SISTER WISDOM : build a better life

Silly Me

It's kind of funny. It's actually January 2 as I write this post intended to grace the front page on January 1st. I was trying to get in on that whole new-year-resolutions craze. Silly. Silly because I'm at my sister's house.

We spent the morning drinking coffee and trying to recover from lack of sleep while keeping our kids in a semi-clothed, fed, and healthy state. We watched the Rose Bowl Parade. We plowed through leftovers for lunch, talked, and tried to pry our male counterparts away from their iphones and laptops. We weren't successful until after dinner, at which point we had to all pitch in and take care of getting kids ready for bed. Then we all sat around and played Quelf, Bananagrams, and Gin Rummy until about 5 minutes to midnight.

End Day 1 of my newly (un)resolved life.

All day long, as I could steal a few minutes here and there, I was working on a couple of posts to put up on Sister Wisdom today. But all day long, too much other great stuff was happening.

So I don't have any really great inspirational ideas to share, no ten-steps to success or a helpful list of any kind. Instead, here are a few "snapshots" from my day:

• Tiptoeing in to see if Zeke, my 8-month-old, was awake yet, peering into the crib in the morning haze to see his bright blue eyes staring back at me.
• Making another pot of coffee for the second half of the Rose Parade.
• Stealing the remote after endless football games so we could watch America's Funniest Videos instead...
• Chasing around Robbie, my 2-year-old, when attempted snot-wipes became an impromptu game of run-from-the-tickle-Mommy.
• Eating just onnnnnnne more gooey butter cookie.
• Watching Mara, my 3-and-a-half-year-old, successfully use the little build-in mouse on my Notebook to use a kids' paint program. 3 1/2! Is that weird to anyone else?
• Listening to my nephew (7 years old) "help" my Dad play scrabble.
• Asking my niece (4 1/2 years old) to pose for a photo and getting her "I'm a serious rocker-girl" face with her new Moxie girl guitar.
• Uploading photos to the new digital photo frame for Dad... and then watching it cycle through them all as if I'd never seen them before.
• Listing all the things we won't be able to eat (as we eat them) once we get home and start our diet.
• Laying on the bed beside my sister and her baby, looking at magazines and talking.
• Grinding the Magic Eraser down to nothing as my husband and my sister and I cleaned all the blue marker artwork off the wall, ceiling, and carpet, left there courtesy of Robbie in several unattended moments of creative outburst...
• Laughing hysterically at my Dad doing a slow-motion "Chariots of Fire" run around the kitchen, Cheryl (my stepMom) trying to balance a shoe on her head, Adam (my brother-in-law) flapping his arms and yelling "Chicken!", and me trying to sing "Kumbaya" without laughing... all during the course of the first game we played.

Good times.

A Single Resolution


I'll get myself more organized over the next few days, maybe. What I've managed to organize out of all my new year's plans and possibilities is one cohesive thought: a single resolution to change what I can for the better, and to accept everything else with grace.
I know that breaks all the resolution advice. Goals are supposed to be specific, and measurable, and realistic...

Oh well. This thought, which has become my resolution, is ringing true. Acceptance is a way of finding peace, creating joy, and being thankful. Change involves action, and action means doing something about what frustrates, irritates, upsets, or worries me instead of just being frustrated, irritated, upset, and worried.

Change: moving forward in life, taking responsibility, putting energy to work, being a good steward, making things better.
Acceptance: letting go of control, receiving what comes, giving grace, being at peace, having a sense of humor, finding joy.

What's your resolution?

Make it a good one.