In the spirit of my new creative self I decided to rename my blog. I was going to have a contest and give the winner a box of girl scout cookies, but instead I'll sit here and eat the cookies myself!
Also, an update for those who were worried about the emotional scarring of my 11 month old in her crazy big jacket, just an update. I tried on her Boden jacket for next year (yes, true testament to my crazy self, she has 3 "winter" jackets in size 2T/3T and no none of them were Olivia's. Anyways, this jacket is softer so I can roll the sleeves better and she looks a little more normal. I won't post a pic of the Gymboree jacket but maybe she'll pose in the other one tomorrow, I'll have to see how she's feeling.
Now, for the continuation of my lessons learned during my no spend challenge...
4. Some things can't be done for free aka-sometimes you miss out.
I had an awesome time this past month, and the family did a lot of really fun and interesting things. There were times however, that I had to pass up outings or say no to buying something. The times I felt the most guilty about this was when it was an activity for the kids. For instance, I have been somewhat of a hermit for many of the past 11 months. This is mainly due to the bone crushing weariness that comes along with having a baby who never sleeps for more than 2 hours at a time and the fact that her 2 naps a day were coveted and cherished as time that I also got to sleep. Yes, dear readers, I slept when my baby slept. Still do as a matter of fact and it's still the only way I stay sane. Anyways, I digress, which I do a lot but you obviously still love me!
Well, the past few weeks Clara dropped a nap and I was actually free to go out and mingle among normal people. There was a meetup for one of the groups I'm in at a bounce house. My kids were awake, fed, and happy. I thought to myself, what a great day for a drive to Bremen and some bouncing. But then it hit me. No Spending. It was a dilemma. I wanted to go to allow Olivia to have some fun doing something different. Was I being selfish not taking her because of my challenge? Luckily I didn't mention the meetup to her beforehand, and she was oblivious. We stayed home and had a nice quiet afternoon together. Would she have had fun in Bremen? Probably. Did we miss out? Maybe. But it reminded me too that I don't have to say yes to everything.
5. Of course the follow up to that is, sometimes you can do things for free, and have a great time too.
Mike was a Lego fanatic as a child. He has tons of Lego sets that his parents boxed up and sent out to us years ago. Of course, the Legos never made it out of their boxes. Instead they sat untouched in the basement. Mike and Olivia talked about getting them out, but there never seemed to be time. Well, due to the fact that our social calendar was greatly freed up, they had the time to get out the sets. I have really never seen Olivia so happy. Even now that the challenge is over, she rushes through dinner and a bath so she and daddy can play Legos. They are still building the sets, which will take a while, but they also take the time to play make believe with the Lego people. I'm sure the princess has never been saved as many times as she has now.
No comments:
Post a Comment