born.in.japan

Giving Thanks Jar

This year, our very first as a small family of three, I’ve given a lot of thought to the ways I want our family to celebrate, the way I want my son to remember the holiday season. This year, even though he is very very small, I want to start setting the tone and traditions that will become a part of our family. Creating the traditions that our family will come to anticipate, expect, appreciate and remember as the years pass.

I don’t want this season to be about the toys, the gifts, the buying, the consuming. I want this season to be about the love, the quality time, family, friends, giving.

In some ways it feels artificial, to think about and make a conscious decision to make new traditions or continue following old ones. In some ways it feels necessary. In our fast-paced lives I feel like we have forgotten the importance of these traditions, how necessary they are to making us feel stable and grounded. I, certainly, have found myself longing for ritual, a reason to look forward to the holidays that doesn’t involve all the usual things people have come to associate with the word “Christmas” – shopping, credit card debt, overindulgence, waste, busyness.

So, this year we get to decide. With a brand new little guy getting ready to experience his very FIRST christmas, we get to decide how we want it to be. We get to decide which traditions we want to keep from our pasts, which ones we want to try on for size, and which ones we want to keep for future years. Over the next few weeks, I will share with you a few of the traditions that we are establishing as a family, some related to the holidays, some that are just becoming a part of the everyday rhythm of our family. And today, on Thanksgiving, I want to share the first one.

This is our Giving Thanks Jar. It is an idea I got from a recent issue of Mothering magazine in an article titled, “Sustainable Season’s Greetings.”

The jar is on our table with pretty papers and a pen. It is there for everyone, right now just Aaron and I, to jot down things that we are thankful for when the mood strikes. The plan is to put it out beginning Thanksgiving week, a time when we are most reminded of all that we have to be thankful for, and leave it there until the New Year.

I’m hoping that as the days pass, the jar will fill and we will be able to see, very clearly and tangibly, how blessed we are as a family. This year, especially, we have so very many things to be thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Giving Thanks Jar

This year, our very first as a small family of three, I’ve given a lot of thought to the ways I want our family to celebrate, the way I want my son to remember the holiday season. This year, even though he is very very small, I want to start setting the tone and traditions that will become a part of our family. Creating the traditions that our family will come to anticipate, expect, appreciate and remember as the years pass.

I don’t want this season to be about the toys, the gifts, the buying, the consuming. I want this season to be about the love, the quality time, family, friends, giving.

In some ways it feels artificial, to think about and make a conscious decision to make new traditions or continue following old ones. In some ways it feels necessary. In our fast-paced lives I feel like we have forgotten the importance of these traditions, how necessary they are to making us feel stable and grounded. I, certainly, have found myself longing for ritual, a reason to look forward to the holidays that doesn’t involve all the usual things people have come to associate with the word “Christmas” – shopping, credit card debt, overindulgence, waste, busyness.

So, this year we get to decide. With a brand new little guy getting ready to experience his very FIRST christmas, we get to decide how we want it to be. We get to decide which traditions we want to keep from our pasts, which ones we want to try on for size, and which ones we want to keep for future years. Over the next few weeks, I will share with you a few of the traditions that we are establishing as a family, some related to the holidays, some that are just becoming a part of the everyday rhythm of our family. And today, on Thanksgiving, I want to share the first one.

This is our Giving Thanks Jar. It is an idea I got from a recent issue of Mothering magazine in an article titled, “Sustainable Season’s Greetings.”

The jar is on our table with pretty papers and a pen. It is there for everyone, right now just Aaron and I, to jot down things that we are thankful for when the mood strikes. The plan is to put it out beginning Thanksgiving week, a time when we are most reminded of all that we have to be thankful for, and leave it there until the New Year.

I’m hoping that as the days pass, the jar will fill and we will be able to see, very clearly and tangibly, how blessed we are as a family. This year, especially, we have so very many things to be thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

The Unexpected

Ewan is a notorious car seat hater. The most stunning example of his hate was after our international flight from Japan.

We flew from Nagoya to Detroit, no problem. Ewan nursed and slept and played and slept and nursed and walked and made friends. Despite the fears of those around us, who groaned when they saw that they were seated next to an infant, he made hardly a peep the entire flight.

The layover in Detroit, no problem. He walked and slept and nursed some more.

The flight from Detroit to Chicago, almost no problem. He nursed on take-off, but then the flight was so short that he didn’t want to nurse as we descended, so his ears hurt him and he wanted to let us know.

Customs and baggage claim in Chicago, no problem. He hung out in his Beco and checked out his new country.

The car ride from Chicago O’Hare to my brother-in-law’s house, HUGE problem. Ewan screamed bloody murder for most of it. He paused, for awhile, when we finally pulled the car over and let him nurse for a bit. He seemed calm so we strapped him back to continue our way through the nightmare that is Chicago rush hour. Then he screamed some more.

Needless to say, we were glad that we had made the decision to live car-free, knowing that it would be a rare circumstance when we would have to put Ewan, and ourselves, through the torture of riding in a car.

Being that it is America, however, and public transport isn’t quite what we were used to, he has to be a car baby from time to time. When we have to travel in the car, I always sit next to him, ready to entertain or do some boob-batics (car seat nursing) to help him stay calm during the ride. Ewan being calm is really important for everyone in the car. Him, since he has little tolerance for being buckled up. Me, since I have very little tolerance for his screams and cries (and my boobs have an even lower tolerance). And the driver, who is able to be safer without a screaming infant in the back. For the most part, this worked.

Imagine my surprise last week when for the first time Ewan had to ride in the backseat solo. We got back to the apartment, I parked the car, looked in the backseat window and found this . . .

Even more amazing, I was able to pick him up out of his seat, carry him up to our second floor apartment, lay him down in bed, and he kept on sleeping!

Is this the end of the hatred?! I suppose only time will tell.

Exactly

A few weeks ago I met up with some mama friends for a lunch out at the First Slice Cafe, a nonprofit cafe about a block away from our house.

I was planning on having a lunch of leftovers with Ewan when we returned home, so I just wanted something small. A coffee and molasses cookie seemed just right.

And boy was it ever!

The cookie was sweet, yes, but also spicy. Just the right amount of both. Enough sweetness to keep you eating your way through the rather large cookie, enough spicy to make one just enough to fill the craving.

Ever since I tasted that cookie, I’ve been thinking about it. I’ve been wanting another one.

Sure, with First Slice less than 5 minutes away it would be easy to just walk and pick another one up. But at over $1 per cookie, it just doesn’t seem sensible. And with all the cooking and baking that I’ve been doing recently, I thought it would be just as easy to try to find a recipe and whip some up myself.

And today I did. I found a recipe on Tastespotting (oh, tastespotting, I have more to say about you later), walked to Jewel to pick up the necessary spices (spending way more than the $1.50 it would have cost me to buy the cookie), and made a quick batch.

Showing an incredible amount of restraint, I only cooked up 8 cookies today and I put the rest of the dough in the freezer. That way I only have 8 cookies to eat now and I also have more just waiting for whenever that sweet-spicy craving hits. Which, may very well be tomorrow. Time will tell . . .

My two favorite things about these cookies; they are soft, as advertised, and they came out in the most perfect little circle shapes. They seriously look like they were made by some sort of perfectionistic cookie making robot. I will definitely be making these again.

But before I do, a batch of M&M cookies have been ordered by Aaron, who when told I had baked cookies got just a little bit disappointed when he found out they were molasses cookies. “What ever happened to just normal cookies . . . chocolate chip, peanut butter, M&M?” Don’t worry, once he took a bite the disappointment disappeared. He liked the molasses cookies, but still wants something a little more normal next time.

Priorities

The laundry is piling up faster than we can get it done.

So are the dishes.

Surfaces are cluttered.

Toys are scattered.

The cook is out. Instead, the freezer is filled with heat-and-eat meals from Trader Joe’s.

But, while all this stuff isn’t getting done, there is one thing that is.

The babe is recovering. He came down with Croup a few days ago and we have been working hard to help him recover as fast as possible. This is our first real sickness with him and it has been a task to figure out how to balance his needs with our needs and the needs of the household. Well, as it turns out, the needs of the household have gotten neglected and we will get back to it soon. Once our babe is back to normal, breathing easily and, hopefully, sleeping peacefully.

A Message For Me

Sometimes we find little reminders just when we need them most. This one, right in the sidewalk on a recent walk, found me just as I was running through the upcoming holiday season in my head. The events to attend, the gifts to make and give, the cookies to bake, the places to travel. Its easy, this time of year, to feel a bit overwhelmed, and I was. But then I looked down, and someones message reminded me. Simplify. I will try to listen.

Slowly

Ewan doesn’t do many things quickly, at least not yet. He likes to linger. He eats slowly, often savoring each bite before being ready for another. He crawls, for now, slowly. Stopping along the way to take in the sights and local flavors. A favorite right now is the vacuum cleaner which, according to Ewan, can be both a sight and flavor.

And, my favorite, he wakes up slowly. One of the advantages of co-sleeping is that we don’t miss many of those precious waking moments. I am often awake before him, but I so love to lie there with him, watching him as he stirs, peeking out between the slits of his eyes, and deciding it isn’t quite time yet as he settles back into a snooze. Only to repeat the whole process minutes later. But, once he does decide to wake up, oh is there joy! and smiles! and all those great things that come along with being reacquainted after a long separation!

I love those moments and wouldn’t trade them for anything in the whole world!

(Note those chubby little rolls on his wrists. Yup, this babe is finally starting to chunk up a bit. I love those little rolls and his dimply little cellulite bottom. If only it were so cute on big people, ahem, me.)

What do you do . . .

. . . when it’s 70 in November?

Well, you put your Birkenstocks on (without socks!) and you get outside!

Playing Yarn

Often while Ewan is playing, I pull out my needles and yarn to keep my fingers and hands busy while watching my little guy explore his world. (Right now, a pair of baby legwarmers are on the needles)

Most of the time Ewan won’t pay me (or my yarn) any mind. Sometimes he will.

So, I gave him his own ball of yarn. I’m starting him with the good stuff (it’s one of my handspun three-plys).

And he liked it.

Right now, he doesn’t do much with it besides put in his mouth and make some pretty impressive tangles, but maybe someday he will. For now, I’m just happy that I’ve found another way to make it so that I can keep knitting for a few more minutes and Ewan can keep exploring his world in the ways that he knows.

Wordless Wednesday