The life of a work-at-home, homeschooling mom is a lot about taking care of things – for our families, for our spouses, for our work. But in all this it is very easy to let taking care of ourselves slip or even put on the back burner.
For the last few years I’ve been on a concentrated journey to regain my health. Something that was dangerously close to the edge the result of the first few years I worked at home. I pushed and pushed, trying to do it all, and in the meantime would forget to eat, put off exercising, and rarely slept. It messed with my thyroid, my metabolism, and caused a dangerous situation. Thankfully, I’ve been able to make recoveries, and while I still have a ways to go, I am healthier now both physically and mentally than I have been in many years.
Unfortunately, sometimes it takes a hard, in-your-face crisis to get there. Tonight I pray for a dear friend, another work-at-home, homeschooling mom, who had a heart attack this week. Pushing too much, trying to do it all, is not good for anyone, including ourselves, obviously. But also not good for our families or our spouses.
I pray that others will take our lessons and not go through it themselves. Please don’t try to do it all, to fit it all in in one day. It’s not possible, nor is it reasonable to expect of yourself. Take the time for yourself, for your sanity, for your health, so that you can be whole and healthy. It’s not being selfish. It’s part of serving those around you. A healthy, sane mom and wife is worth more than a worn-out, tired, ill mom and wife. Believe me. I know. Learning it the hard way isn’t fun.
Today’s great gift ideas come from another work-at-home, homeschooling mom, Frazzled Mom. Tuesday, she posted these great gift ideas on her blog: Adventures in Homeschooling.
1. Homemade bread – either a yeast bread or a quick bread. Cook, Cool, and wrap in an individual bag, or for a homespun touch, wrap in a pretty cloth and ribbon.
2. A bread and bagle slicing guide – for those who bake their own bread or who have to slice their own bagels. (Oh I wish I had one of those!)
3. A gourmet meal basket – just think with a basket, a red and white checked cloth, some candles, and the yummy food Frazzled Mom suggests. I wouldn’t mind recieving one of these!
4. A Game Day Snack Pack - Check out the picture she posted; this is brillant. She’s covered a box in wrapping paper, and stuffed it full of game day snacks. Snack foods make great stocking stuffers too, but this is a wonderful idea for the men or sports fanatics in our lives!
5. Movie Tickets and free babysitting. Frazzled Mom’s got a creative idea for packaging these in a candy or popcorn container. (Definitely a great idea!)
6. A stuffed animal with a Zoo Membership. This is a neat idea for grandparents or for siblings to go in on. I know my kids would love it!
7. A theme park gift basket, including all the essentials for a fun day at the theme park. Check out her suggestions on her blog. While not inexpensive, this is a great custom idea for a special family in your life.
What do you think – any of these ideas sound good to you? All very easy to do as a family, can be cost effective, and thoughtful.
Remember December is our Gifts and Sanity for the Holidays month. Please share any inexpensive, homemade, and/or thoughtful gift ideas you have or have recieved on your blog and/or in the comments. If you blog about your holiday traditions, please let us know about your post.
My friend Kathy started a new tradition for her family a few years ago, that I absolutely love – especially when I’m at her house visiting. She bakes something for Christmas, every day in December. This way she breaks up the tasks, freezing her goodies until it’s time for their grand apperances. I have not yet been this organized, but I love the idea.
For this month’s challenge of sharing our favorite homemade holiday gifts and traditions, Kathy has agreed to share with us some of her recipes through out the month. So, periodically, I suggest heading over to her blog and checking out what she’s working on. Today, she posted a neat little decorated candle gift idea, using store bought candles, tissue paper, and glitter, as well as a list of gifts that she is knitting this year.
I do! In more than one area. But it’s true. Art is a weak area for me. Scary considering the kids and I were discussing differeent styles of art at Arby’s today. They were noticing the differences between the prints. Thankfully, two of the prints were Monet’s, and I at least know enough, to tell them that the style is Impressionism. Guess that’s why I outsource the art classes
There Are 1 Gaps in Your Knowledge
Where you have gaps in your knowledge:ArtWhere you don’t have gaps in your knowledge:
“Essy, I have a quarter left over, do you want to put it in the red bucket when we go in the store?” asked Kate today as we piled out of the van to go into Walmart. In this short interchange, Kate mentioned that her favorite part of the Holiday season is putting money in the Salvation Army buckets and giving gifts for others.
I knew she loved to cook up ideas with her siblings on what to give whom, and she is known for making sure that everyone is taken care of for their birthdays and such. But I didn’t realize that our tradition of giving gifts to children in need during the holiday season was important to her. It is a tradition we started 9 years ago, when it was only Kate, and kept up even during the lean times. As it was important for us that our kids understood that despite the fact they didn’t get everything they wanted, they were always provided for and they always had something to give to others who may not have as much.
Today, we chose to not do the toy gift giving, but instead “adopt” two familes of children who didn’t have winter clothes. While we were planning on prune out the kids’ overly abundant wardrobes for the various ages/sizes involved, the kids decided that it would be good to take the money we usually use for the toy giving programs and use it instead to buy one item of new clothing for each child.
And boy, they had fun. I gave them criteria – warm clothes, no more than $xx, and sizes, and they were off. Within 15 minutes, they had found what they wanted within the price range I gave. On the way home, they talked about how they lucky they were to have so many clothes when others had none or few. Now, my kids are mostly clothed in hand-me-downs, Freecycle finds, and the odd piece of clearance clothing; but God has always provided them with an abundance of clothing whenever they had a need.
It did my heart good, to know that this tradition, of them doing the shopping, being hands-on, and participating in the decisions, has worked. Thank you Lord.
Do you have a tradition of giving during the Holidays, or any other time of the year? If so, please share it.
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