It's time for my Friday link up with A Little Bit of Everything and Momfessionals.
On Fridays I share things that made me happy from the week - a photo, a song, a quote, a beauty product, a recipe, a pair of cute shoes, etc. If it's a product, sometimes it's something I actually own and sometimes something I just saw online that gave me a smile. Sometimes it's serious and sometimes it's silly. I suppose I believe that God is in the simple details of life and yes, I can even find Him in a tube of lipstick.
Hello and Happy Friday from Virginia, the most beautiful place on Earth in September. My number one favorite thing from this week is the stunning weather we've had. Everytime I step foot outside I'm pretty much like this:
I've been doing a lot of writng at my laptop on the porch with my trusty editor, my dog, Mack. Steve was out of town most of the week so I brainstormed quite a bit out loud to Mack and to be honest, he seems to be pretty bored with all of my ideas.
Let's just say this is not the encouraging feedback I was looking for.
Besides my outdoor office, here are some other favorite things from this week.
1. Weighted Vest
All the health and wellness experts I follow on the socials as well as my doctor emphasize the importance of resistance and strength training for women as we age. I've been doing strength training three to four times a week for a couple of years. It's awful and I hate it, but I'm just trying all the things to assure that I can play on the floor and run around with my grandkids if I ever get any one day. I also bought this weighted vest because I've been seeing it recommended as well. Apparently, if you wear this when you are walking it has great benefits including building muscle mass, improving bone density and burning more calories. I've walked with it twice now. It definitely makes a walk more challenging, but so far so good.
2. PB Fit Protein Powder
The other thing that all the fitness people, doctors and my son, Drew, keep nagging me about is to eat more protein. So often when I come home from a workout, I feel like I need to take a three hour nap. This makes for a less than productive day, so I'm trying to see if increasing my protein will help. This is my favorite protein powder right now. My favorite thing to do lately is to add it to greek yogurt with chia seeds and slivered almonds.
3. Palmetto Pimento Cheese with Jalapenos
Shall we keep it real, friends? One night this week my dinner was a glass of wine, crackers and almost a whole tub of this magic. I have not seen this recommended by any of the aforementioned health gurus. Consistency is a challenge.
4. Ann Taylor Loft Dress
5. Some thoughts for which I cannot come up with a succint title
I saw a quote on TikTok/Instagram stories/Facebook reels, etc. etc. that I haven't fully processed yet, so I'm going to try to noodle on it here in this space. It's probably ill-advised to put out thoughts that aren't fully formed here, but this seems to be how I roll. Since I have already established that I have a tendency to mindlessly scroll social media, it won't surprise you that I forgot to write down the source of this quote. Be assured, I did not come up with this, but it's something that's been bouncing around in my head like a pinball.
"It's not children's responsibility to teach a parent who they are. It's a parent's responsibility to learn who their child is."
I'm looking at this quote at a different vantage point than I would if my kids were still little at home. As it turns out, this is the only vantage point I have at this time, but perhaps I should have pondered this when the boys were younger as well.
Parents are given these perfect little babies and then we automatically put ourselves in teaching/counseling/training mode. We have what turns out to be a lightning-quick 18ish years to pour all of our wisdom, experience and advice into them. We take this responsibility to teach our children very seriously and no doubt we should.
At some point - and I wonder if sooner rather than later is better for everyone - we have to take a breath and recognize that these little beings are not projects for us to manage. Before we even held their tiny bodies in our arms they were whole, unique, dearly loved children of a God who made them on purpose and for His purpose. Not ours. This concept has become glaringly obvious to me as the boys are now adult-ish (will I ever not add the -ish? Unlikely.) and creating their own experiences. They're developing their character and personalities away and apart from me. I find it rather rude of them, to be honest.
As our children grow up under our helicoptering vigilent eyes, we tend to cling so tightly to the responsibility of molding them into who we think they are supposed to be. I know I got better at this over time. With three kids, you get some chances to learn from your mistakes. (Thoughts and prayers to all the firstborns. We had no idea what we were doing.) No doubt, teaching them our values and the lessons we learned from our experiences is important. I'm not advocating sitting back and letting the chips fall where they may when it comes to raising good humans.
But allowing ourselves to take a more humble posture - one of learning - is equally important. Discovering who are children are meant to be, made to be, created by a good and loving Father to be can be exciting and beautiful and fun. Futhermore, it can be a relief to let go of the reins for a bit. (Spoiler alert: we never really held the reins.)
So here's to taking a seat in the classroom rather than in front of the lectern. It can be uncomfortable. It can even be scary. But I think it might be mandatory. It will take intention, a willingness to be curious and perhaps most challenging, it will take shutting your mouth more often than you'd like. At the end of the day, for me, I suppose the most important thing it will require is trust. It always comes down to trust, doesn't it? And the One who created these children - who has counted every hair on their heads and then gifted them to us - is worthy of our trust.
Y'all have a great weekend.
Disclosure: The View From Behind Home Plate is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means to earn small fees by linking to amazon.com. Post might contain other affiliate links as well
1 comment:
How lovely to have your dog helping you out with the editing. hehehe
The weighted vest sounds interesting, good luck with it. I hope it helps.
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