back to slow

Disclaimer: In the name of full transparency, please be aware that this blog post contains affiliate links and any purchases made through such links will result in a small commission for me (at no extra cost for you). We become what we repeatedly do. Sean Covey Over the last couple of years, my husband and I have been implementing small changes in our family's lives to hopefully help us become closer to each other and healthier in our minds and bodies. It’s amazing to look back and see how those small things have become routines--most of the time, we don’t consciously think about doing them anymore. Our world has plunged into panic and fear and the unknowns of a danger we cannot see--but our family has remained remarkably unshaken. It’s not that we’re somehow lucky. We aren’t oblivious to the changes in our state and nation. But our lifestyle choices have helped smooth the transition from “business as usual” to our new normal of social distancing. I wanted to share...

This week was my daughter's birthday. Being the extroverted, fun-loving, child she is, she had been looking forward to a party with all her friends since Christmas. But with all that is going on in our nation and in our world, that was not possible. So we talked about it: as we ate lunch together, we talked about why we wouldn't be seeing our friends for a few weeks and why we didn't have money to get her a bigger bike. She was disappointed but also understanding. She's a good kid. So in order to make her birthday a little special, I wanted to do the little things I know she loves: like flowers, which are not in bloom here yet in PA, so we picked some up at the store. And making cupcakes, which she has been asking to do for a while. Y'all, I've never made cupcakes from scratch before--especially not gluten-free ones. I have friends who love baking and who make beautiful cakes for their kids' birthdays all the time. But I found a reasonable recipe and we had...

“Rule number one is, don’t sweat the small stuff. Rule number two is, it’s all small stuff." Robert Eliot A few months ago I drove over a deep pothole and instantly knew my tire was busted.  On the way to the car place, I was explaining to my daughter, in a slightly exasperated, woe-is-me voice, that we were going to get the car fixed. I explained that she had to be patient because it might take a long time and we would have to wait until the car was done to drive home.  She stopped playing with her dinosaur and started bouncing excitedly in her car seat. "Mommy is that the place with the table and chairs and the kid toys?!" "No honey, we're not going to a restaurant or the library. This is the car place." "Yeah, where we get our wheels fixed?" "Yeah, that one." "Mommy, there's a table and chairs and lots of toys there! Are we gonna play with them?!" I was too preoccupied at that moment to answer her ques...