Wednesday, July 04, 2012

So let's raise a glass

I'm enrolled in the online Mondo Beyondo Dream Lab class right now. It started about 2 weeks ago and I'm woefully behind on most of the "assignments". As I was scurrying around trying to get "caught up" today, I realized the ridiculousness of the situation.

Dream Lab 2012 is all about inviting play, rest, and kindness into our lives, things that are often overlooked in our nonstop action-packed lives.

This essay called "The Busy Trap" by Tim Kreider is well worth a read. I especially love this line:
More and more people in this country no longer make or do anything tangible; if your job wasn’t performed by a cat or a boa constrictor in a Richard Scarry book I’m not sure I believe it’s necessary.
I can't cram 2 weeks of self-care and self-awareness into one morning.  So I'm giving myself permission to stay "behind" and be ok with that.  Maybe I'll "catch up".  Maybe I won't.  But I promise to make time for myself, to savor the lessons and enjoy them as they are meant to be done.

Last night I started putting together my "play kit", which is a box of stuff that invites me to slow down and have fun.  Not surprisingly, a lot of the items were pilfered from the extra stash of stuff I have to entertain T.  Because nearly everything she owns is part of her "play kit"!

My play kit - Mondo Beyondo Dream Lab
fun in a box

What's in it?
  • A jar of bubble solution
  • Reese's mini PB cups
  • Bubble gum (I remember how to blow a bubble!!!)
  • A brand-new Hello Kitty coloring book
  • Brand-new 24 pack of Crayola crayons (only 50 cents at Target, no joke!)
  • A brand new kelly green notebook
  • Markers
  • Awesome Pilot G2 black pen
  • 2 packs of Lego minifigures (don't know what you get until you open them!)
  • Cool patterned tape by Todd Oldham's new line at Target (thanks Peck Life for the tip!)
  • My fabulous birthday crown
  • Colored Post-It Notes
  • Cute envelopes
  • Play-Doh
  • Little slips of paper with different "rest" and "play" activity suggestions
Sounds fun already, right?  It makes me happy to look in this bright red bin and see a bunch of completely non-utilitarian, fun things. 

This morning, one of the assignments I read was to pick out something from the box and have a little fun, letting go of my stresses and mental load.  So I built this little guy:


 I'm pretty stoked about this class, and have "rebooted" my brain from "OMG another obligation" to "hey, look, a chance to have fun".  Because THAT is what life is all about.

And also, my life is going to get much harder come October so I am going to play NOW.  If anyone has a good way to fast forward through say, the first 4-5 weeks of having a newborn, please let me know :)

9 comments:

  1. I don't actually remember the first few weeks of having a newborn the last time around... so maybe they were being played on FF?

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    1. Ah, interesting. Maybe it's the same hormones that make you forget the pain of childbirth ;)

      I remember the first 5 weeks or so in painful detail, maybe because that's how long it took before breastfeeding stopped hurting. Ick.

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    2. I remember a few flashes (like: baby so tiny... soothies are awesome... demand-induced-supply for milk sucks...DH dos a lot of walking so I can sleep... in-laws will not give me baby back...my mom is awesome...), but it's mostly a misty haze.

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    3. Yep, I also remember "will not give baby back" and "soothies are awesome". :)

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    4. It's kind of a blur for me, too. Though I will say, while breast feeding was still uncomfortable at first with G, it was so much better a lot faster than with B. Not quite like riding a bike, but having prior experience with it helped a lot.

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  2. I may be more caught up with the Dream Lab activities, but I certainly haven't done all of them. I've been trying to remind myself that it's okay if I only do the things I really want to, since the idea is to enjoy it, not have it be a chore. =)

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    1. THAT is a really good point, too :) Thanks!

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  3. Your play kit is so cool. Fantastic idea.

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  4. It definitely makes me giggle like a little girl every time I see it :)

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