Leaving the Blues, Enjoying the Sun

Having pulled out of a four day funk last week I am amazed at how rarely I feel actually overwhelmed. Honestly last week was more about feeling underwhelmed. The lack of things to do, the lack of motivation on my part or the kids and the lack of a fun spark to break the mundane created a stressful pressure cooker without a release valve.

So what did we do to shake things up? I asked for a little help from my friends. I am doing a trade this week, signed up for a few days of school day camp half day and prioritized getting adult time.

For the trades I take kids here T/Th and my friend has them M/W, we swap back at noon sometimes sharing lunch. With the school camp program we are swapping roughly the same numbers and it is a fabulous way to get a handle on life.

I also got out, amen, hallelujah. I made it to weekly Mass for a holy day, took the kids to park dates and got out for a girls night. I have no desire to be a martyr, I love working hard but no judgment when I need to play hard too. Thankfully I have a husband who loves having a happy wife and helps me get out for a cocktail, sneak away to read, workout or do my nails. It saves me to get re boot girl time.

This week I reminded myself we just need to get out when I start feeling bummed. We all fit in the suburban (with the extra row), we all fit on a friend's pontoon (life jackets, check), and we all run to Cub together to grab a snack (Kemps bucket of Vanilla).

Hiking with the kids, re boot time, getting out& being creative
So happy to be back to enjoying summer and took i phone notes to avoid a repeat. Get out, get creative and find a friend who will still love you when you vent (over a GnT)!

Comments

  1. knit-n-julesAugust 20, 2012 at 1:02 PM

    Good encouragement, been needing to get a last bit of summer fun in ourselves! Warmly Julie

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Vulnerability and Educational Moments...In the Grocery Store!

Image
I had an aquatience last week remind me I had a lot of children, and said she was hesitant to celebrate our family because it seemed like too much .  This was a chance run in on friday. For those of you who know me, know how much I struggle with that assessment. Girls with eating disorders often say: "I feel like too much" kids who have behavioral problems know people say they are "too much" and big families are often seen as really neat from a distance but too much . First, everyone has their own too much threshold. It is ok that my passion is not yours! Spending all day making Kombucha like one of my fiends is too much for me, or singing in a show, but I am able to celebrate this difference without judging this difference.  Welcoming children into our home with a 100% chance of heartbreak (sadness over them leaving or sadness someone I love is loosing a birth parent) is not for everyone! My response to negativity is very often to retreat, get off social media, tr
Read more

Veterans Day~ What to Do & How to Talk to Kids!

Image
Today as we celebrate Veterans day, I wanted to talk to the kids about both what it means to serve and how we can help our troops. Having family serve in the military can be a source of fear and pride. The kids do not have immediate family abroad but have heard from their Grandfathers and family friends about both war and leadership serving in the armed forces. We made a list of what WE could do from home. ~The kids' school has a program to send care packages to the troops. Shop, Ship and Share has lists of helpful things to buy and send to the troops. We got beef jerky, sunflower seeds and baby wipes for the kids to bring in to school for the program. Many locations participate, google to find locally! http://www.minnesotanationalguard.org/press_room/e-zine/articles/index.php?item=4518 ~ http://www.operationgratitude.com Check out for more ideas and programs happening to support our troops. ~Sending Halloween Candy to the troops, google the closest locations. We found a
Read more

Foster Care and Parenting, What is in a Number

Image
We welcomed eight children into our home between March 2020 and today, we have had twenty five children placed as foster children since 2015, and an additional five as respite placements. These numbers look so bland on paper. Thirty children have been part of our daily living in the last six years, we have nine of our own children. In putting some thoughts on paper about what these numbers mean, it boils down to acceptance and hard work.  If anyone is new to the Otis family speak, "our own" is a loaded term. We have five biological children and four adopted children. Early on one of our sons told us the power of the question "which ones are your own?" And the fact that I answered without hesitation all those years ago, "they are all our children" from birth or adoption, feeling fully accepted and claimed has become the way we walk in this family. This does not take away the respect and open conversation about birth families, first families and sacrifice. F
Read more