Thursday, February 20

bye for now~2



just like the last time, it is time to retreat from the digital world for a bit. baby might be here any day now (although it could also still take a while). i will be back when the time is right.

Tuesday, February 18

simplicity parenting



this book strikes all sorts of chords with me. just reading about the benefits of all the possible small changes we can make gives me a sense of calm and satisfaction. and actually acting upon what i'm reading feels even better.

when you simplify a child's "world", you prepare the way for positive change and growth. this preparatory work is especially important now because our world is characterized by too much stuff. we are building our daily lives, and our families, on the four pillars of too much: too much stuff, too many choices, too much information, and too much speed. with this level of busyness, distractions, time pressure, and clutter (mental and physical), children are robbed of the time and ease they need to explore their worlds and their emerging selves. and since the pressures of "too much" are so universal, we are "adjusting" at a commensurately fast pace. the weirdness of "too much" begins to seem normal.

kim john payne ~ simplicity parenting

Sunday, February 16

percentages



interesting figures... i belong to the thirteen percent of mothers who are satisfied with the amount of sleep they get (well, most days i am: today happens to be one of the rare days on which i'm not). i also belong to the three percent that get more than eight hours of sleep a night (the secret to that: no television to keep you up at night despite feeling tired). and then i also belong to the thirty three percent that get out of bed for their children at night. but only to bring little imp into our bed when he wakes up after a few hours in his own, after which he pretty much always falls asleep again immediately. and yes, i also belong to those fourty percent who lie awake for twenty to sixty minutes after having gotten out of bed for their children at night. that has mostly to do with these last stages of pregnancy though, which are downright uncomfortable. and yet i hardly ever bother about being awake at night, probably because i know i will get enough hours of sleep anyway. which is one of the things that will undoubtedly change soon...

Saturday, February 15

toys for boys



sometimes small boys need girly things to play with. little imp loves to carry things around in a bag over his shoulder. so i made him this one with bits of wool that were left over from previous projects.

Thursday, February 13

blanket



it took me months, but i finally finished my biggest knitting project ever: a blanket for little imp. that's what you get when you can sit on the couch half the day.

Wednesday, February 12

maternity leave



yesterday was the last day at work for me. how weird. during my first pregnancy, i was on bedrest from quite early on and there was nothing like counting down the days until the start of maternity leave. so this is all new for me. work has been busy for the last weeks, and it will be so weird to not check e-mail in the early mornings at the kitchen table, in the evenings on the couch in my pyamas and during weekends (yes, i am used to doing all that). now i can sit on the couch and look at the upcycled whisky bottle instead, feeling empty and overwhelmed and exhausted all at the same time. of course i have a list of things to do for the coming weeks, but first i have to get used to taking things slow.

Monday, February 10

decluttered~2



there has been much, much more decluttering since this post. yesterday boyfriend and i said to each other: it's a bit of a miracle we still have anything, considering how many bags of full of things have been brought to charity, to the garbage bin and to friends. 
it just goes to show that we have so much more stuff than we think we do. and so much unnecessary stuff as well. and you know, i feel a little lighter and a little calmer with everything that is going out. and with everything that is not coming in. which in itself is a really interesting thing. and even the book i'm currently reading has something to say about it:

the idea has sprung up very recently that the newest way must be the best. advertising has taken charge of fostering the novelty race. there is no rest, no respite. nothing is ever allowed to be good enough, nothing ever satisfactory. our underlying discontent is channelled into desire for the latest things.

jean liedloff ~ the continuum concept

Sunday, February 9

the continuum concept revisited



so while i was at it, i decided to reread some more of my attachment parenting books. back in 2012, i found this a difficult read. parts of it still bother me, but i have to say it's a more comfortable read this time around. probably mostly because we ended up adopting some of the ideas, which inevitably made me feel like i was doing the right thing. 

Monday, February 3

copied



it won't be long now until my bedside table has to make room for a little co-sleeper. so i figured i would need somewhere to put the things that are usually on the table. then i saw this cute little knitted bag to hang from the back railings of the bed. for a moment i considered buying it, but it cost a small fortune (because apparently the company that makes these is cooler than cool at the moment) and i decided to try making one myself. at a fraction of the cost and in a few hours of the time that i spent on the couch anyway. and with a much more proud and satisfied feeling.

Sunday, February 2

nighttime parenting revisited



i am rereading this book and it fascinates me even more now than it did the first time, when it was one of the first books i read about attachment parenting. the only thing i find hard sometimes, is that i wish we had adopted these principles sooner and more often with little imp. i knew so little then compared to now... although the good thing is that all is definitely not lost: he still asks to nurse every now and then and i always let him, even though i'm quite sure there's nothing there at the moment. and when he wakes up during the night, which happens quite often these days, he is always allowed to continue in our bed (you should see the smile on his half-sleeping face when he is settling next to me). i sincerely believe these things are benefiting him in so many ways.