April feels light and bright.
Flowers and warmer weather lift us up.
Yet April can bring pressure and its own “edginess.”
Yard work looms and a slew of upcoming “calendar jammers” such as graduations, recitals, showers, weddings, game days, prize days all feel like extra pressure.
But we’d love to go anywhere outside. . .with our kids!
We’d love to go for walks with them or to the park.
The weather’s perfect and it’s not hot yet!
But there’s so much to do at home – so much to “get ready for.”
If you’d rather go to the park than focus on your list-of-things-to-do, consider these . . .
Resist yard pressure?
• Can you cut spring yard chores in half or even by less than half? How about picking up a few sticks, planting one or two flowers, and just washing the windows on just one of side of the house? If my yard and yours aren’t as spiffy as our neighbors’, that’s OK. We can help our neighbors by throttling down on yard-pressure.
Resist present and gift pressure?
• Can you and I both feel OK about not getting that wedding gift by the day of wedding? Let’s realize that the bride and groom will appreciate our presence more if we (and our family) arrive relaxed. The bride and groom (and the graduates) will get plenty of gifts by their big day. They’ll appreciate receiving yours, and mine, later on.
Simplify cooking? (Five minutes saved is five more minutes outside!)
• Crockpot dishes can get by with half the ingredients. Deserts can revert. Super-duper meals are more important in drab-winter than in beautiful-spring. Let’s ease into summer by using paper plates. Kids enjoy the indoor-picnic atmosphere. It feels that vacations and trips are coming very soon!
Resist saying yes? (To new big-deal-planning requests.)
• If another mom gets sick and can’t run spring Game Day or the Book Sale can we resist taking that on? If the person in charge can’t run it, suggest it be simplified even more. Perhaps every family can bring the essentials for one game. On the spot all of these families can organize the games and run them. Everyone can bring some food and a few prizes. The kids will love it!
Why take time outdoors with our kids?
On airplane trips we’re told that in case emergency we should affix our own oxygen mask and then help our children. The same applies to daily life. We need to give our own heart some help first. Then we’re better able to help our children with theirs.
As Christine Field says, kids spell ”love” T - I – M – E. When we go outside with our kids we help our own hearts – and we share ourselves and our time with them.
Blessings!
Virginia Vagt