Perhaps you've seen the blog post that has been circulating around Facebook and email lists, being hailed as truth and wisdom. This one, suggesting old ladies in grocery stores, let alone ANYONE, shouldn't "Carpe Diem" moms.
After reading the post, I walked away from it more disturbed than encouraged. The writer seems to be misinterpreting the intentions of older mamas and inaccurately defined the term "Carpe Diem".
You see, when an older mom takes the time to remind me to cherish my children's growing up years, I hear them. I even get a little misty-eyed. Do I feel a twinge of guilt? Sure, but that's not the old ladies' fault nor is that their intention. That guilt comes from knowing better but not doing better. Sometimes my temper gets the better of me but Carpe Diem to me. That is the perfect time to take up this Latin advice! Because in the big scheme of things, what I'm mad about makes no difference. What perturbs, annoys me or downright drains me in my role as parent, is not going to make one difference 10, 20 years from now. However, how I RESPOND to them in those frustrating moments, makes a lifetime difference for them. THAT is what they remember. When an older mom takes the time to speak these wise words to me, it's not in an effort to tell me I'm doing it wrong, to heap hot coals of guilt on my head, or to criticize my parenting (or lack thereof) in the moment. This much is obvious in their nostalgic look that sweeps across their eyes. In watching my children, good or bad behavior, they are transported back to the years when their children were tender; when their children were under the same roof and a part of their daily life.
The definition of Carpe Diem is not to be happy,ecstatic and bubbly all the time, as the author mislead her readership. That's not what that famous Latin term is about at all. According to Merriam-Webster, it means "the enjoyment of the pleasures of the moment without concern for the future". In Latin, it means, quite literally, "pluck the day" or "Seize the day", as Robin Williams taught a whole generation of youth. Not be crazy happy every moment, of every day as she would claim. Hardly. It is the active seeking, the purposeful choosing to take pleasure in the moment WITHOUT being burdened with future plans. It is embracing the glimmers of joy, no matter how small or spaced out, in the moments. To Carpe Diem is a choice. It is a mind-set. It is a choosing to look for and embrace the moments of joy. It is also the reminder to not get so ahead of yourself with the future that you can't BE in the present moment and glean enjoyment from it.
Little old ladies aren't lining up to beat young mamas over the head by the ever so brief flashback of their child's younger years. Do they have a clear memory of the harried, HARD days of motherhood? You betcha they do! However, this author seems to think their memory became a little cloudy with age. I wholeheartedly disagree. They remember the time their children locked them out of the car on the side of the road. They remember their son wiping poo out of their diaper in an attempt to be a little Picasso on their bedroom wall. They remember the sassy attitude their daughter began to display at the tender age of 8 (and didn't let go of until the overdue age of 28). They distinctly remember after the 150th time of telling their child to take their hand out of the door jamb, and then consequently rushing them to the hospital with an almost severed finger. They remember the illnesses, sleepless nights, tantrums, mischief, down-right defiant moments, the ill-behaved child in the store and the myriad of "fail" moments in parenthood. How could you NOT remember these moments, so intricately woven into your life as a parent?? I don't doubt for a minute nor do I short-change the mothers who have gone before me in their ability to remember or the wisdom that they've gathered in their time in the trenches, so to speak.
Oh no, these sweet, older mamas' message of Carpe Diem "is right" and it is "good". The author acknowledges THAT much (she just goes on to contradict herself from there). She misses the point ENTIRELY. These mamas are whispering Carpe Diem to young moms in grocery stores because THAT is the lesson they learned through all the hard years of parenting. Carpe Diem. To not sweat the small stuff. To not get so focused on today, tonight or tomorrow that it has robbed you of the ability to seek out the enjoyment of the NOW. These older moms aren't negating how difficult parenting is or that we have crappy days. No way. They are passing on a gem of wisdom to us young moms; a piece of wisdom they wish THEY hadn't turned their nose up at when sweet old ladies approached THEM in grocery stores. They are telling us - earnestly wishing to penetrate our thick skulls - to NOT long for bedtime; NOT long to just "make it through the day", to NOT focus on plans for today, tomorrow or next year; to NOT long to drop them off at school or daycare for 8 hours a day. They want us to seek out the joy in TODAY. Not tomorrow. Not next year. These sweet old mamas want us to CHOOSE to seek out the moment and seek out glimmers of joy - even on the hard days, ESPECIALLY the hard days. They aren't delusional moms wandering the grocery aisles just waiting to make a frazzled mom feel bad. They are wishing for us what they wish they had done for themselves.
The author seems to have a disconnect with the term Carpe Diem and the intentions of older moms. The last half of her article she discusses the two types of time - Chronos and Kairos. Um, hello? Can we say Carpe Diem??? Carpe Diem IS Kairos. Yet, Carpe Diem is MORE than Kairos. It is both Chronos AND Kairos. Carpe Diem urges us to be an active participant in our DAILY life, not just to sit around and wait for a Kairos moment to hit us over the head. It is our job to make our Chronos moments (which, by the way, is our daily life, without concern for the future) Kairo moments, as much as possible. THAT is what the term Carpe Diem IS, people! Make your Chronos moments, Kairos moments!
But more so, having more Kairo moments than just, you know, regular 'ol every day Chronos moments (which, again, makes up most of our life) is all about a mind set. It is a choice. You can CHOOSE to see the beauty in a moment as desperate as you may be reaching for it on those tough days, but it is still up to you. If we only see things as hard, difficult, stressful and negative, then, yes, they are. All of those things. For that is the filter by which we CHOOSE to see our life as a mom. Or we can Carpe Diem our days. We can actively pursue the joy of the moment without being caught up in our future plans. We can choose to see more of our Chronos moments as Kairo moments. Carpe Diem is lifting up the idea that our Chronos moments ARE Kairos moments. Or they can be, if we let them. It is up to you to glean the nuggets of joy from them.
The thought that these women are abusively standing on the sidelines yelling 'COME ON! AREN'T YOU ENJOYING YOURSELF?!?! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU??' - as the author of the post has suggested - is absurd and extreme. Far from waiting on Mt. Everest to beat down the people climbing it, these moms, that have been in the trenches MUCH longer and have learned a thing or two, are cheering us on in the most positive, supportive way. "Let go of your to-do list, Honey. Don't let yourself long for bedtime or school hours, to be rid of your children. Don't rob yourself of the joy that is yours to be found -if you would only look - in each of your days with your kids". That. That is what I hear them say when a grandmother or older woman looks lovingly at my kids and reminds me to "Enjoy this time because it goes so fast."
The Bible tells us to be mentored by the older wives and moms so we know how to take care of our families, yet, if we develop the attitude the author has, we risk missing all the wisdom the generations before us have learned. We are to have teachable hearts on what these veteran moms can teach us. This author would rather stew in the self-pity of how hard parenting is and harshly criticize the intent of these older moms.
The author had a hope for how she wants to approach a mom when she's old and gray - "Carry on, soldier. Only 6 hours until bedtime", among other things. This poor mom is clearly confused on what the term "Carpe Diem" means, let alone, the point of the wisdom to enjoy your time with your kids. I'm sorry but counting down the hours (or minutes)until bedtime is hardly having Kairos eyes to grab those moments of "God's time". Her eyes are too focused on the clock to see the moments of Kairos. These older mamas KNOW that moms get tunnel vision. We get too caught up in the chores, the to-do lists, the demands, the plate juggling, the plans of today, tomorrow or next year. They know this how?? Because these sweet older women, who miss the days of raising a family, WERE THERE ONCE. I hope I pass on the solid truth that as moms we get too caught up in the to-dos, the chores, the crazy behavior, the plans for tomorrow or next week or next year.
I don't want to settle for "a couple of Kairoses a day for me" like the author of that post. No way. And that is PRECISELY what these older women are saying too - "Don't settle. Change your focus." A couple of Kairos moments is NOT good enough for me. Perhaps I am swimming against the masses but I want more.
As for me, I will gladly welcome a sweet, older mama caring enough to remind me to Carpe Diem my day, especially when my kids are behaving at their worst. It is a lovely reminder to look for the beauty in my children and in my days spent with them. It is them saying to me, "yep, parenting is hard work but don't get caught up in that part. Look for the moments to grab joy in your Chronos time, for in that mindset, you will find more than one or two Kairos moments a day. You'll find a multitude of Kairos moments - of CARPE DIEM moments - if only you change your focus." That. That is the message I want to share when I'm old and gray. I hope you do too.
I leave you with two inspiring thoughts on Carpe Diem: 1) this simple reminder from a cartoon my kids enjoy and 2) The movie that made the term, "Carpe Diem" popular.
It's all about attitude! In the words of Phineas and Ferb, "grab those opportunities every day" to Carpe Diem with your kids!
Lyrics:
Well we hope you all enjoyed the show
Hope it was not anticlimactic
Now there's something we want you to know
And we don't want to sound didactic
But if there's one thing we can say
I know it sounds a bit cliché
There's no such thing
As just an ordinary day
And you don't have to build a roller coaster
Just find your own way to make the most of
These days of summer
You can dance to the beat of a different drummer
Just grab those opportunities when you see 'em
'Cause every day's a brand new day, you gotta Carpe Diem
And you don't have to build a roller coaster
Just find your own way to make the most of
Every minute
No more waiting for the right time, you're in it
Just grab those opportunities when you see 'em
'Cause every day's a brand new day, baby, carpe diem
Dead Poet's Society - Robin Williams. Enjoy!
Friday, January 20, 2012
Weekly Wrap-up: January 16-20
Second week back at school and I'm still tweaking our schedule. I tend to try to pack our days too full with learning and that, quite honestly, kills the joy of learning. It's still a process for me to hit that sweet spot - creativity, just enough book work to balance out hands on activity.. ugh. I hope one day I'll get there!
So, having said all that... we started our week with a break from school as Monday was Martin Luther King Jr. Day! We had Chris home with us which was a special treat! I got to work on my own homework assignment: art for our newly painted bedroom.
Here it is (sorry! I didn't take pictures of each step to show how I made it. That's probably better, though, because in getting the paint chips on the board, I was THIS close (pinching two fingers together) to throwing the whole thing away!).
Here the last coat of Modge Podge is drying. It already has two coats on it and Dark Walnut stain spread over and wiped off of it. The stain gives it the vintage, old look to it.
Here is the finished product (just needing the hanging material on the back). Can you believe it?!? Here is my $5 art project!!! Made from PAINT CHIPS! I love it! Had you asked me when I started gluing on the squares (spray adhesive, mind you), I would have told you all that I can't stand about it (crooked squares, a line left over from painter's tape that the stain picked up, etc.). Luckily, I took a few deep breaths, talked myself into continuing on and I'm so glad I did! Of course, I picked spray adhesive off of my hands for DAYS! (think: Chevy Chase in Christmas vacation and having tree sap on his hands - yep! That was me!).
My other "homework" project was to re-do our family picture wall. As you can see, I still need to add a couple of pictures to some frames but I think it's done!
The metal words "Lord Bless This House" was a Christmas present that I added to the display along with a letter "J". My dear hubby cut the wood for me to create the "The Joyce Family" signage (got my family info. vinyl from ). I painted the wood black, then white and then distressed it with sand paper. Monday was a productive day for me!
The boys enjoyed documenting this icicle they found coming out of our porch awning gutter. Icicles are RARE in Sacramento, so this was a big deal to the boys!
This is a BIG deal!
Speaking of recording weather and nature, both boys got this book for Christmas and we LOVE it!! I kind of wish I had gotten one for me too! Luckily for us, the weather in Sacramento this week has been different than what we are used to. We've had SUPER cold (to us, anyway) days this week and then a windy, rainy day today. This gave the boys lots to record in this handy book. They have recorded their daily observations of our weather and nature outside as they become Naturalists.
LOVE. THIS. WORKBOOK! It is a MUST for any kiddo even remotely interested in nature or the outdoors!
Jake started reading "The Ballad of Lucy Whipple" as part of his California History curriculum I've selected for him. I happened to find a great workbook for this book through Moving Beyond The Page I am really enjoying this company's creative approach to learning (so is Jake). This week, we were scheduled to make a mock apple pie as the gold rush miners were apt to do. But this mama didn't make the pie crust and forgot to pick some up at the store. So, we'll post pictures of that next week!
We memorized the Classification system order and the importance of it in Science, worked further on math facts and memorized the first 17 books of the Bible (thanks to Jake's Sunday school teacher who gives homework! We were impressed with that!).
Jake, cutting out a picture of the state bird of Vermont, the Hermit Thrush. He moved on to the state of Vermont this week. We'll finish that up next week.
Josh wrapped up his lesson on the world and moved to his first continent - North America - in The Trail Guide to World Geography.
We also are working on a virtue each week (from the We Choose Virtue curriculum. See link in sidebar). Last week and this week, we focused on Diligent. "I am Diligent. I start fast, work hard and finish strong." This has been so helpful in reminding us all of the character God wants each of us to have!
We wrapped up our week with spending Friday with our wonderful co-op friends! The rain couldn't dampen our fun! We went bowling and then hit up a local pizza parlor! It was awesome to see our friends that we've missed terribly over our co-op break!
I hope your week was productive and filled with joy!
I've joined up with the weekly wrap-up at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers -
So, having said all that... we started our week with a break from school as Monday was Martin Luther King Jr. Day! We had Chris home with us which was a special treat! I got to work on my own homework assignment: art for our newly painted bedroom.
Here it is (sorry! I didn't take pictures of each step to show how I made it. That's probably better, though, because in getting the paint chips on the board, I was THIS close (pinching two fingers together) to throwing the whole thing away!).
Here the last coat of Modge Podge is drying. It already has two coats on it and Dark Walnut stain spread over and wiped off of it. The stain gives it the vintage, old look to it.
Here is the finished product (just needing the hanging material on the back). Can you believe it?!? Here is my $5 art project!!! Made from PAINT CHIPS! I love it! Had you asked me when I started gluing on the squares (spray adhesive, mind you), I would have told you all that I can't stand about it (crooked squares, a line left over from painter's tape that the stain picked up, etc.). Luckily, I took a few deep breaths, talked myself into continuing on and I'm so glad I did! Of course, I picked spray adhesive off of my hands for DAYS! (think: Chevy Chase in Christmas vacation and having tree sap on his hands - yep! That was me!).
My other "homework" project was to re-do our family picture wall. As you can see, I still need to add a couple of pictures to some frames but I think it's done!
The metal words "Lord Bless This House" was a Christmas present that I added to the display along with a letter "J". My dear hubby cut the wood for me to create the "The Joyce Family" signage (got my family info. vinyl from ). I painted the wood black, then white and then distressed it with sand paper. Monday was a productive day for me!
The boys enjoyed documenting this icicle they found coming out of our porch awning gutter. Icicles are RARE in Sacramento, so this was a big deal to the boys!
This is a BIG deal!
Speaking of recording weather and nature, both boys got this book for Christmas and we LOVE it!! I kind of wish I had gotten one for me too! Luckily for us, the weather in Sacramento this week has been different than what we are used to. We've had SUPER cold (to us, anyway) days this week and then a windy, rainy day today. This gave the boys lots to record in this handy book. They have recorded their daily observations of our weather and nature outside as they become Naturalists.
LOVE. THIS. WORKBOOK! It is a MUST for any kiddo even remotely interested in nature or the outdoors!
Jake started reading "The Ballad of Lucy Whipple" as part of his California History curriculum I've selected for him. I happened to find a great workbook for this book through Moving Beyond The Page I am really enjoying this company's creative approach to learning (so is Jake). This week, we were scheduled to make a mock apple pie as the gold rush miners were apt to do. But this mama didn't make the pie crust and forgot to pick some up at the store. So, we'll post pictures of that next week!
We memorized the Classification system order and the importance of it in Science, worked further on math facts and memorized the first 17 books of the Bible (thanks to Jake's Sunday school teacher who gives homework! We were impressed with that!).
Jake, cutting out a picture of the state bird of Vermont, the Hermit Thrush. He moved on to the state of Vermont this week. We'll finish that up next week.
Josh wrapped up his lesson on the world and moved to his first continent - North America - in The Trail Guide to World Geography.
We also are working on a virtue each week (from the We Choose Virtue curriculum. See link in sidebar). Last week and this week, we focused on Diligent. "I am Diligent. I start fast, work hard and finish strong." This has been so helpful in reminding us all of the character God wants each of us to have!
We wrapped up our week with spending Friday with our wonderful co-op friends! The rain couldn't dampen our fun! We went bowling and then hit up a local pizza parlor! It was awesome to see our friends that we've missed terribly over our co-op break!
I hope your week was productive and filled with joy!
I've joined up with the weekly wrap-up at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers -
Weekly Wrap-up: January 9-13
I'm, well, a week late on my weekly wrap-up of our school but better late than never, right??
This was our first week back to school since Thanksgiving break. I figure the local school district does a 6 week break, why can't I?? Yes, for those wondering, we plan on doing school through some of June, although, if I was solely going based on the required number of school days California requires, we are fast approaching that number.
So, I had planned on easing back into school last week, but, as usual, I jumped with both feet in. I was so excited about the topics we were learning and getting back into our school routine that I threw the 'easing in' idea out the window! I'm not sure the boys shared my enthusiasm entirely, although, I think they welcomed having a strong structure to their days again.
Despite my pictures (or lackthereof), we DID do more than geography last week! Ah, well, blame on the excitement of getting back into learning!
Jake jumped into learning about New Hampshire. Have I mentioned how much I love, LOVE, LOVE Trail Guide to Geography?!?
Working hard on finding the facts on New Hampshire.
I got this Wallie U.S. map over break at Amazon and each state we begin, Jake gets to add it to the map! It's good practice for finding where it is on the map!
...and look! He even matches the map! What a cutie!
Josh is working through The Trail Guide to World Geography. It is teaching him to thoroughly navigate maps and atlas while familiarizing him with where countries are located around the world. Right now, he is still doing an overview of the world and getting the basic concepts of the various types of atlas'.
In addition to Geography, Math is another daily subject around here. Jake is working hard on his multiplication facts. Memorize, memorize, memorize. That's all I can say on that!
Looking over my pictures from last week, I only took them of geography each day! So strange! I must have been busy teaching the rest of the day, each day! Go figure! hee,hee... ;)
We did our fair share of history, science, reading and english/grammar. To top off our week, we had a field trip on Friday. We saw the play, "The Giver" at B. St. theatre. Josh had read the book in the fall, in anticipation of attending this play. He was disappointed in the play and how they told the story. He enjoyed the book much more. I have not read the book but after watching the play, I now have added "The Giver" to my reading list.
We had a great week back to school! I hope you did too!
This was our first week back to school since Thanksgiving break. I figure the local school district does a 6 week break, why can't I?? Yes, for those wondering, we plan on doing school through some of June, although, if I was solely going based on the required number of school days California requires, we are fast approaching that number.
So, I had planned on easing back into school last week, but, as usual, I jumped with both feet in. I was so excited about the topics we were learning and getting back into our school routine that I threw the 'easing in' idea out the window! I'm not sure the boys shared my enthusiasm entirely, although, I think they welcomed having a strong structure to their days again.
Despite my pictures (or lackthereof), we DID do more than geography last week! Ah, well, blame on the excitement of getting back into learning!
Jake jumped into learning about New Hampshire. Have I mentioned how much I love, LOVE, LOVE Trail Guide to Geography?!?
Working hard on finding the facts on New Hampshire.
I got this Wallie U.S. map over break at Amazon and each state we begin, Jake gets to add it to the map! It's good practice for finding where it is on the map!
...and look! He even matches the map! What a cutie!
In addition to Geography, Math is another daily subject around here. Jake is working hard on his multiplication facts. Memorize, memorize, memorize. That's all I can say on that!
Looking over my pictures from last week, I only took them of geography each day! So strange! I must have been busy teaching the rest of the day, each day! Go figure! hee,hee... ;)
We did our fair share of history, science, reading and english/grammar. To top off our week, we had a field trip on Friday. We saw the play, "The Giver" at B. St. theatre. Josh had read the book in the fall, in anticipation of attending this play. He was disappointed in the play and how they told the story. He enjoyed the book much more. I have not read the book but after watching the play, I now have added "The Giver" to my reading list.
We had a great week back to school! I hope you did too!
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Book Review: With: Reimagining the Way You Relate to God by Skye Jethani
I had the opportunity to review the recent book written by Skye Jethani, With:Reimagining the way you relate to God. To get to the point, I enjoyed this book, overall, I found a few theological mentions troubling. I truly enjoyed his perspective on how one approaches God. I had never truly examined that for myself and this book made me think. The author's premise is that there are five main approaches to God that humans have created - 1) Life over God; 2) Life under God; 3) Life from God; 4) Life over God; and 5) Life with God. Of course, when introduced to these concepts, the reader would like to assume they fit into what the author deems the best, Life with God, but one quickly realizes that is not always the case.
This book really examines and gives a new perspective on how we "do" life with God and how, in our heart of hearts, we see Him. Do we see him as someone who bargains with us? Or as a removed, task-master? Or saying that we need and live for Him with our mouth but not truly believing it in our hearts? Jethani even gets into areas that border on worshipping the Bible instead of God as well as replacing Jesus with a set of principles that seems to be a popular trend right now.
I was moved by Jethani's fresh approach to how we approach God but was troubled by some statements mid-way through. Jethani is quick to point out that the Bible is either completely true in its entirety or it's not. There is no picking and choosing which sections of the Bible compliment your beliefs and life. However, he then contradicts himself by throwing in the idea of an "Old Earth" view point. I have an issue with this because, as he so rightly pointed out, either the Bible is true and accurate entirely or it isn't... so, if God says He made the earth in a certain amount of time or in a certain way, then we, His creation, must accept it as He stated it. Or not, but then Jethani contradicts his thought that we must accept the Bible's accuracy as a whole.
The first part of the book and Jethani's viewpoint on how we approach God is insightful and, at times, convicting, however, he lost me with the second half of the book, both in theory and in redundancy.
I received this e-book for review from BookSneeze.com and was not compensated in any way for a pre-determined review.
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