Picking my battles

Or, why it takes three days to cut Gavin's hair.

I don't like fighting with kids. There are non-negotiables in our house. Gavin can tell you about them, "If I go in the woods naked, I go inside and get TIME OUT". Yes, that actually has to be a rule at our house. But there are times when it really just doesn't seem worth a fight.

Gavin's two. His world operates in two dimensions: totally focused and butterfly mode. Right now he's reading in the playroom. Could last for hours. Could last five minutes.

So when he needs a haircut, I do it as long as he'll tolerate, then pick it up again later. So he looks a little scruffy. Big deal. Still haven't gotten it to look like this.



Transitioning to slower timelines has probably been the biggest transition for me becoming a stay at home parent. It takes me all week to clean the house (and then we start over again), because I only do one thing a day. It takes 15 minutes to load the car and get on the road. I start cooking dinner at 3 so whatever derails us (and something always does) won't interfere with dinner coming together by 5:30. This is hard for me. Sometimes, I want to scream, "ALL I WANT TO DO TODAY IS VACUUM! WHY IS THIS SO HARD???".

But then I get back to the orginal point. Is it worth arguing about? Is it worth not liking my child to vacuum in what I think is a reasonable amount of time? Not really. I love my family, but I also genuinely like them. Gavin is silly, and sweet, and smarter than I think I realize. Finn is shaping up to be a thoughtful, joy-filled baby. Praise the Lord he appears to have a little patience.

I'm still learning patience. But perspective makes patience possible.

New Life, New Purpose

I have primarily used this blog as a helpful place to share pictures and hilarious videos of the family. It would have been more, but the firewalls at work precluded additions whilst I twiddled my thumbs :)

However, now that I'm home full time, and am approaching something bordering on normalcy in life with the boys, I have decided to assign a purpose to this web-hosted diary of sorts.

At least weekly, I plan on posting the usual updates on the family (which requires that I promise to TAKE MORE PICTURES), but I also plan on using this as a forum to discuss the transition from full-time work to full time family. There are reasons we are halving our income, and I would like to, through reflection, expand on why we're doing that. Even if it's just for my own verbal processing needs.

So. There is my challenge. Stayed tuned. And keep me accountable for more posts!