Week In Pictures

Sammy, helping Daddy put up the tree:




Winter Wonderland:


This year's Christmas book:


Sammy's fun with legos:

Poor Woody...


My son is pretty darn talented...


Yay! The tree!






(david gray, you're the world to me)

Tiger Mother

We read Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother last month for book club. I've been putting off writing about it because I'm not sure how I felt about it. Here we go...

Overall, I loved the book. Which is surprising. I went in with a complete preconceived notion of how I was going to feel and, quite frankly, was surprised to come out the other side feeling opposite. I did not always love her parenting. In fact, I often hated her parenting, but I loved her forthrightness. I think that not enough people say what is on their mind and clear the air when needed. So that aspect? I totally got behind. Say what you mean, don't be passive aggressive and clear the air when you need to.

However...there was a side of her I didn't love. She was...mean to her kids. Sure, she mostly got results, but can't you get results without calling names? By showing humanity? By loving more, better, differently?

But then I look at Sammy. Am I not getting the most out of him? Should we be more strict? In a lot of ways I think we could be. In a lot of ways, maybe we are too soft; asking if he's ok emotionally. But then...I don't know. I WANT him to be ok emotionally. I WANT him to think he can take on the world and win.

I'm not sure which course is correct. I'm not sure that we are doing him a disservice in any way and I'm not sure that changing things would be better. I ended the book really feeling for her. I think she had regrets at the end, but I don't know if that would be different for any parent. I'm beginning to think that regret is part and parcel of parenting.

I have a lot of ideas after reading this book. I am rethinking parenting and it's many options. But I'm as yet unsure if I should implement any of them or if the author was completely off base and should be dismissed. I'm still pondering...


(someday, glass tiger)

Rambles...

I have so much in my head and I fear there is no room inside for anything else. I need an entire day to just write everything down and a second day to just get everything done. Too bad it doesn't really work that way!

My friend posted on facebook that she didn't like chocolate oranges. That concept is so foreign to me. I'm fairly certain I could survive on them.

I love Pinterest. I now need to remember to actually REFERENCE Pinterest when I'm looking for something. In related news: I hooked Isaac on Pinterest. I don't know how to feel about this.

Sammy has completely outgrown all of his pants that I bought him in September. Why can you buy husky and slim little boy pants but not tall? ALL of his pants, minus his skinny jeans, are above his ankle. And I just had to order him a new pair of boots given that he was coming home with an indention in his heel from his old pair. I need him to stop growing!

Isaac's watching Brian Regan in the back ground. It's making my thoughts all jumbled and it's tough to type through the laughter.

If you had told me 10 years ago that these are the types of articles I would not only be reading, but reading and LOVING? I would have called you a liar. As it is, go. Read. Fascinating.

How much do I wish I were in NYC right now? SO MUCH.


(when your mind's made up, swell season)

Simplicity. Part One.

I started word of the year a couple of years ago as my way of bucking the "resolution" train. I didn't expect to start holding the tradition so very dear. I didn't expect to keep going with it and loving it as much as I do. And I certainly didn't expect living with a certain word in my mind all year to take on such life of its own. But I do and it has. I learn so much in the 12 months having a word to guide me. Surprising things. Simple things. And this year was no different. I chose simplicity for a very simple reason. After my year of abundance, I wanted slow. I wanted to uncover my core and find out, at 37, who I really was. And, just like the year previous, I got that and much more in addition.

I started the year devouring minimalist blogs and learning as much as I could about that lifestyle. So much about it appealed to me at the time. Still does, to an extent. However, reading helped me focus on what I really wanted. While I have no desire to whittle my possessions to the bare minimum, I did want to eliminate everything unnecessary. While I didn't want Isaac to quit his job, I wanted to engineer a life that included travel and time together and an emphasis on experiences instead of stuff. It was good to see what I truly valued.

By mid year, I started noticing a shift in my thinking. It's not possessions. It's how you think of your possessions. Don't let them hold you back. Don't let them suffocate you. Don't let them control any part of your thinking. Use them to enhance your life and it doesn't matter if you own 333 things or a million, if you love and need them. What you will have is a rich life with things to make it more rich. Which is how it should be.


(breathe, midge ure)