Preserve Us

Everything is ripe all at once. Peaches on Sunday, now tomatoes, Chantrelles, and applesauce in the next week. If I miss some of my regular posts it's because of a canning onslaught taking over my kitchen.




Keep your eye of the Canning Count in the sidebar there if you want to know what I'm up to...

Mindful Monday: Is Acutally Tuesday: But We Try Anyway

No time to write yesterday. Sister-Bug was up early and during her naps I am sewing her a dress to wear to her Faery-God-Parent's wedding this weekend. It would have gone well, except that I put the sleeves on wrong and had to rip and re-do. Bummer. But now the bodice is done and I just have to do the skirt and zipper. She is going to be so darn cute!

But on to our Mindful Mon(Tues)Day!

The boychick at about 18-months...in his pile.

I'm tackling a big one this week - one that is not strictly me. Actually, it mostly involves Brother-Bug and his bookish habits. He likes to keep stacks of books near by him at all times and (being a 4-year old) is not the greatest at putting those books away. I've been trying for what feels like aeons no to get him to pick up his books. Put one away, take one down. Pick them up before meals. And so on. But still, we end up with books all over the floor. This is a problem for me, especially when we injure library books.

Yesterday, in preparation for this post, I talked to him about Mindful Monday and what it means and how he can participate this week. I formed a plan with him about keeping the books picked up. Here's how it goes:

Keeping the Library Books Picked Up

Who: Brother-Bug and me
What: Keeping library books off the floor and couch.
Why: Because books on the floor is a pet-peeve. Because I love and respect books and want to keep them nice. Because we keeping tearing/bending/injuring library books and I hate having to carry them, shoulders slumped in shame, to the repairs desk. Because learning to clean up is really important.
How: I've worked on this one a lot already, and haven't found anything that inspires Brother-Bug. So we are trying a stick and carrot method this week.

*I will remind him several times throughout the day to check his library books and make sure they are all on the library shelf. He gets 2 "nice askings" and one "firm telling".

*If he doesn't pick them up, or fusses at me, I pick them up. All errant library books go in the returns stack. There is no chance to get them out.

*If he gets to Friday (library day) and most of his books are in the return stack he doesn't get to check out any new books this week.

*However, if he does pick them up himself - on his own initiative or when reminded once - throughout the day, he will earn some computer time and fifty cents toward his current spending goal.

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Maybe it works, maybe it doesn't. But we can't keep destroying library books. And if it works, we can move on to all the other books we own that seem to spend a lot of time as wall-to-wall carpeting. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Mindful Monday: I Go for a Double

Last week's Monday Intention was to have a "Three-good-things" check-in with Brother-Bug at his bed time. It's been great for both of us. Winding down and chatting up the day a bit. I was often surprised at some of the things he chose as his three best things. Once he chose a consequence, which had been hard at the time, saying he felt it had been good in the long run. Is he really four?

I debated and debated what I want this week's Mindful Monday Intention to be. There were two and I want to do them both, and I just can't decide. However, one is a morning thing and one is an evening thing, so I'll try for them both, no expectations on myself!

Number One!

• WHO: Me and our Bed
  
• WHAT: Morning Make the Bed
  
• WHY: Finally, after almost 2 months, the bedroom is unpacked! I need to fling up some curtains and put a few coats away, but it is essentially clean and comfortable. And even a messy room feels so much better for having a made bed. Since it's a down comforter, all I have to do is smooth it up. It's a one-minute task that makes the whole room feel better - as well as keeping the sheets cleaner.
  
• HOW: When I get dressed I will simply smooth the blankets up over the bed and make sure the quilt the baby uses for naps is available.

Number Two!

• WHO: Me - Just Me!!
  
• WHAT: Taking a Walk
  
• WHY: I need exercise. I need a few minutes of downtime for myself. I have been making the excuse that we haven't set up the rowing machine yet, so I can't possibly exercise. But I have two awesome legs and a pair of sneakers. So I can pop in my iPod and go for a stroll. Even a non-aerobic walk will be more exercise than sitting around in the evening. I will try to walk for 15-minutes 4 times a week.
  
• HOW: First thing after dinner I will leave the kids with Papa-Bug and start to walk, exploring our new neighborhood. I can time walking 7-8 minutes one way and then walk back home. I can "power walk" or walk slowly. It's the time and intention that is important here, not the quality of the actual exercise.

Voila! Two intentions. What are you doing this week?

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Over at ButtonedUp they have this beautiful post about making the bed and how it is a connection for a whole family. Lovely. Timely.