It Doesn’t Have To Be Perfect

Sometimes I feel like we can get too caught up on how things looks. We get this picture in our head, and get stuck on it. I know that just a year or two ago the gleeful scene in my living room wouldn’t even be happening right now. Because I would have over analyzed, and delayed. And all I did was buy a cheap set of foam mat pieces, with letters on them. BUT I know I can get them in different sizes, and color schemes…you know just more options. And while that is cool. The bottom line is my kids would have fun with this mat no matter what color it is. And boy are they having fun. I helped build a tower, and they added on. And I’m pretty sure it qualifies as an “open ended toy” basically it has a lot of uses. It’s a mat (duh) a puzzle, it has letters, colors, textures, and can be used creatively. We can “make a map” as one child put it. Making a path to follow as they look for treasure. An already favorite game. Or we could use it for hopscotch. My youngest was even having fun tossing the letter pieces into the holes of a cube we made.

And on an unschooling note, my 2 yo was taking the letter pieces and trying to find out what they were. He would say what he thought it was. Not really asking, just fishing for a response, so you have to look and listen for teaching opportunities. He would say a letter, and I would say the right one, then he repeats. Right there in the mix of this play time, he was learning. And that is how unschooling and child led learning works. You feed them knowledge as they look for it, and the child soaks it up.

Maybe my 30’s have brought about some mental shift. But I feel like I’ve got better at seeing when things don’t have to be “just so”. Don’t get me wrong, I do care about the details. But I’m not missing the big picture as much as I used too. I’ve got a garden going because I stopped waiting until things were ideal. Probably some things won’t grow, or they won’t do too well. But I will have learned, I will have gained useful skills, and strengthened my green thumb. By the time we move onto our own land, I will have a better idea of how to use it.

And now maybe you’re thinking they still haven’t moved onto their land? Nope. However with Wendell & I on the same page. I like the progress we are making. We could make it happen right now, as in qualify for a loan. But that is not what we want. Being debt free has become very important to us. We are also thinking about the improvements we want to make on the land, more in a long term way. Why rush and put up fencing we just plan to change a few years down the road. We have seen how quickly time can pass. This year we will have been married for 8 years. And this year is shaping up to be a really good one. But, not to contradict my self, waiting until we can do things right is the best way for this. I’m talking about permanent structures, and putting up $$ worth of fence to keep all potential livestock we are interested in… there is a difference in planning for the future, and trying to making things prefect.

Well as much as I’d like to be outside, the house needs my attention today. So that’s all for now.