Jenkintown By Way of Philadelphia

A quick trip to see a friend I've been missing. To explore the best science museum that ever was or will ever be. To stay up too late whispering among sleeping children. To eat street side pizza. To grill food until the propane runs out.

A hundred and fifty miles and heavy handfuls of hours are enough to give you a taste of an unknown place and serve as a reminder to let less time pass before you see people you love.

While there is always more to do, certainly more to say, we had time for castles and diners, two visits to the playground and a trip to an old timey soda fountain. A felicitous first field trip for the new school year.

SHARE THIS | TWEET THIS

Less. Step 1.

I can get easily overwhelmed with all the things I'm not doing. I am a lazy person with a strong sense of guilt. Nowhere in my life is this more evident than where it comes to my environmental impact. Sometimes I will read something, and it will become so very obvious that I'm wasteful and irresponsible and so utterly consumed by consuming. Earlier this week I fell into one such funk. I had stumbled upon Zero Waste Home, and it put me in the worst mood.

So often I read about these really inspiring projects, but instead of being inspired, I am overcome with paralyzing guilt. I know this sounds dramatic, but I swear I could barely sleep Wednesday night because I felt so stuck in my ways.  I felt stubborn and resentful of even being forced to consider my choices. I can't be that woman. I can't (or rather don't want to) devote my life to this very honorable cause.  It made me feel awful.

But yesterday, as I drove to work I realized that I didn't have to be perfect. I don't have to be zero waste. I just need to be less waste.

I decided that the easiest way to start was pick three ways to reduce my waste.  So here they are:

1. Olive oil. The Whole Foods near me sells it in bulk. My bottle is empty, so I'm going to refill it this weekend rather than just buying a new bottle. Also, I know every meat eating homesteader already does this, but I've been saving my bacon grease and using that instead of olive oil a lot of the time anyway.
2. Toothbrushes and toothpaste. I made myself natural toothpaste. The recipe might need tweeking.  I'm not forcing it on the kids and Tom until we run out of the rest of the toothpaste we have and I've figured out something a little more palatable. And from now on, I'm going to buy compostable toothbrushes instead of plastic ones. (Added bonus: they look prettier too.)
3. Coffee. I am no coffee snob. I drink cheap stuff from a plastic tub, but I'm going to up my coffee game and buy better beans sold in bulk. I'm going to bet it tastes better too.

It feels so much better to have a plan in place. It removed some guilt and got me excited about the whole concept.  It actually is becoming fun to think about all the places I can remove waste, but I'm not pressuring myself to implement every idea RIGHT. NOW.  I am also giving myself credit for the things I improved this past month. I have not used a single use bag. I haven't had a soda. And I curbed my Amazon book buying habit in lieu of ordering things from the library, all of which are saving me money, making it a little easier to afford the more expespensive coffee.

SHARE THIS | TWEET THIS

Anne Marie Gardens and Thoughts On Education

A couple of days last week I had to stay home with my kids because my parents needed to go be with my grandmother.

They were sad days, but I didn't want them to be wasted. There is always joy to be found, but often times you need to look for it.

We drove down to Anne Marie Gardens to wander. It is a sculpture garden with all sorts of kids play areas. Gus liked looking around for the painted rocks to collect and move  around. Sena was embarrassed at the sight of several nudes along the Women's Walk. I was able to make another tally on my 2014 Field Trip Goal. I have it in my mind that I want them to go on 10 field trips before my home school review in June. The weather was perfect, and Arlo was angelic. It was good in every way possible.

As we drove home, I had a moment of doubt about the way I try to educate my kids and about field trips in general. I wondered if they had actually learned anything looking at some pieces of metal scattered among the trees.

But then I had two related thoughts:

1. Who cares?

2. Learning is only part of the big picture.

Why does everything have to be educational? Why can't things be fun? The kids had a great time. I had a great time. While they may not have acquired any factoids, they had their imaginations stirred, which brings me to my second thought.

Learning, as in the accumulation of knowledge and skills, is useless alone. If my kids can't appreciate and enjoy then I will have failed them. These days, weeks, years of their lives are not just for completing tasks.

Maybe they didn't learn anything, but they experienced something, and that's what matters.

SHARE THIS | TWEET THIS

Replacement

It seems to me like the best way to get rid of a bad habit is to replace it with a good one. Life should be full. I don't want to focus on things I can't have or do. I'm trying to fill my life with things that are healthy and will bring me more happiness, (and while those Collins might not be healthy, despite my best efforts,at the end of the day, they bring me enough happiness to make up for it.) Diet soda, on the other hand, brought me very little happiness, but there was some ritual to drinking them, a break from my desk, an excuse to get up, and head to the teachers' lounge vending machine. I like small rituals. So I'm replacing those sodas with mugs and glasses full of green tea, served hot or cold. Green tea, with its myriad health benefits and its complete lack of plastic packaging, what a better thing to fill my body.

SHARE THIS | TWEET THIS

Making Changes

I love New Years for the promises it holds, for the sense that you can make changes, do better, be better, live better, live more. It is exciting and inspiring, and it is full of possibility. But I don't want to let that desire for self-improvement remain relegated to a cold month in winter. I want it to flow through every season; I want it to  influence the whole year, begging me to work at being a better me, the best me.

This spring, I want to think about the changes I want to make for a healthier, happier me.  And so today I am saying good bye to one of my guilty pleasures (and I don’t use the word guilty lightly. I actually feel a tremendous amount of guilt about it.) I know it is terrible for me; I know it is terrible for the environment. I know it’s a bad example, especially for Gus who is constantly trying to sneak and steal a sip. Today I say good bye to diet soda.  I say good bye to the chemicals I’m pumping my body full of, and I say good bye to the plastic waste I contribute to every, stinkin’ day. I mean, why am I going to spend so much money trying to buy local, pastured meat and GMO free produce, and then fill my body with aspartame? It makes no sense. I make no sense!

So see this soda, this one right here, sitting right next to my journal full of resolutions and hopes and dreams and goals and wants and wishes, well this here soda, I'm hoping it's my last.

 I’m excited for this season, a spring full of small changes. I’m hoping this is just the first in a series of small, manageable new habits.

Are there any goals you have for spring? 

SHARE THIS | TWEET THIS