In The Incredibles, Syndrome has a device that suspends his enemies motionless in the air, but they can still see and hear him. I sometimes wish I had the consumer version of that technology so I could neatly organize my days nurturing one child at a time while the others quietly wait their turns. I could arrange them hovering near the windows to enjoy the view while I go grocery shopping, write in my journal, prepare reports and schedules for
Primary or have a pleasant conversation with my husband. I could read books! I could update my blog with all of our holiday/travel fun (working on either doing that or letting it go). Alas! Life is not that way. And I'm sure it's a good thing. The constant forward flow of time, relationships, and events requires me to continually draw deeper to find balance.
We've been doing
yoga as a family for the past three weeks. Trying to hold the balance poses with all the right muscles engaged, appendages rooted, spine reaching upward and bottom tucked in...Wow! There are so many little things to tend to that a pose that appears simple actually requires incredible mindfulness to maintain. I discard irrelevant thoughts and it makes me stronger. This year I'm focusing on establishing routines and systems that allow our family to balance with the many eddied flow of our shared lives. True, my toddler is often crawling under my down dog, knocking over my triangle or beating on my resting pose, but that's the precious temporary nature of babies.
One balance choice has been (temporarily) trading reading for writing. Here is what I'm reading.
This is the best book on parenting that I have ever read. It is changing my approach and bringing calm & love into our home. It honors parents and children. A vision of eternal family friendships is rooted in mutual respect and self control. But Peck also gives specific actionable strategies from toddlers through adults to build self-mastery and a sense of mission. She also has a
website.
This is a re-read. It's reminding me to nurture my children in a love of learning at their pace. It's also reminding me that as the mentor, I set the example by doing whatever I ask of my children whether it be reading the classics, practicing music, working out math problems AND I engage them in an ongoing dialogue about everything we are both learning and thinking. One of the reasons I decided to home school was that it would be a symbiotic relationship. I would not be putting my life on a shelf for 18 years. I would finally get the education I always wanted. Sometimes I'm tempted to jump back into workbooks because "progress" is so much easier to track than, say, a thoughtful discussion of recently read literature, like the ones I have almost daily with Star or the collaborative improvisational games that absorb children and engage all of their executive skills at once (negotiating, generating ideas, creating solutions, accommodating disruption).
And My Hero started a new creative outlet
blog, so I like to check it out.
Take the peace and the strength and share it.
Namaste
