It's Lent- that time where you look inside yourself and work to make yourself better. Reading the
MOPS magazine, theme book,
emails, listening to the mentor mom moments and generally being involved in MOPS is a great way to stay on this journey. If you allow it, MOPS can really change your life. This year's FREE INDEED theme is supposed to be about us digging deeper into the idea of being truly free. Remember? Letting LOVE be the loudest voice, being gutsy and going first. How's it going for you?
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| Katie's taking a break |
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| Painting frames and taking "me" time at the craft meeting |
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| Baby poop on my shorts |
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| Karen biking to MOPS |
Today's meeting was definitely about digging deep. My messy house is keeping me from feeling FREE INDEED!
Kim Vlah said the mess is not really about the stuff. I was really hoping for a top 5 list of how to get organized. Or maybe I could win her time for a few hours to come sit with me and figure it all out. But really, it's deeper than that. Cleaning out is going to take some emotional work. What a bummer! Focus on how much you do and manage on a regular basis. What's your tolerance level? Why is it so hard to get rid of some things? What are you holding onto? Do you and your partner have zones, or areas where you can/can't handle a mess? Are they the same zone? Do you have a "gorilla care giver" who gives you a bunch of stuff? That giant teddy bear? Are you good at communicating your needs to this gorilla? Are you in a fear based trap regarding purging? You know you can just go buy it again if you need it, right? How many of you take pictures of your kid's artwork? For me, managing the mess of me and 5 other people in my house is overwhelming. I recognize that this is a phase of life- but with 4 children- this phase it taking a long time. I just don't have/don't want to take the time to go through closets and drawers. I have a pretty high tolerance for the chaos but even sometimes I freak out and have to take the time to clean out. I loved what Kim said about teaching a culture of giving. My older girls are pretty good about maintaining give away bags. We've even taken a tour of
DESC as a family and they help carry their own items to donate. But there's still SO MUCH STUFF. I need to be better about controlling what comes in. I have to wait until bedtime to go through the toy room with the younger kids. If they see me, they will find new "favorite toys". For the older kids, we are working on building a skill set. Kim recommended quick, fun clean up games. Children really want your mindful presence. Do this together. Ideally, each child would have a limited number of age appropriate toys that we play with together that are passed through as needed. Ha! We are not there! I think I'm inspired to tackle the play room now.
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| Mentor mom, Jan talked about perseverance and being gutsy to tackle big projects. Check out her latest quilt! What an inspirational woman! |
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| Happy Birthday March mamas! |
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"I want people to live and work in beautiful and efficient spaces that inspire them and make them feel productive and happy." - Kim Vlah
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We had the MOPS & POPS Valentine's dinner at Cool Moose. I love those events when the guys can connect! We did a Pick a Park work out play date and a beach play date. This past Friday we went to Dinosauria at the Zoo. If you have a play date idea, please let me know. Play dates and girls nights are a great way to get to know each other. Be gutsy and join us!
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| The beach is so hard to get to- packing up and driving out there. But once you're there, it's perfect! |
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| Dinosauria |
