When my house is trashed, my anxiety goes through the roof and I can’t think straight.
Last January, my husband was just starting a demanding and stressful job, which came with a pay raise. One of the ways we hoped to offset his increased hours and responsibilities was to hire a housekeeper.
My increasing inability to keep the house up to my standards coincided with a sharp decrease in help from my big kids. I was pregnant with our seventh baby, and I lacked the energy to enforce the chore list. It was so frustrating. Recently, I said, “I don’t have enough people to help me!” and my six year old sagely observed, “Oh, you have enough people. Them just not helpin.’ “
The Holi Festival is today. I can totally get down with celebrating color, love, and the end of winter.
A couple of years ago, when my little palm-sized digital camera started glitching, I finally got a “real” camera, a refurbished Nikon D3200. I am still learning how to use it. I’ve only scratched the surface. If I’ve learned anything, it’s that having a nice camera DOESN’T guarantee good photos.
There are a few things I have wanted to try with it – a photo bucket list. Some, like shooting waterfalls with a long exposure and my ND filter, I haven’t done yet. Night shots with a better zoom lens and long exposure, also haven’t tried. There is the rest of my life for that.
Holi powder photo shoot? That, I have done, and I totally recommend it!
I remember a time when I was very little, riding in the car on MLK day with tons of tiny braids in my hair, wondering if it was ok for me as a white kid to be wearing that hairstyle on that day.
Braids are the poor man’s method of crimping your hair, and so as a child of the ’80’s, I grew up having my hair braided and practicing on myself and my sister.
I remember having my mind blown at around age 11 when I learned how to French braid.
I’ve had short hair for most of my adult life, but once I started having curly haired kids, I started braiding again with a vengeance.
It took a while to get the hang of straight parts and pulling hair tight enough to get a nice clean braid, and I’ve still got plenty of room for improvement, but I have gained some confidence. I have three girls, so I’ve gotten a fair amount of practice.
I started feeling a little insecure again when my son grew his hair out and started asking me to braid it. He shows me a photo from the internet that he wants me to copy, then mansplains what I’m looking at, but stops himself when he realizes what he’s doing.
Black History Month is a great opportunity to introduce yourself to some new literature, and these books are good as read-alouds or for silent reading.
The People Could Fly: American Black Folktales by Virginia Hamilton, illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon.
Why is it easier to respond graciously to criticism when the person dispensing it isn’t close to us?
The ones who are most qualified to criticize, and do it with our best interest in mind, aren’t those acquaintances and even strangers who feel the need to make known how they feel about us and the way we choose to live. They are our loved ones, and if it isn’t safe for them to speak up when we’re not doing something right, then it might be time to re-examine priorities.
