For Reverb 10:
December 5 – Let Go. What (or whom) did you let go of this year? Why?
This was a hard one (as evidenced by the many people saying so in their Reverb 10 entries and tweets - points to Alice of Finslippy - one of my fave bloggers - for making everyone work for their prompt).
I gave up a lot since I had a baby this year. I gave up free time, sleeping in, shopping, most of my reading time, trips out of town... the list goes on and on.
But I think the biggest thing I let go of this year was judgment.
I'll be honest. I truly believed that many parents just had poor time management skills. Well, okay, if I'm really being honest, I'll admit that I do still think that is the case. However, I now have a much better understanding of the time it takes to get anything done with a baby. Even if I still believe certain parents have poor time management skills, I don't judge them in the way I did before. They're still trying and to me that's all that counts now.
And when I see kids screaming in stores, I don't automatically blame the parents. I know now - sometimes it's them, but often it's the child and it's just a part of the growing process. (For an illustration of uncooperative children, I could post my sister's holiday card with Santa - my 2 1/2 year old nephew is screaming, crying hysterically and my 1 year old niece is completely asleep.)
Maybe it's because I don't want people judging me when I'm late for an appointment because it takes me forever to get Nate in the car seat or on that day in the future when he has a meltdown at Target, but I just have more understanding now that I'm a mom - more understanding, more patience, and more sympathy, across the board, for anyone, parent or not.
December 6 – Make. What was the last thing you made? What materials did you use? Is there something you want to make, but you need to clear some time for it?
Well, the last thing I made, I suppose, was the chicken pot pie I made this weekend for the hubby and I to eat for lunch/dinner for a couple of days. It's really quite delicious, if I do say so myself (and the hubby says so, too, many times over, so I know it's good). It's helped me feel a bit proud of myself, too, because I tweaked the recipe ever-so-slightly and it's still good, not a disaster. And I didn't have the exact ingredients on hand, so I improvised (like frozen carrots instead of fresh). To me, it's evidence of how much more comfortable I'm becoming in the kitchen, which in turn is beginning to feel like this huge relief because I always wondered how I was going to manage to feed a family every day when I have no "regular" or "standby" recipes. Now I'm beginning to see how I'm going to do this and how I'll still keep it interesting and provide nutritional variety for ourselves.
What I want (intend!!) to make: this book wreath. I already know what book I'm going to use and have it set aside (it's a favorite book that I have several copies of - the one I'm going to sacrifice is a cheapie $5 version). Now I just need a few bucks for the craft supplies and to borrow my sister's glue gun... oh, and maybe an afternoon of free time. I even already know where I'm going to hang it when it's done (our dining room).
