Tag Archives: Charlie

Observing

Posted in connection, family, fear, Gratitude, happily ever after, Happiness, joy, Love, motherhood, parenting, positive living, simple living, spark joy by

The rain came and it was a perfect day to nestle inside. I was thankful for the rain and for choosing to slow down and to let the day unfold.

I was looking through recipes in the family room and heard Charlie playing on his drums. I came to his room and invited myself in to listen and observe, which I normally don’t do. I’m usually telling him to close his door and complaining that it’s too loud.

He smiled and I think he enjoyed my company, even though he was confused when I told him I was excited for his performance. He asked, “what performance?”  Obviously, because he was just playing to play. I was joking, but I was happy to just sit and watch him play, and to be present in this moment with him, with no expectations. He had his headphones on and no one was telling him to be quiet or to close his door and we all let him play freely. He played and jammed and I smiled.

Soon Juliana came in to listen as well. She say me enjoying him and she soon wanted to play too. My little cutie let her in and tried to teach her a little rhythm and my heart was full.


I noticed how much fun they were having and it made me want to play too, even though I have no rhythm at all and was a little fearful to even try. He told me which drum to hit on which count and then praised my drumming attempt. We switched spots and it was really cool!


I was laughing my head off and Charlie grabbed my phone to take videos. 

This was a fun, morning,  pajama jam session!  Thank you Charlie for sharing your passion with us. You made my day. 

How was your day? What moment did you really enjoy? Hope you have a good week. xo

October

Posted in happily ever after, joy, memories, motherhood by

I’ve been hearing that October is coming for weeks now. Someone has been very excited and has been making plans for decorating our house for Halloween. He would probably start in September, but he knows I like to wait until the beginning of the month to begin celebrating any given holiday. He was well prepared and kept asking me when we could go up into the attic to get down the Halloween boxes and when we could go to the Spirit Halloween store.  He knew that this weekend was THE weekend and he had a plan.

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I told him that we could go into the attic in the morning, after we had our coffee. Of course, as soon as his eyes had opened, he was asking if we had had our coffee yet. Have I told you that someone in our family is quite determined and a little planner?

Luckily he waited for us, however he couldn’t sit still and kept tapping the stick that pulls down the attic door. He was so excited that he was bouncing off the walls.

When we finally got up from the table and Jeff was ready to open the attic, he was asking if he could go up in the attic too. Jeff had the typical dad answer, which was “no,” until Charlie worked his magic. He informed us that he could do it now and that he was no longer 5.  He was now big and wanted to explore and to see what was up there and he had us convinced.  I loved watching him carefully climb up the ladder and grow up in that moment. He definitely is no longer 5 and I could literally see him growing up, right there. And the smile on his face showed all his success.

My no longer five year old, still loves the holidays and for this I am thankful. I received joy by watching him love the experience, tearing open the boxes once again with wonder and decorating our home.

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I love that he is growing up before my eyes and that he still is my little boy.

Happy Fall, everyone!  I hope you enjoy October.

xoxo

I See Him Changing

Posted in cats, connection, family, Gratitude, happily ever after, Happiness, intention, Love, Mindfulness, motherhood, parenting, positive living, rooted, simple living by

I was sleeping and sitting up in my rocking chair because my head was congested and I couldn’t sleep lying down last night. 

My perspective was shifted, as he walked into the kitchen and I could see him through the darkness and dawn’s early light from my chair.  I liked this image.

I enjoyed this new view and waking up to him, watching him get his favorite morning meal, a bowl of cereal and milk by himself, which he normally does, but I’m usually busy moving and doing and miss the observing part.  He is taller now and I noticed him growing up right there, in this moment.

It’s not that I don’t recognize the changes normally, it’s just that I had a different perspective this morning and I wasn’t in a rush and I was just observing the morning and him being there, growing up just like, that and eating simple cereal.

I noticed the piles of laundry waiting to be sorted and the cat sprawled out in the bean bag chair. (It still seems strange to me that we live with animals.) The laundry can wait.

In this moment, I was content and thankful to be aware and to notice that my baby is growing up, even with my stuffy head!  Sometimes it’s cool to switch your perspective and to see things differently.

Life is good.

Day 42: Summer

Posted in connection, Cooking, family, food, Gratitude, happily ever after, Happiness, joy, Love, memories, motherhood, parenting, positive living, simple living, work life balance by

I am happy that we got to celebrate Charlie’s birthday today with family, doing what he loves and feeling his joy of being an almost teenager.

We enjoyed donuts for breakfast, bowled in the afternoon, made pizzas for dinner and ate red velvet cake from Nothing Bundt Cakes for dessert.

Life is sweet! Today was good. Sending blessings of peace to you and your family, and especially to those in Munich today.



Happy Birthday, Charlie. You are loved! xo

Day 23: Summer

Posted in connection, family, happily ever after, Happiness, Mindfulness, simple living by

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C is for Creating Space. Actually, it’s C for Charlie and he was using his new wood burning tools and enjoying our staycation at home this afternoon.

As I was sitting next to him, and designing and burning images with him, he asked me if this was what I was going to write about on my blog tonight. I found it interesting that he found it worthy of sharing and that he was curious whether I would want to share our experience. I told him I’d only share it if he wanted me to, as I respect his privacy. I find myself wanting to share less about their story as I share my “happily ever after”a that we’re living together.  Some experiences I want to burn on my brain only and hold close, especially as they’re getting bigger and aren’t little kids anymore.

I was thankful for the space we created, even though I resisted doing “nothing” today. Sometimes I guess I need the uncomfortable space of nothingness to enjoy the flowing moments like these that show up when you surrender.

nAMaste

 

 

 

Day 5: Summer

Posted in cats, connection, family, Gratitude, happily ever after, Love, memories, motherhood, parenting, positive living, rooted, simple living, space, work life balance, working mom by


This was my afternoon stress relief. Charlie invited me and actually insisted that I come sit with him to watch some funny game show that he knew would make me laugh. Kids are so smart. He was right.  He wanted my attention and I reluctantly wanted his. As soon as I flopped into the couch as close to him as possible, Kanan came to claim his spot.  His purring was comforting too. 

Thank you Charlie for making me slow down! I love you and appreciate you. 

I hope you’re having a good week!

xo

Happily Ever After Today

Posted in connection, family, Gratitude, happily ever after, Happiness, joy, Love, memories, motherhood, parenting, positive living, simple living, spark joy by

How did you live your happily ever after today? After all, we are not promised tomorrow. So how did you make the most of your today?

This is how I think. I think that today is my best life ever and how am I going to live it up? What will spark joy?

Today I got to go for a walk with my BFF in the middle of the day, since we had to miss yoga. We made time for each other to escape our responsibilities and to go outside for a short while and to enjoy the sunshine, today.

I took my kids out to celebrate Charlie’s Student of the Month award to get bubble tea before dinner, as he requested. We took time to celebrate his gifts and he even got to sit in the front seat, a place usually reserved for the eldest. I loved just sitting with him and Juliana, sharing stories about our happily ever after day.

What else? I called my sister, I texted with my family, and made dinner and we gathered around the table. We didn’t have to go anywhere tonight and it was a gift to stay home and relax.

Today was good. I liked going with the flow and enjoying my family and friends, living the dream, one day at a time.

 What’s your dream? Are you creating it? Go ahead… get started! You’ll thank yourself later for choosing to start right now.

Chaperoning in Chinatown

Posted in connection, family, Gratitude, happily ever after, Happiness, intention, joy, motherhood, parenting, positive living, simple living, spark joy, work life balance, working mom by


I got to chaperone a field trip to Chinatown in San Francisco today and am thankful.


I’m thankful that Charlie wanted me to go with him. I’m thankful that he was excited to go on this trip with his classmates and I loved hearing his anticipation about possibly getting a straw hat all week. 

I enjoyed the car ride with the other chaperones and was thankful I wasn’t riding the bus with all the kids.


I loved letting my little group lead and negotiate which direction we should head and which shops and sites we should visit, while I watched over all of them and kept them safe and together.

The weather was gorgeous in the city today and I loved the break in my routine. 


I am thankful for my flexible work schedule that allowed me to chaperone without feeling guilty.

And I’m thankful that Charlie found joy with his new straw hat. It’s the little things worthy of celebrating!

Today was good. 

How was your day? What made you feel thankful, wise one?


Namaste.

Do It Anyway

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Today was a gorgeous day. The sunlight was amazing and lasted late into the warm night.

Charlie wanted to go back outside one more time before it was too dark. I resisted at first, saying he needed to finish his homework. He promised he would and begged for ten more minutes with the cool breeze on his face.

I had just mentioned how I loved the feel of the cool breeze coming in from the kitchen window and he used my words. How could I resist?

I told him okay, he could go out again, if he’d come back and study a bit more. He then asked me if I wanted to come outside with him, and of course, my thoughts were no way! I was done. It was almost 8pm and I was ready to be resting on the couch. He asked me again, saying he wanted to play with me. How could I resist?

I have all these wise women who have taught me along the way that the time we have with our kids is actually short and that we will miss them wanting us one day. I believe in their wisdom, so I said yes. I went outside, anyway, despite my reservations and different expectations.  I enjoyed shooting baskets with him and seeing how good he is at long shots. I loved how he shared the ball with me. I loved the neighbor’s dog who came up on the driveway to greet us. I did it anyway and was happy I did. I always am and never regret doing the work once I do it and actually dive in.
What are you resisting and would you be happier if you did it anyway?  I’m curious.

Happy Doing!

Thinking

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How do you teach thinking and deciding skills?

I was helping Charlie with his math today and he wanted to rush and get the problems done so he could do his other homework. He didn’t want to think, and just wanted to do with out the thinking part to get it over with. I was trying to teach him that the thinking part was more important than the doing part and that if he could figure out the thinking, he could easily do the doing over and over again. This was hard for him to understand and he struggled to rush through. I told him you can’t rush thinking and went back to repeating myself over and over again.

I made him talk to me and explain his thoughts and the steps he would take to solve his problem before putting his pencil to his paper. This was uncomfortable to him. I learned by watching his frustration and realized that teaching him to slow down and to think before doing was very challenging.

In the end, he got it. He stopped struggling and fighting me and got the hang of it.  I told him that if he could figure out the thinking part, it was like knowing how to do a magic trick.  I explained that math problems were like mysteries that had patterns that he had to uncover and apply to solve. He finally got it and I loved watching him learn the process of thinking and then doing. I hope we can continue learning and practicing and thinking together. This thinking thing is pretty cool!

How do you teach thinking skills?