Basketball, Again…

Spring recreational basketball season has ended.   Both their teams didn’t place and get trophies.  It was such a learning experience.  In error, we expected too much from them, their coaches and their teams.  It’s easy to overlook reality when you’re they’ve been on winning teams in general.    They both chose basketball and it was a recreational group.  With a lot of persistence, we should have been fine, right?

Except non- recreational level kids were allowed and half the coaches and parents really emphasized winning and took it very seriously.  So we had to relearn and then  teach our kids that winning wasn’t everything.  We had to face the fact that even in a recreational group and with much effort, our kids were not excelling.  (They came a long way and improved a lot, but they were not excelling.)

But it’s  recreational, right?  So they will continue with it, despite everything.  But we definitely have different expectations.  We should be fine, right?

The purpose of basketball or any other activitiy was for them to find something they were passionate about and could excel in.  Instead we are settling for a few activities they choose that they are willing to put reasonable effort into but do not excel in.  (Currently the other activity is drawing.)

It wasn’t easy for them to find activities to spend their time and efforts on,  but withdrawing video game and tv time helped.

Have you had kids who liked an activity but didn’t  excel in it.  Have you had to deal with kids who are not interested in anything but “passive” activities? What has worked for you?

Monthly Review and Goals

April and May just flew by.  April goals of gratitude and slowing down were mostly met.  And then came May, and allergic reactions, and then more and more allergic reactions.

Basketball is not progressing as well as I had hoped, defeat became too frequent, and we are learning hard but important lessons from it.  Lessons like work hard, even though no one else seems to need to.  We are seeing improvement, but the amount put in is so much. We are  learning most things come with a sacrifice.

Gratitude is now a habit.  When things get tough, I usually remember to be thankful for the things I used to take for granted.  Most of my days are now filled with praise of the good God has given us.  I credit the gratitude habit to slowing down, figuring out what I really enjoy and od course prayer.

The finance research is finally sinking in.  I am reading finance/frugal  blogs daily.

Clothes were mended.  Six dollar tops and a pair of clearance pants were purchased at Target and Walmart for my birthday.  Quick meals along with different meals were made.  Eating out is mostly rare and for emergencies or a rare treat, though we still eat at Sam’s Club 1-2 times a week.  Book, toy and home purchases are rare.

We continue to save for emergencies and retirement housing. Again, slowing down, figuring what is most important to us, gratitude and reading finance blogs, helped me spend wisely.  We were able to enjoy a movie, dinner out a few times and a plane trip to visit family to celebrate a 50th Anniversary.

Homeschooling and education research continues, with high school (and then college) approaching after this coming school year.  The information is slowly sinking in.

June and July goals will be organizing and decluttering the house and paperwork and preparing for the next school year which begins in early August this year.    We will go to the  doctor’s and the dentist’s.   The finance and homeschool research will continue.  Basketball will continue.  The seventh grader will be taking the Stanford-10 test again in mid-June.

We will probably go to the movies again, and also go to the community pool a few times.  The 2nd grader will continue to spend his time on the Kerbal Space Program video game, building rockets, in addition to comics, Legos and music.  The 7th grader continues with his video games, books, comics, music and YouTube. We will take our yearly vacation in September as usual.  Legoland is the latest plan.  I would like to do more, like tennis and theater classes, but I am delaying them until we are more organized/decluttered.  I have read the importance of being organized for better finances/earnings so I plan on comitting to that first.

How did you do with last months goals?  What are your goals for this summer?

Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day was mostly an ordinary day this year.  We recently returned from an out of town trip to celebrate a parents 50th anniversary.  Errands still needed to be run, basketball still needed to be practiced, allergies still had to be dealt with…and so on.  So we did what had to be done.

There were flowers and card, greetings and eating treats.   I was able to honor our mom’s and aunts, though some a little late.

I wanted to relax more and decorate, but I guess I wanted to do the other stuff more.  Hopefully I’ll get to relax and splurge another day to celebrate the occasion and enjoy my family more!  I’m positive I will.

How was your Mother’s Day?  Hope everyone had a good one.

Contentment and Knowing Yourself

We spent the last few weeks dealing with allergic reactions, so we are behind.

I did manage to continue searching for the things I really enjoy.  It’s been a long process, going from what I think I would really enjoy, to realizing they were just things that most people  really enjoy.  Sightseeing etc. sounds nice, but I wouldn’t give up other things for it.

I have found I get enjoyment from clothes.  It really cheers me up wearing clothes I like. I think next I enjoy learning most of my kid’s school subjects.

It  cheers me up to decorate my home, enjoy my backyard view, and take my time to do things most people would rush through.

Everyone is different.  It’s so important to find out what you thrive on and to spend your time and money on those things.

I think it’s okay to enjoy these things as long as they don’t interfere with living out our faith.  God created each of us with different interests.

How have you found what you thrive on?  What are the main things that you really enjoy and that cheer you up?

 

 

De-stressing

I have been needing to de-stress/re-energize lately.  So instead of overeating or continuing to struggle to get things done,  I will …

Tidy up, I always feel better after I do this.

Slow down, physically and mentally.  Give yourself some time.

Put on comfortable clothes.

Review the past week to remember the fun things.

Check my calendar, where I should have scheduled de-stress/refresh activities scheduled every few weeks.  I might have an activity to look forward to in a few days.

Plan the next scheduled fun activity.

Review goals and plans.

Read travel blogs or travel posts I’ve saved on Pinterest to explore different places that interest me.

Read motivation posts I’ve saved on Pinterest.

Learn to play on the keyboard.

Read a fun book or a book on an artists or composer I’ve always wanted to read about.

Learn to draw.

Look out my backyard.

Bake.

Drink some tea.

What activities help you de-stress or re-energize?

 

 

 

 

 

.

 

Monthly Review and Goals

March was a mixed month.  I didn’t cross much off my list, yet I felt I moved forward a lot.   I am so thankful to God.

We continued with our usual.  We added in more basketball practice.  We mostly met our savings goal.

I was able to decide what program to put them in next year for school.  They will both continue with Classical Conversations (homeschool).

The second grader was selected in the lottery at a good charter school, but we declined.  He currently seems to be learning so much at home in his free time about topics from the presentations in his Foundations class.  I didn’t want to take that away.  I also looked over what they are covering next year (American History) and it looked fun.

I learned some info about transcripts for the high school magnet school applications and that it wasn’t a problem, so I decided to continue homeschooling my 7th grader.  He is pretty high up on the waiting list for another charter school’s lottery, but he wants to continue with Classical Conversations, so that’s what we are doing.

I haven’t made summer plans, other than continuing to homeschool through it (except for a small break).  The gym will be packed, so it makes sense to do school then.  We will either be reviewing or getting ready for the following year.  I would like the older one to  take the PSAT 8/9 in the fall.  I would really like to go the library.

I have been sensing a need to be refreshed.  I go along with the flow (which restaurant, which vacation) most times.  I have forgotten what I truly enjoy and what will refresh me.  So I spent some time on that, and will continue figuring it out.

I am not getting enough done, despite my best efforts, so I have been researching that.  I have to decide what needs to be done first that will make the most difference towards reaching my goals.  I need to limit my to do list, which is burdening me.  I need to set myself up for good habits by planning for resistance.

So I have a lot of reflecting and planning for April.  Hopefully that will move me forward.

All this downtime from activity has caused me to move slower. All this necessary reflecting has caused me to turn to God even more.   As a result I am able to notice and appreciate my family more.  I am so grateful for them.  It has truly been a blessing to be able to appreciate them.

How about you?  How did you do with March?  What are your goals and plans for April.

 

 

Gratitude and Contentment

In April …

I want to eat out more,  instead I will cook something I enjoy, or snack on something I enjoy.  I will eat only foods I reasonably like,when hungry, and when I have time so I can appreciate my food.   I will think about paying off our house and our yearly vacation.

I want to travel more, instead I will read about the places I want to visit.  I will look for inexpensive activities I can enjoy during our yearly vacation that I can look forward to.

I will enjoy and appreciate my family’s presence, their humor, and their singing.

I will be grateful for my kids basketball practices and games.  I will share in their victories, improvements  and their defeats.

I will enjoy and appreciate my children’s growth and their end of the year ceremony, at the end of the month. I will enjoy and appreciate all the moms and kids in our co-op, the program itself, and the opportunity to homeschool (which I also try to do throughout the year).

I will be grateful and appreciative of my faith as I celebrate Easter.

How are you planning on practicing gratitude and contentment in April?

 

 

 

Persistence

We’ve been participating in recreational basketball for three seasons now.  It hasn’t come easy to the kids, but they don’t want to stop. They are ok with just participating.  I am not.

Maybe for some things I would be fine with just participating.  Maybe if the other kids weren’t progressing so well, it would be ok.  But the other kids have gotten better and I feel there is no reason that my kids can’t also.

I know it sounds bad.  I know I shouldn’t use the other kids as a benchmark.   What matters is if my kids are doing their best.  And they are not. (If they were, I might try to persuade them to do something they would be better at.  That sounds terrible, but that’s also another topic to deal with separately.)

So we have been going to the gym to practice more.  We also signed up for an 8 lesson basketball class at the gym.  And they are finally showing some improvement.

No, I didn’t enjoy having to go to the gym even more frequently.  And it was pretty discouraging this past year.  I worried that they wouldn’t get better despite even more practice.  But we kept going and finally there were signs of hope.

What made me not give up? Well, it took the youngest a long time to get the hang of swimming.  He’s still not great, but he’s much better then before.  And then there’s reading which the youngest really struggled with for a long time,  but he is much better at it now.  And then of course there’s my personality, I don’t mind working at most things even if it takes a while.  When it got so discouraging, I set goals for them, along with a plan.

But what if they didn’t get better, or if they don’t continue to do better?  Well, they were definitely better than when they first started.  Either way, we learned valuable lessons on values, persistence, goals and time management.

How much time do you give to learn a new skill?  How many times do you keep going despite lack of progress?  What helps you to persist despite lack of progress?

 

Wants and Gratitude

It’s so hard be be grateful sometimes.  There is always more we could do, more we could have, more we could be.  Dreams are good, goals are good.  As long as we don’t forget the good that is in front of us already.

I have a great view outside my patio door.  Instead my mind wanders to  how I can change or fix up my home.  It wanders to exciting vacations and being able to casually  eat out.

So I need to remind myself to look for and enjoy the good that I have already.  As for the wants, I need to figure out if they are really that important to me to make them a goal, or if they are just an automatic reaction that needs to be stopped.

How about you?  What have you overlooked that should be enjoyed instead?  What wants are important enough to set as a goal?