Park Runnin'

I find myself second guessing my decisions all the time lately, especially when it comes to my kids. I used to be really decisive and would never look back once I had made up my mind to do something. Committed, determined and decisive. Easy. Somewhere along this journey of raising my children I have started to question what on earth I am doing and how I could even begin to qualify myself for the responsibility of giving my children exactly what they need to be happy and successful in life. There are a million things, LITERALLY, a million things that you could spend your time doing with your children to develop them in different ways academically, socially, spiritually and so on. Choosing where to spend our time and what to do to create a well balanced and happy child is a daunting and exciting task. But what if I get it wrong? What if the balance tips one way and I raise an ungrateful, rude child who lacks empathy and is a lazy slob? The thoughts swirl around in my brain non-stop and I start to get panicky about whether or not I am getting it right and whether or not I will raise a grateful, polite child who seeks opportunities to help others and works hard. Panic. 

I am well aware of the fact that my kids will make their own decisions and that they have their own right to choose, in fact agency is very important to me. It is equally important to me as their parent and steward to give them opportunities, to teach them and to provide them with the tools they will need to be happy and successful in their lives. If they choose not to use the tools I give them that is one thing, but I am still responsible to give them the tools so that they can use them when needed should they choose to. So what tools do I give them? What opportunities? What lessons and extracurricular activities do they participate in? There are so many options out there and I find myself stressing out about what exactly is best for my child's development. At this point in time you are probably thinking 'holy smokes, you need to chill out!' And you know what? You are probably right. But there are no second chances or re-do's in raising kids which I think is what has my stomach all tied up in knots. There is a point to all of this rambling and I am getting there. 

Ads was in gymnastics, she was good at it, a natural I believed. Every Saturday morning bright and early we would get her out of bed and take her to gym where she would spend an hour and a half working out and learning how to use the beam, bars, vault, floor work and conditioning. She loved it. As gym was breaking up for the Christmas holiday Ads and I decided to bag her last day of class and have her come with me to Orpington Park Run and run a 5k with me. The two of us walked the 1/2 mile to the park and then ran the 3.1 miles chit chatting all the way, actually it was more like me chit chatting with Ads breathing and listening. We averaged an 11:42 mile, which I thought was superb for a barely 8 year old girl. Over the next 4 weeks Ads came with me each Saturday morning and ran the 3.1 miles whilst I told her stories about when I was little, my University escapades and adventures shared with her daddy as teenagers. She soaked it all in, especially the stories about her daddy. When we would walk home after our run we both felt sense of achievement and we had spent some serious quality time together. 

Gym was starting back up and John and I weren't sure what we should do with Ads and gym as a new term of gym was going to be starting the beginning of February. Do we keep her in or take her out? I don't believe that you should let kids quit things part way through, I believe that they need to follow it to the finish of the season, program, or performance. Since Ads had already had her club championship and had completed her performance with the group, John and I felt it was the right time to make a clean cut from gym if that was what we were going to do. The whole time we were trying to decide whether or not to keep her in gym I was waffling back and forth, is gym the best thing for her? Is running at park run with mom the best thing for her? We need to put William in activities as well as Ads so something has to give. Will we be here longer or will I be paying for a term of gym that we won't be using? All these questions kept tap dancing around my overly stuffed mom brain. John finally stopped me and said "I would rather Adessa spend quality time with her mom making wonderful memories running at park run than learning a few skills she may or may not use in gymnastics with people she will never see again." I stopped. He was right. The quality time that Ads and I have spent together at Park Run over the past 5 weeks is more valuable than any amount of lessons money could buy. 

Running, laughing, philosophising, encouraging, supporting, teaching and working together was/is indeed priceless. Adessa is never going to be an Olympic gymnast, but she is always going to be my daughter and when it is all said and done she will have a lifetime of memories that will either include me, or not. We have our 'thing' and it is pretty awesome. We can spend our time racing around to activities or even cracking the whip at home with chores and homework, which are all good things to do, but perhaps the best use of our time is actually finding a way to spend quality time together. Ads and I have found a way for us to spend some quality time together doing our 'thing' whilst John and William do their 'thing' at home which would be boxing, wrestling or playing some football or rugby.

I am really proud of my little miss Ads for showing perseverance and some determination. So far she has run 5 recorded Park Runs plus 1 before she had a bar code, which means she has run 18.6 miles in total, which is pretty cool. Ads is determined to get her 10 Park Run t-shirt and will continue to go every Saturday come wind, rain, snow or shine. John and I decided that she is developing a great sense of character as she faced the elements head on and ran anyway. It feels like right now we have established a good balance of academic, social, spiritual and extracurricular activities. I think that for the first time in a long time I have been able to chill out and step back to say 'it's all good.' We'll see just how long the balance lasts, but for now, for today, it's all good.

Ads 1st Park Run

Our AWESOME 11:42 per mile average in the mud and rain. Ads was pleased this week to have passed and beat a boy (at least a head taller than her) who had passed and beat her 2 weeks before.

Just when we thought we had done our best time Ads and I went and ran an 11:22 minute per mile average. I think that she could probably run a 10 minute mile come spring when the mud dries up. The best part is that she is enjoying running and really has a lot of natural ability. 

I can't wait to see Ads face when she achieves her goal of getting a 10 Park Run t-shirt. It will be an awesome mom moment. Until then we shall keep on runnin', laughing, chatting and creating wonderful mother daughter memories.

My New Miracle Cleaner!

When I moved to England and got settled into my house I went straightway to the store to pick up my usual cleaning supplies to stock under the cupboards. Much to my amazement not a single one of my usual faves were there. Ugh. What now? I spent the next 3 years trying out different cleaning products trying to find a favourite or even something that would become my per usual. No dice. That's not to say that the products don't clean, they do, but they either have a smell I dislike, streak, or cost an arm and a leg. A few weeks ago as I was doing my pre-Christmas decorating 'deep cleaning' I went to fill my bowl of water and add my liquid "Joy" (USA) or "Fairy" (UK) to the water when I realised I was out. What now? I grabbed my liquid laundry soap and used it in lieu of my dish soap. WOW! I was blown away. This miracle cleaner has cleaned my house from top to bottom like it has never been cleaned. I have used it on my counters, walls, floors, spot carpet cleaning, bathrooms, cupboards, etc.. The only thing I don't use it on is my mirrors and windows. It. Is. AMAZING! I will never again spend loads of money on random cleaners, it is always going to be laundry soap.  

I fill a bowl with hot water and depending on the size of the bowl and the job needed I add 1 or two tablespoons of laundry soap and get busy. You can buy your favourite laundry soap and use it interchangeably with your laundry or you can go to the dollar/pound shop and buy something else. I don't know if the pound shop products are inferior, but my laundry soap that I used interchangeably with my household cleaning has been superb. I haven't tried it in a spray bottle, I tend to think it would clog, but hey ho if you are feeling adventurous give it a go. I hope this works for y'all as well as it has worked for me, if it doesn't, then stick with what you were doing before :) Happy Spring cleaning!

New Year, New Me

It's a New Year and time for a 'New Me.' I cannot remember the last time when I really felt strongly that I needed to straighten myself out with some serious New Year resolutions. I have allowed myself to slip into some bad habits which I have bubble wrapped in a protective layer of denial and rationalisation, of which I am wondering whether or not I could win a competition at. At least I excel at something, right? Okay, so denial and rationalisation aren't exactly the types of things you want to excel at, thus my resolutions for a new year and a new me. I have always been a goal oriented person, I like goals, setting them, ticking them off my list with an overwhelming sense of accomplishment. I thrive with structure and purpose and I like challenges (you don't run 5 Marathons unless you like a wee bit of a challenge). However, this year I have struggled a bit. As I reflect over my year I certainly ticked the boxes and accomplished a number of goals, but I find myself really struggling to manage my time well which is causing me to feel disorganised, rushed, and exhausted. So, I have an epically long list of new resolutions that are going to help my super ADD, OCD brain to get the proper rest it needs and to stay focused and organised on the tasks and goals at hand.

We sat as a family and discussed our new goals and what we were going to do to be able to accomplish these fantastic new goals. I am a very visual learner and a huge sucker for a motivational poster. I figured if genetics were really that powerful then my kids would benefit from some new motivational posters of their own to remind them of their new goals for the coming year. I looked back through some pictures of the year that I thought would match up with their listed goals and then jumped on my favourite free photo editing site PIXLR to make the pictures into motivational posters. I am going to print the posters off as 8x10 prints and blue tack them up the stairwell and near the kids room. Often times we set a goal and by the years end we cannot even remember what the goal was! But just think, if you had it printed as a motivational poster and posted in the house you simply could't escape it, right? Such is my thought process.

Here are the kids resolutions on posters. I haven't made up mine yet, but I am excited to see if they help me stick to my goals this year. Happy New Year! Here's hoping 2014 will be the best year yet.

Picking

Three years ago I did a post on some fabulous plates I 'picked' from a local charity shop where I live in South London HERE. This fall I have done some major picking and have found some real gems. In August we spent some quality time with my cousins in Sweden and I returned home inspired to make some serious changes to the disposable nature of our home, family, and occasionally values, all of which seem to be influenced by the disposable nature of our society, heavy eh? Thoughts on that post are HERE. At any rate, my love for History, antiques, unique things and a new commitment to avoid living in a disposable world led me on an interesting adventure through charity shops where I have made some most AMAZING picks. 

My maternal grandmother has an inspiring collection of depression glass, both pink, green and I believe amber. Every Thanksgiving as much thought was placed into the table setting as was the meal planning itself. I helped my grandmother decide on which lovely set of dishes we would pull out and clean to set the table with year after year. When I wandered into a shop and saw this gorgeous etched pink depression glass pitcher with 6 glasses I knew I had to have it. I was in love. It was a matter of a week before I wandered into another shop where I found the pink glass bowl and another week when I discovered the pink glass tea cups and saucers. I have used all these dishes many times as I have fed various peoples as well as my own family and find myself completely in love with them. The glass dates back to the 1940's- 1960's.

I have a gorgeous set of inherited American made china that is over 100 years old, but I didn't move it overseas with me. When I decided to throw out all things plastic and get some lovely dishes I scoured the charity shops for a set that would both remind me of my time living in England as well as serve as a lovely set of china. I settled on a red toile set that was super inexpensive £19.00 for the entire set because it was missing a few pieces. John had been urging me to look for a set of English Bone china to buy as a souvenir of our time in England, but I couldn't possibly bring myself to spend that kind of money on something when I could get something else that was old, unique and much more beautiful.

This little dessert plate was manufactured circa1905. Yes, it is over 100 years old. I loved it the moment I saw it and because there was an odd 11 of the dishes I got them for a song. Another buy that made me feel like the luckiest girl in the whole of the county.

When I saw these dishes I couldn't help but picture Miss Adessa Dawn sat at the table with a group of her friends having a lovely High Tea. They are beautiful and old and delicate. Again, because they are in odd numbers they were inexpensive, but the sentimental value to me is becoming very high.

I went to this charity shop 3 times looking at these dishes before I actually purchased this set. I love all things turquoise and so the little turquoise trim around the plates was a major selling point for me. I found other plates almost exactly like these ones online in a museum in NZ. Another find that had me clicking my heels and threatening my children's lives if they chipped or broke a single dish! Not really, but I do love them and find the children know how precious the dishes are and use terrific care and good table manners when using them.

I had zero serving dishes. Whatta ya know, I wandered into a shop to find these beauties along with 2 large serving platters. I couldn't resist. Thanksgiving was coming and I needed some serving dishes, the fact that I looked up the maker and found they were antiques whilst in the charity shop helped seal the deal. I thought they were gorgeous and though my dishes are a bizarre modge podge of dishes I set every other place with a matching set, in whole the table looked superb.

Carnival glass. The moment I saw this piece behind the counter I knew EXACTLY what it was. My mother has a piece of carnival glass that she has treasured for years and protected from the destructive hands of several grandchildren! The amber carnival glass is the most common whilst the piece that my mom has is a much more rare colour and shape. I have since found another smaller piece in the amber that has a chip in it, but looks nice served as a butter dish on an autumn table setting. The mineral salts they used on carnival glass are what cause it to have the 'oil slick' like colouring on the surface of the glass. Many people have probably seen or recognise this glass from the homes of elderly people. The glass is becoming more rare and I think it is absolutely beautiful.

I have recently bought a series of copper pouring/measuring pitchers. I love them. I should have taken pictures of the pitchers before I cleaned them, yikes, they were in bad shape. I used sea salt and vinegar to clean the pots and a bit of lemon juice, voila, they looked as good as new. I have been using these beauties as flower vases and table decor for the time being, but one day I will get a pot holder for my kitchen and hang them up. I have always loved copper pots which remind me of my Swedish grandmother. When I was in Sweden I was again reminded of how beautiful copper pots look. Copper pots are much more rare and will mostly be found in antique shops rather than charity shops where they will come at a much higher price. I have had great success with finding my pitchers in the charity shops, but actual copper pots, no luck. I might have to suck it up and just buy one at an antique shop. I have been busting for a proper copper kettle, in the meantime I am keeping my eyes open. 

Repurpose and recycle has become my motto. I already have a bag of washed glass pasta jars and soda bottles to use for crafting and decor in the new year, I can't wait. Now that the kids will be back in school and the holidays are over I have a little time to do some good 'picking,' I have already let a silverware set pass in a charity shop which I TOTALLY regret. Not happening again. Watch out all those faces that I have come to see regularly picking in the shops, its a new year and I am ready to make the rounds. Boo ya!