Starting 2010 a little late: Goals

I feel like we're just now starting the new year. After kicking off January with a round of colds for everyone, we are left with a jumbled mess of a house--the result of chores neglected. My mom came over to help one day and we had things halfway caught up, but there is still much to be done. In my memory this little cold will be a distant blip, but while it was going on it felt bad. I let myself get discouraged and lost motivation to do much of anything, even when I had a little time. I didn't even drink coffee for over a week, which is weird for me, but it was the last thing I wanted. Now that I feel like life is rolling again, I am thankful for this messy little house and a fresh start. Things to do. Progress to make. I am reluctant to set a deadline by saying "January to-do list," but here's my list of things I'd like to work on in the near future:

1) Assemble a set of items to treat future basic illnesses at home. Throughout this cold, I kept flip-flopping over whether or not to take the girls to the doctor. If I took them, would they catch a more serious illness in the "sick" waiting room? Get antibiotics prescribed unnecessarily? Would we be lectured about vaccines? Would it be scary and uncomfortable for the girls? For so many reasons I didn't want to take them, but I also didn't want to gloss over something serious that genuinely needed medical attention. The other night I kind of freaked out when, on top of the girls' lingering cold symptoms, Suzi refused to pee and began crying that it hurt. With a two-year-old, that's a problem! So I called Carey, who helped me put things in perspective, gave me advice and loaned me books. It turns out I was already doing a few things right, but I'd like to learn so much more about herbs and natural health. I have a lot more reading and some shopping to do, but hopefully next time my girls get sick I will not be caught unprepared. (Both girls are just fine now, by the way--no doctor's visit required! I am so thankful.)

2) Learn more about the Montessori method. A post about educational philosophies on one of my favorite blogs reminded me I'd been meaning to research this. I already posted my thoughts on education in this post and not a lot has changed since then. The Montessori method is particularly intriguing to me because as a child I had what some would call attentional issues, but perhaps if I'd been educated differently (determining the direction of my own work) I would have been a kid who was marching to the beat of her own drum but learning like crazy. Since Jordan works for a university with a big library, I think I'm going to get him to pick up some books for me on his way home.

3) Do some rearranging to make this small house feel bigger. We got some cool Christmas gifts. Suzi got a sweet, simple wooden table with chairs and a white board/chalkboard easel. We got a beautiful rug which is mostly covered right now. I want to clean up, clean out, and rearrange so we can walk through this place!

4) Make some stuff, especially new stuff. I have many ideas for things to try, but little motivation. It's hard to keep going on a project when I am so constantly interrupted. It's a temporary season of my life--yes. But a frustrating one.