertainment for toddlers.
10. There are 130 days till Christmas. Oh yeah, I so just went there.
Visit Oh Amanda for more Top Ten Tuesday.
A life changing letter
Posted on: August 2, 2010
- In: Life
- 2 Comments
In June our family started sponsoring a girl, Momita, from India through Compassion International. There were two motivating factors for sponsorship: 1) to help a child in need; 2) to teach our children. For the last two months, I’ve been putting a lot of emphasis on the latter. We talk to Julia a lot about Momita. We explain that Momita doesn’t live with her family {she’s at a boarding school}, that she doesn’t have the luxuries we have, that she doesn’t get to eat “bananies” {bananas} everyday, that she needs our prayers.
I’ve written to Momita twice. Just this last week, I received my first letter back. There was nothing profound in the letter. Momita’s writing is exactly what you’d expect from a young girl. Everything was short and to the point. In her letter she asked us to pray for her. And that touched me. It made me realize just how important our sponsorship is to her. Aside from monetary benefits, knowing that a family is praying for her means a lot to her. But what really rocked me to my core {and quite nearly made me cry} was when she signed the letter:
“Your loving daughter, Momita”
I don’t know Momita. I’m not certain I could pick her out in a crowd {for sure not if I didn’t have her picture in hand}. I don’t know all the things she likes or dislikes. But standing in the driveway last week reading her letter I realized: I am the mother to three girls. I don’t have words to explain just what that has meant to me; just how much her letter has changed me and my attitude toward supporting her. I’m no longer supporting a girl from India. I’m supporting my daughter who lives in India.
For Momita’s protection and privacy, I won’t share her photo with you online {but if you’re ever at my house I will gladly show you!}. However, I thought I’d pass along pictures of her city:
Momita’s village is comprised of mostly Buddhist and there have been many conflicts between them and Christians. There weren’t many photos of homes in her village, mostly just temples and caves that are tourist attractions. It’s amazing being able to see the area Momita lives in; it allows me to feel even more attached to her.
- In: Life
- 8 Comments
Five years ago today, Jonathan and I committed our lives to one another. It has been an amazing whirlwind adventure. In five years we have lived in three different homes {not included the ones we lived with “in transition”}, we have had two dogs and most importantly, two beautiful daughters. Jonathan, I love you. You make me laugh, you make me smile. I am truly blessed to be your wife.
July has been one crazy month. We started off with a visit from my brother and his family. After that, Jonathan has pretty much worked 50-70 hours a week preparing for the launch on West Music’s website. He and his teammates did an excellent job and I commend him for all his hard work and effort. He has earned himself a much needed break.
For the last week, we’ve had some friends staying with us as they move into a new home {which is actually behind our house – sort of}. They are some dear friends, and while it’s stressful at times to have four kids and two moms in a tiny kitchen, it’s been a lot of fun. Our girls could get use to having playmates instantly at hand. Julia especially. From the moment she wakes up she’s asking “Go play with my friends? My friends not sleep. Go play with them.” Good thing they like her, otherwise I think she’d wear them out! Hannah has been really taking off with her walking – literally. I have to watch her with hawk eyes or she’ll be halfway down the block before I know what’s happen. Keeps me on my toes!
As for me, I’m glad the month is drawing to an end. With Jon’s crazy schedule, it means I’ve had a crazy schedule. But God has been really gracious, especially being able to end the month with our anniversary and less than one week till our anniversary trip. I can’t wait. Makes me kinda giddy just thinking about it.
- In: Life
- 5 Comments
Julia has hit an amazing point in life. She’s more out-going, more inquisitive, more talkative, more capable of engaging with me.
She’s also demanding {quite literally} her independence. She’s talking back, she’s telling me “no”, and becoming more possessive of her things. At times it’s overwhelming and more than I care to deal with.
But I caught myself this last week overlooking the not-crazy-2 times. In the middle of the living room, Julia was dancing and laughing. And I found myself not paying attention. I was in Sarahworld, not mamaworld. And it hit me: I need to focus on the amazing parts of Julia not just the parts that need “fixing”.
It seems easy enough, but it really does require that much more. When Julia isn’t acting out, I can get things done. When she’s behaving, I can clean, cook, run errands {and well, check Twitter}. Yet, this last weekend, while Jon was putting in overtime {which means I was putting in overtime} I tried focusing on the amazing parts of my children. And it was good.
I decided to make a goal for myself this week: Stop being just “mom” and focus on playing with my children. Get overly excited with them and for them. Enjoy the parts of being a mom that aren’t all work but are play.
Au revoir, or, Good-bye Paris
Posted on: July 15, 2010
- In: Life
- 17 Comments
In my heart of hearts, God had been asking me for months to be okay with “letting go” of our anniversary trip to Paris. Through all the planning and saving, I safe guarded my heart from putting my hope in a Parisian trip. Know what? We aren’t going. Instead we started planning for a different trip; Ireland. Guess what? We aren’t going there either. So we planned to go to Toronto. Guess what? {Oh you guessed it!} We aren’t going.
Slowly all of our plans fell apart. One night, while nearly in tears, I told Jonathan, “I don’t really care where we go, so long as it’s just you and me.” As each new plan failed I was losing hope of ever getting time away with Jon. Then Tuesday night, something “major” happened. Julia knocked off my wedding bouquet from on top of my dresser. The delicate flowers I had painstakingly preserved for nearly 5 years were shattered. Thankfully {for her} I was 1) in total shock that is happened, 2) Jonathan was coming home in minutes. As he walked in the door I literally ran out it.
As I was running through our neighborhood I wondered, “Why do I care so much about those roses? I’m not a sentimental person in that way. What’s so upsetting about those roses?”. And it hit me. My wedding bouquet is a reminder of that life. The life before kids. The life of just Sarah and Jon. The life where we could afford to visit Paris. Where our only daily concerns were what to eat for dinner. Where it was just us. The life that seems better.
By the time I got home, I wasn’t ready to go back inside, so decided to mow the lawn. As I reached the backyard, Julia came running outside yelling “Mama!” She was thrilled beyond words to see me {even though I’d been gone less than 30 minutes}. She jumped up and down and waved to me simply beaming.
And it hit me. This life is better. Not the before-kids life. Not the jet setting life. This messy, poop-filled, lack of sleep life is better. Jon and I would not be who we are without the Windhamettes. Our relationship would not be what it is without them. Those roses were gone the moment I found out I was pregnant. They were replaced with less glamourous cloth diapers and sippy cups. And while I deeply cherish my time with Jon, I think it’s only been made sweeter and more precious because of the Windhamettes.
So now, as we have finally settled on a weekend trip and have loving people caring for our girls {Thanks Abdos!!} we are thrilled to be getting time away, time alone. Not because we want what we had, but to make what we have even better.
She ain’t no chikin
Posted on: July 10, 2010
- In: Life
- 2 Comments
Yesterday a herd {haha!} of us celebrated Chick-fil-A’s Cow Appreciation Day. Chick-fil-A just so happens to be one of my favorite places to eat. Ever. And I do recall once saying that if Iowa City ever got a Chick-fil-A I would be willing to live here for forever. They came. And I’m staying true to my word.
Being the totally awesome mama that I am, I walked out leaving our camera on the countertop. Yep. I am so smart. But thankfully Leah caught the above photo and a few others, like this one:
Clearly, Julia was under-dressed. This was our first “CAD” so I didn’t realize just how stiff the competition was going to be. But I’ll be prepared next year, don’t you worry. I might even get myself something like this.
The loss of a faithful companion
Posted on: July 8, 2010
- In: Life
- 9 Comments
Over the weekend, my mei tai went missing. I know yesterday I told everyone that something tragic happened, and while to some you might laugh at my overstatement, it really has been a very sad loss for me and Bear.
I love baby-wearing. I found with Julia that it helped her sleep better and that with Hannah it helps her feel “a part of things”. I’ve tried three different types of carriers and the mei tai has stolen my heart. When Hannah was little, I would wear her in a pouch on my chest, now as she’s gotten older I wear her on my hip or back. The mei tai is the easiest for me to use, because it’s not complicated {and I really can’t do complicated, trust me}. There have been times when I literally don’t take off my mei tai for hours. Nowadays, it’s getting less and less use – maybe a few times a week. Why? Because as Hannah walks more she likes being carried less. Same was true for Julia. But, when we go out, I still carry her most of the time.
Saturday we went to the Iowa City Jazz Festival. I carried Hannah for the first half, but she began squirming out so she could play with the other kids. Typically I might just leave the mei tai on, if there’s a chance Hannah will want back in, but I knew that wasn’t likely. So I just wrapped it up and carried it with us. When I went to get the mei tai from the car on Sunday I couldn’t find it. I’ve turned the house, garage and car upside down looking for it, but found nothing. Tears between Hannah and I have been shed. Especially yesterday, when all she wanted to was be held all day long. I got out my other wraps but she revolted against them. Sad, long day.
“Oh mei tai, thank you for you faithful 2+ years of service. You were a wonderful carrier and I love you. Sorry you had to leave so soon.
Love,
One Sad Baby-Carrying Mama”
The night we ran out of diapers
Posted on: July 1, 2010
- In: Life
- 6 Comments
Because of some mama laziness forgetfulness, we didn’t have any disposable diapers for Hannah on Tuesday night. See, we’ve never done cloth over night with the girls, only disposables. Originally, with Julia we didn’t want anything else {wet cloth diaper} contributing her already bad sleeping habits. And with Hannah, well it’s just easier. That is, until you forget to buy diapers.
Which is why I love cloth diapers. No matter what, I always have them. I can reuse them. They go through multiple children. And depending on what style you get, they last the same child for their whole diapering life. Not to mention, they are really cute. You’d be surprised at how many people compliment us on Hannah’s wraps.
Especially the cow prints {which happen to be my favorite}.
We made it through Tuesday night without issue. And again Wednesday night. I still haven’t gotten disposables. I’m getting hooked on using cloth overnight and not planning to turn back any time soon. Eek!
For more TILT, visit Jill at Diaper Diaries.
A Wife Loved Like The Church 
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