Let me preface this by saying, the second time around is different. I do remember being buoyed through those frustrating early baby days with my first child by this powerful sense of awe. I also remember judging myself too harshly … Continue reading
The rain isn’t helping. It’s St. Patrick’s Day, and I’m struggling to be festive. Growing up in Savannah inevitably made St. Pat’s an extra special time of year, and I have so many wonderful memories of family visiting, parades, Tara … Continue reading
Tomorrow is February. How about that?
Last year, I saw this pin about an easy Valentines Day craft where you cut out 14 construction paper hearts and write something you love about your child on each one. Starting on February 1, you tape a heart to their door every day until Valentine’s Day.
This craft checks so many boxes for me!
1️⃣ It’s a countdown to help young kids understand waiting for a holiday.
2️⃣ It’s a cheap, easy way to decorate for a holiday.
3️⃣ It’s a lesson in being thoughtful, all while reinforcing a child’s confidence and sense of self-worth.
I also love this pin:
In the article, the mom does this for her kids but I also love the idea of having siblings make a heart for each other each day.
As a soon-to-be mom of two boys, I really want to foster positive relationships between my kids. It’s so easy for sibling rivalries to grow in the absence of affection and appreciation towards each other. I hope I can help my boys celebrate their brother’s strengths and understand that they will not always be good at the same things – and that’s okay. 🤞🏻
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Isn’t it interesting how we experience holidays differently through the many stages of our lives?
When we’re young, there’s the fun and social aspect of getting treats and Valentines from our classmates … with the beginnings of crushes, the excitement of getting a special Valentine for the first time, or the fear of giving a special Valentine for the first time!
Personally, I will always treasure how my very sweet father got flowers and chocolates and cards for me and my sister every Valentine’s Day until we went off to college.
Then we start romantic relationships and experience the holiday in a totally different way – there’s passion and these big displays to impress your significant other.
The holiday changes again when you’re married. Or it did for me. Suddenly, it’s less flashy, more sentimental, and maybe even less important than the daily ways we show our love.
And now I’m finding a whole new way to enjoy Valentine’s Day through my children!
There are certainly valid arguments about holidays being over-commercialized, just another reason to buy more meaningless stuff. It’s up to us to keep the focus on family, friends, and of course the little things. Holidays are important for many reasons besides what they stand for individually: the rituals and rhythm they bring to our year, the family traditions they help create or preserve, and the excuse to make things a little more special and a little more beautiful.
January is almost over. Christmas is long gone, and I’m still packing away the remnants of the holiday. These things take longer when you’re almost 8 months pregnant, right? 😉 As I box up my decorations and massive amounts of … Continue reading
The dilemma of remembering loved ones in the digital age. Also known as: when you get a new phone and realize how much emotional baggage you’ve been carrying around on your old phone … Continue reading
New year, new me! Out with the old, in with the new!
Sound familiar? Don’t we all have our list of resolutions come January 1? There is something magical and irresistible about the potential of a new year, it’s true. But what might we be losing with this “clean slate” mentality?
Japanese philosophy of kintsugi
What a beautiful way to look at life. And at ourselves.
New Year’s resolutions so often focus on negative things – what we don’t like about ourselves or our lives. They’re centered on leaving behind the past, leaving behind faults and vices, bad memories or relationships. But our pasts are a part of us, always. True, we can choose to let things go, to forgive, to change … but we can also celebrate the trials when we persevered, the heartaches we endured, the lessons we learned from failing, and especially the dreams and people we have lost along the way.
We get distracted by the idea of “perfect” and forget the importance of embracing and celebrating our present. Yes – make resolutions, set goals, and strive to be a better you … just don’t forget to love who you are today and accept who you were yesterday.
Anywho, I’ve got some fun projects to post about in the new year, so for now, I’m wishing you all a happy and healthy 2017!
Shiny Happy Peebles 