Nice Thought for Mother’s Day 2011

Just a lovely image I found when I idly searched Google for “namaste”.

Blessings, Big and Small

I had a chance to visit with an old soul friend. What a blessing to break out of my mold and renew my energy with the long drive there and back. We had a sunny, warm, rare child-free visit on her birthday, and later some time with her family. We cleared out the old Winter with our play and laughter.

As I ruminated on things, I realized I’d harbored a plan for us that was reminiscent of the past, a time when we’d lived near one another and enjoyed a close friendship, before the busy-ness of family and kids. It occurred to me (Aha!) that we’re here now, and staying present will be our key to joy in these moments.

We spoke of things that were important to us, and offered good ideas to one another as we often do, about ways to engage in fun, important activities. We are two of the most courageous people I know: often up to something new, and always shifting to align best with our paths. It’s good to have a friend who shares the values of bringing about good change in the world, alongside finding one’s right work; someone unfazed by asking the important and penetrating questions to parse these mysteries.

It was also a blessing to arrive home to my family for whom time had moved in a more linear way. I had missed them, feeling like I’d been gone a while. Travelling usually effects a sort of transformation in me.

Snuggling up with the Boo that night was a delight, and I counted my blessings as we drifted off to sleep.

A Thought on Suffering

I recently enjoyed walking into a very clean and orderly house, and my first thought was, “Ahh, what a pleasure it must be to live in such a place as this!” After a short while it came clear to me that the owner of this space felt quite comfortable spending more free time in the pursuit of this orderliness than I do. I prefer to spend my time in other ways, and as an artist, my process is often messy. I balance my happiness from creative overflow with the need for enough order to be able to function. Well and be able to find stuff.

I suffered inwardly as I attempted to keep up with the constant reminders to pick up. (I was here with my boy, naturally a walking mess machine – a delightful one, don’t get me wrong! – but a mess machine nonetheless). I had no time left to think, or so I thought. As I pondered my situation and reactions, I realized I’d had expectations not in line with the reality around me. It was the expectation of spending my free time as I wished clashing with the reality of the continuous cleaning up which caused in me the opportunity for suffering. Aha! It was only an opportunity! I could shift my mind away from the pain of missing what I thought I’d be doing and find myself quite calm and happy Here and Now.

What a relief!

And so was coming home again. In our comfortable semi-messiness, I felt gratitude that we get to choose that balance for ourselves. Holidays are challenging for so many reasons. It was a blessing to come away from them seeing myself better.

Babywearing: Why do we do it?

We loved wearing our Little Boo most of the time as an infant and baby. Now that he’s older, naturally he’s more independent and prefers only to be close to us when he’s sick, sleepy or otherwise clingy. Part of Attachment Parenting for us is to let him cling when he needs us, without judging the closeness. We have faith that this consistent, unconditional attachment now will lead to healthy separation later, and that as an adult he’ll carry less baggage into his relationships with friends and sweethearts. Our belief is that he’ll be more secure in himself and be able to enjoy healthy, interdependent relationships. We picked up this idea from the books by Dr. Sears and other friends practicing baby wearing. You can find out more about this aspect of Attachment Parenting at Askdrsears.com and BostonBabyWearers.com.

Astrid Sky: Earth-friendly Baby Gear

Recently I’ve been working on launching an Attachment Parenting friendly Etsy site called Astrid Sky. I’ve spent some time considering the appropriate breadth and depth of items to offer and have come up with a pretty good, self-correcting business model for my boutique. Take a look, leave some feedback (here or there) and enjoy!

Welcome to New Earth Mama!

Here I hope to track the journey of motherhood from one mama’s perspective. We practice some of the crunchier aspects of parenthood, and I find many moms I chat with wanting deeper explanations or resources to look into. I’ll be able to delve more deeply here and share my thoughts, experiences and how things work out for us as we go.

A little about me: I’ve been working with children about since I was one. Children’s rights have been a central theme in my career and life. I’ve also been an artist working professionally and for fun most of my life. Education and design kept me pretty busy until this late motherhood swerve in my life path. What a delightful surprise! We’re having a lovely time watching our Little Boo grow.