Toddler

Inspiration, Joy, Stay at home mom, Toddler

Instead of making a list of resolutions last year, my husband and I each came up with an intention for the new year. Mine was “find my focus and own it.”

Little did I know on January 2011 that over the course of the year, my focus would reveal itself as my children instead of the boutique agency I’ve run with my husband for the past 5 years.

On November 1, 2011, I changed my title from President to Founding Partner, Special Projects and started working 1 day a week instead of 4.

That’s the funny thing about intentions.

Unlike strict resolutions where the outcome is pre-determined, intentions remind us to be open to possibilities we hadn’t even considered.

For 2012, my intention is Choose Joy.

I’ve spent too many moments over my past three years as a mother flustered, frustrated, overwhelmed, angry, and spun around from the volume and chaos that comes with having two very young children. (Especially when you are a highly sensitive person like me.)

For example:

Over the holiday, I was putting groceries in the car in a rushed panic. The boys were both whining/demanding something of immediate importance, another car was waiting for my spot, it was freezing.

Once I got the boys strapped into their chairs, I finished loading the grocery bags and stopped for a second. “It’s the holidays. This is supposed to be fun,” I thought.

After the liftgate closed (effectively silencing the boys’ protests), I took a few deep breaths and felt the chaos dissipate. I entered that car as a whole new person.

That moment, shopping at our beautiful new Whole Foods buying special holiday treats, was a recipe for joy. Instead of letting the joy get derailed by normal life with toddlers, I claimed it back. 

That’s what I want to create more of this year. In a million different ways.

What is your word for 2012?

And if you have any luscious quiet time today, check out this fantastic list of 20 questions for reflecting on your 2011 from Simple Mom.

xo

image credit

Holidays, Toddler

 

In our family, the key to holiday activities is keeping them simple and flexible.

To that point, I decide each morning what the days’ activity will be. I pull out a pre-cut red circle (I’m loving my new 1 circle punch), write the day’s activity, and put it in our Advent calendar each morning. (More about our Here Comes Santa Clause Advent calendar, and other adorable ones.)

We’ve been taping all the activities on the kitchen door, which is a fun way to remember all the fun things we’ve done.

Our Advent activity calendar list so far

  • Look for the elf on the shelf (he arrives today!) and read the book
  • Go downtown and watch the tree lighting (never made it to this one!)
  • Have fun for Judah’s birthday party
  • Go to our neighbor’s Christmas party
  • Get a Christmas tree and decorate it
  • See the holiday magic in the city
  • Watch Polar Express before bed
  • Open an early Christmas present (a popcorn maker) and watch a movie
  • Make Christmas ornaments (we’re going to make these)
  • Bake a treat for our friend’s dinner party (thank god for Trader Joe’s awesome box mixes)
  • Do our gingerbread village kit

And more tricks up my sleeve

  • Practice being blessing fairies (more on this in a future post)
  • Celebrate one night of Hannukah with friends
  • Take treats to our neighbors (best intentions…)
  • Go stargazing and soak up the wonder
  • Read Christmas books (we do this pretty much every day, but it’s a good low-key standby)
  • Welcome out of town family
  • Take our visitors to the city to see the big tree
  • Go to the Big Apple Circus
  • Take a night drive in our jammies to see Christmas lights
  • Make or buy presents for each other (I’m thinking about having our 3-year-old select a toy he doesn’t use anymore to give to his brother. Not sure how this will go over.)
  • Wrap presents
  • Attend a Christmas concert

 

That’s it–pretty low key. What’s on your list?

Inspiration, Toddler

Time/Day: 4pm on a Friday afternoon

Go ahead and laugh: I did when I first saw the 2-seater cart at Costco. Clearly that was before I had kids.

The good news is: My boys are finally old enough that I can take them both to Costco–Costco!–at the very same time.

Most unexpected part of our trip: It was fun (!)

Advice (Unsolicited), House & Home, Productivity, Toddler

It’s almost time for our annual summer vacation on Cape Cod. Every year we thank our lucky stars (and our good friend Nina Max) that we get to go to this little piece of paradise yet again—10 cottages owned by one family tucked away on a little island.

The kids run free from house to house (usually sans clothes), pick raspberries, and busy themselves with vintage toys like this one while the grown ups practice out-doing each other as we trade nights cooking for 20.

I’ve given myself the week to pack in hopes of warding off that “oh my god we’re going away for 10 days what have I forgotten” bit. (So cliche, such a downer).

I’m also remembering what packing was like last year, which included the breast pump, bottles, baby food, baby spoons, and the big ass Exersaucer, something we decided our pre-crawler really couldn’t live without. Packing seems a whole lot less overwhelming this year (it also helps that I’m not in the middle of a postpartum breakdown, ahem).

Since we’re staying in a cottage with a full kitchen, I’ve been putting pantry items aside and keeping it all together in one of these clear plastic bins, like so:

(I keep the top locked on it to ward off curious little fingers.)

Last year I also brought a clear plastic shoe box (if you don’t own a whole case of these from the Container Store yet, you don’t know what you’re missing) with “junk drawer” type stuff. The best thing about these shoe bins is that little kids can’t open them, so that’s where I stashed things like scissors, post-its, a Sharpie, extra Ziplocks, and kid medicine.

This might seem like overkill, but when you are staying in a house for 10 days, you’d be surprised how often you need a Post-it. How else are your fellow cottagers supposed to find out who is hosting cocktail hour, and when not to knock because babies are sleeping? Sending DMs via Twitter is so not Cape.

As for toys, I’ll be packing a backpack for each kid and filling it full of their favorite toys and organic junk food bribes for the car ride. I’m also bringing one small bin with art supplies, Legos, some small toys, and a few books.

For kid clothes, one great piece of advice I read somewhere is to only pack for 5 days, even if you are staying longer. (Of course, with toddlers, each day involves at least 3 changes of clothes…) Packing for 5 days assumes your vacation spot has laundry facilities. Does anyone with more than one kid vacation anywhere without laundry facilities? We sure don’t.

And finally, there’s the stuff to do before we leave list. Somehow this cutesy summer printable from Wonderful Joy Ahead makes it more like a vacation countdown than a boring to-do list.

So that’s what I’ve got. What are your tricks for getting off to vacation stress-free?