Christmas has passed. Thanksgiving leftovers demolished. The new calendar year is coming. I took the small 13 inch tv out of my kids playroom and officially retired it to behind their bookshelf. Our tv is downstairs and away from our day to day lives. We don’t have any streaming services but do bum HBO off my mom, thanks mom. Our family has two small children, 3 & 1, who really put a wrench into our alone time so the tv has become sort of our at home date night. We get snacks, pick a movie, and cuddle under my great grandmothers crocheted Afghan. However, that doesn’t mean that I constantly want to do that. Especially not during the winter when the indoors is our main source of entertainment. I have made, yes, another list of some hobbies we will be leaning into this winter, instead of constantly watching screens.
Hobbies for Mama
Sewing projects- house slippers, round pillow for our rocking chair, hemming my father in laws pants, and many, many more.
Decluttering each room- I need space and function. By the end of the year, all that has gone out the window because I’m too busy preparing for holiday mania.
Learning to can- this has just been a long time coming and its time. It is TIME. My husband’s traveling for work soon so when he is gone and the kids are in bed, I shall learn the simple art of canning.
Baking new things, like homemade pie crust- Just leaning into more things homemade and stretching that new muscle of creativity.
Writing and compiling my two books in the works- A gentle book of poetry, and a novel that has been coming to me in great, beautiful waves.
Blogging more intentionally- I love creating long form content over simply photo sharing with the right tags. I’m not a social media person anymore. It’s simply not for me. I want to create more inspiring articles about what I enjoy, homemaking, art, homesteading, naturalism, mindfulness, etc. If you have more things, you would like to see let me know in the comments!
For my Hubby-
Refinishing our dining table – We’ll just see about that…
Schoolwork- He is a full time electrical engineering student online and it is a grind for sure. So in attempt to lighten his load, I’ll put my back into to it more around the house by making sure there is lunches for him, snacks for everyone, and a MOSTLY clean house at the end of the night. But that last one may just be for me 🙂
Fixing my laundry machine- A leak has sprung and takes my mop bucket to fix it currently. He’s got the part, now for the time.
Garden plans (with me too) – I cannot wait to order seeds and plant and harvest and do all the garden grind this year. Now that the sod is gone, we can focus on the food more.
Hobbies for the littles-
Play dough- Safe, homemade, non-toxic, edible, if need be, because my one-year-old just can’t seem to resist.
Weather wheel- Another tiny cardboard upcycle for my son to enjoy and learn from
Homeschool beginnings – My husband recently brought home a tiny desk and it has got me jazzed up about learning!
Read alouds- We’ve currently started with Charlotte’s Web because he ‘wanted to read the spider story”.
Coloring/more art- We were gifted many art projects for Christmas, so I’ve been encouraging more arts and crafts, which helps me to prioritize my own creativity.
Potty learning for my littlest- I hope to also have a detailed post up about how we potty trained him while using cloth diapers and elimination communication.
More outdoor barefoot time- I’ve recently watched the Earthing documentary and if you haven’t seen it, it is FREE on Youtube. Let’s binge something worthwhile.
There are so many other things we all can be doing as productive humans that don’t steal our time, attention, and energy via click bait, mindless scrolling and blue light damaging our eyes.
Let’s slow down and recharge together. With family and friends and warm beverage in beautiful mugs made by someone in town. Cliche as it may sound, it is such for a reason.
Let us go in gratitude friends,
Tayler
