Monday, July 2, 2012

a little rhythm in our home, please!

pipe cleaner fun

washing their dishes

washing their dishes

washing their dishes

squeezing orange juice

squeezing orange juice

her perseverance paid off (in a small amount)

Looking through some of my latest entries on here I have hardly mentioned any of our Waldorf ways. I am now suddenly feeling like I have turned my back on my Waldorf roots. While that isn't necessarily true as we still live our lives following Steiner's teaching, I haven't made an effort in posting about them. Today seems like a good day to start. I sat here staring at a blank screen for quite awhile trying to become inspired and think of something to write about. The truth is, I am just in this mood of sadness and self pity. That's not anything I want to spend much time thinking about and I doubt anyone would want to read about.
The other night I called Kevin at work and asked him if he could bring me home some chocolate. He asked why, I said I was having a rough day. I think I even made some comparison with my chocolate habit to people that drink away their misery with alcohol. (Even after all these years I am still stuck in my old punk views of staying straight edge.) He wanted to know what was so wrong but I couldn't really say as I didn't even know. He reminded me that I called him only a few hours earlier excitedly telling him about positive things happening in our home. Then I remembered he was right and that our day really was great! I was just stuck in a moment that I couldn't get out of.

But back to a Waldorf related post: Last week was our second week of summer and our rhythm is slowly falling into place. I didn't plan one (couldn't find the time this year) but things are just coming together on their own. That tends to be one of the best rhythm formulas for us. We ended up going out of our home every other day over last week and that was a great 'inhale/exhale' time for myself as well as the children. I think we will keep that. Of course, each time we go out doesn't have to be anything huge or even all the exciting. It just means we get in the van and leave the house. This could just be grocery shopping or hiking in different woods or it will be more adventurous at times,too. (I have visiting the Mcloughlin house planned for this week.) I think on our days home we'll do our baking and more involved crafts. Still figuring all of that out, though.

You may or may not remember my post last year about my children washing their own dishes, but as much as we all enjoyed that rhythm it fell apart on us as Baby L became more active. We recently revisited the idea with a couple of minor adjustments, like having their very own area set up with wash basins and washcloths we made from an old towel (Thank you Miss Elizabeth for that idea last year!). This way I can be doing the big dishes while they do their own. This might be a good time saver. We'll see how it keeps going. One downfall to it is that Baby L really wants to play in the water, normally that's fine but he would completely dump those basins in a heartbeat.

How about you? How has your rhythm changed now that it is summer?

Oh and for some randomness: I learned an important lesson over the weekend; taking photographs outside in the sun while wearing sunglasses (after you haven't worn any in 6+ years) is not a good idea. All of my photos looked so dark to me so I kept adjusting my camera and when I uploaded all of the pictures later that day they were all ridiculously and unusably overexposed.

Oh and thank you for your thoughts on the backfired post! Looking back now I do have to agree that it was their way of processing our day. Thank you!

His last day with us :(

A happy and yet sad moment I will always want to remember. Even if I am not to fond of the photograph of myself I am very thankful for the kind passerby who took this.

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Comments (13)

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Summer rhythm has always been tricky for us, even now that the kids are teens, we usually fall into a more comfortable summer day after fourth of July festivities. Your visit to Mcloughlin House sounds like fun, we love touring historic places, we may have to put it on the list of places to visit. We just went on a tour of The Flavel House in Astoria which was very beautiful, my daughter is especially fond of exploring old buildings. I love your children's dish area what a wonderful idea!
1 reply · active 664 weeks ago
We might have to check that out. Thank you! We ended up not going to the Mcloughlin house and went blueberry picking instead but perhaps this week we can try again :)
I have been struggling with messing up the exposure on my photos in the bright sun issue too! Not because i am wearing sunglasses (Naia broke mine into a million pieces, sigh) but I am just so sun blind and looking at the screen in the bight sun I am getting it all wrong more often than not unless I scurry into the shade and re-check. You look lovely in that last photo, don't beat yourself up!
I think we all have days like this, sometimes more than one. It can be really hard to pull yourself out of that moment. When I am having those moments or moments of just feeling really overwhelmed I like to try and take a step back and just focus on positive things. The easiest way I have found to do this is to list ten different positive things going on in my life at that moment and then go and do something fun with my daughter, her innocence and carefree thinking always seem to make me laugh and smile. :) Hope that helps! Sometimes it just helps to know you are not the only one out there feeling that way from time to time. Hope your week is awesome and I look forward to hearing more about how your Waldorf traditions. :)
1 reply · active 664 weeks ago
Thank you for that gentle reminder. I am going to try that next time!
umm what rhythm? Ours has fallen apart. I need to get some consistency going when we get home from vacation but I am just starting to feel like I can do less and less even though I still have 2.5 months to go before we meet our new little baby. I keep hoping that the nesting thing will kick in and bring some energy with it. Right now I am just making myself enjoy the chaos and lack of anything structured. I love that picture of you and I know how you feel, I NEVER like any pictures of myself.
1 reply · active 664 weeks ago
You are gorgeous insdoe and out all the time <3 <3
go gently dear, i think rhythm takes different forms and rest times between is as natural as the changing seasons. you look so pretty in your yellow shalom, i'm sure that someday you will look back on this photo and love it.
1 reply · active 664 weeks ago
Thank you Lori. I always love when you share your wisdom in this space.
I am really trying to establish some sort of rhythm to my days at home with baby and then on Sunday with my husband home (his only day off from work). Sometimes I feel like it is going very well and then other days I just feel completely off and like I can't get a handle on things. It's when I over think any issues or problems I feel like I'm having personally that I start to feel very down and out of sorts and unhappy for no reason, like you describe, and I have to force myself out of it. I guess we all probably struggle with this issue, and it is nice to see how other people work through it. Thank you for sharing! If it makes you feel any better, your blog is very inspirational and uplifting to me in how to create rhythm in my home and often I am encouraged and excited to incorporate more of the Waldorf lifestyle into our lives after I read your posts. :)
1 reply · active 664 weeks ago
Thank you, that means so much. I am sorry you have these down times, too. I guess at the very least we can all commiserate together.
I understand so well having a wonderful morning and then feeling tremendous sadness later on in the day. What a wonderful husband to gently remind you...that is gift. :) Your home is lovely.

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