Here we go again...

So it's been 6 months since my last post - which just so happened to be about how I was going to start posting more..... oops. To be honest, in the last 6 months I haven't really felt like my life and the chaos I felt like I was in was worth posting about. I didn't have any purpose, I often felt like I was looking for a change, and I was beginning to not enjoy being a stay at home mom any more. Luckily things have improved. And therefore I feel like writing about it!

For Christmas my parent's sent me a Canon Rebel. It is one of the things which has inspired some change. I love using it to capture my son's daily life. This has meant so much to me, and has truly been a blessing to have. I know that one day I will look back on these pictures and be SO thankful to have them.

Another inspiration has been my sister. She is such an amazing woman and when her family recently moved back to NC where her husband is now stationed (USMC) she joined a group called Stroller Warriors. She began running and I watched...from across the world ;). I have never been a runner. Between the two of us she has always been more athletic - doing cheerleading, dance, and gymnastics. I have never really cared much about being fit before, but her journey has been inspirational and it's made me want to start running as well. She told me about the Couch 2 5k program and I found a good friend who was willing to do it with me, and we started last week. It's challenging, but so far I have been doing well. I haven't hurt myself so that's a start ;)

Lastly - Cooper. I have known for a while that he has been frustrated at home at times, and I often find myself so busy through the day that I don't really sit down and play with him. And even though he is great at independent play, often he'd really really like me to stop whatever I'm doing and sit down with him. This lead to a bit of soul searching. Why was I so busy? I'm lucky enough to have a husband who WANTS me to stay home with our son. So why wasn't I enjoying it, and what could I do to change? I had remembered a while back reading a blog called Play At Home Mom - and I decided to revisit it. I started thinking about ways to change the house around to create an area that could be "his". Much to the dismay of my husband this meant moving a part of our L-shaped lounge into the dining room. I think it looks nice. He's not convinced ;) One of the philosophies of PAHM which is based on the Reggio Emilia approach is that toys and craft supplies are supposed to be easily accessible to the child within this environment. This is hard.... It means ALOT more supervision. Especially with a 16 month old. What I realized though, is this is a great opportunity to teach him about respecting toys and about putting things away. Sure there will be mess, and there will most likely be accidents. But that's ok. There will be a LOT of fun as well, and that's way more important. Due to the nature of this new environment, I have to be much more organized than I was. This means prepping snacks and meals the night before, and being diligent about cleaning up any messes as soon as possible. With the cleaning - I tend to procrastinate. Oh I'll wash the dishes tomorrow, or I'll do the laundry later, etc. It adds up. And that's one of the reasons why I was so 'busy' before. I was constantly playing "catch-up". I'm trying to deal with things as they happen now. I also am being more careful about planning outings around naps. I'm just more organized in general. And it feels really really good. It's alot of fun watching Cooper play. Another philosophy of PAHM is that play is "child-led". This means allowing the child to explore, create, and discover without taking over. Still being present with the child, commenting on what they are doing from time to time to let them know you are there and involved ("You did it! You must be very proud of yourself"), but not showing them how to do things, not showering with praise ("Good BOY!"), just simply being with them. It's not easy to resist the urge to "help" all the time. But it's so rewarding to watch him figure things out on his own. The look on his face is priceless! I also went through his toys and took out the things that he's grown out of, and organized the ones he has left. I recently read an article about toys with relation to imaginative play and creative development. The key to a good toy is simplicity. The less a toy does, the better it is. A great toy is a toy that can be used as a tree one day, and a bridge the next. This resonates with me, because I have always believed in "quality over quantity" but that explanation really made sense.

And so I leave you tonight. I will be back, to write more about my experiences learning to play... Until then....