365 Project 2014 – Day 2

Cooking Outdoors One of the things we vowed to do once we got back to nature was cooking outdoors. In our previous environment we were unable to do so because there was no enjoyment outside. Whether it be our not so nice neighbors or the surrounding environment, spending time outside was not fun. After 18 years of hand-me-downs and rummaging on Craig’s List we invested in our own little new grill to reengage and enjoy our new found space. Never before has an evening outside been so quiet and peaceful as we grill our kindly raised dinner. One of the many goals in our new location was to spend more time outside and less time inside… I believe we’re on our way.

A Case of the Gimmies A few evenings ago, right before Christmas, I read a story to my son; one of the books his uncle handed down. It was a Berenstain Bears book ‘Get the Gimmies’. It was appropriate given Christmas was coming and seems that the talk of presents this year was more prevalent than previous years. He’s almost four so his comprehension is much more grand that last year. I was getting frustrated by all of the talk of presents and low and behold come Christmas it was gimmie gimmie gimmie. I had enough! We cleaned out a ton of old toys and donated one of each to replace what he received new. I had him help in the donation process picking out what he wanted to give away. It was hard at first because he thought he’d be getting the toys back. He was sharing, loaning them out if you will. Oh no my dear. Anything new that comes in must require one old thing to go out. And so we proceeded to clean out as much as we could. Well this afternoon a late package arrived from one of my brothers and it was filled with Christmas presents for his nephew. “Is there more?!” UGH. This is going to take some time and work to change that attitude. How do you work with your children to avoid a case of the gimmies?