i've been reading the blog for a while now. but this week her book, The Creative Family: How to Encourage Imagination and Nurture Family Connections, finally came in the mail. now i'm totally smitten. i suggest if you are interested in the simpler and more creative life with your child and family that you pick it up.
an excerpt i'll share... Amanda Soule's requirements for the BEST toys in their house:
Is it Beautiful? (Ah, what a lovely place to start)
Is it Simple?
What is it Made of?
What senses does it use?
How is it Organized? (does it make you feel more creative)
And looking at the toys as a whole..Is there too much?
these seem like perfectly reasonable requirements for toys to me. (they are being adopted into my home immediately, all that crappy plastic and batteries can go AWAY!) and those activities above... crafting, creating, cooking etc. those seem like perfectly reasonable uses of our time together as a family, which will certainly be fleeting. i seriously doubt my parents wish they'd spent more time carpooling watching TV and washing dishes with us when we were small.
the sad things to me about this is that living the simple,beautiful life seems to be the exception not the norm these days. it's all too easy to plug the child in to the TV or iPod. and that somehow if you DO want to live this way you are being "hippie" (in a bad way) or somehow trying to out do your friends, or that it is somehow quaint to live the charming life of baking your own bread and making your own clothes. i remember being very 'uncool' for not knowing what was going on on TV shows when i was in high school. but i feel like i am so much the better for it now. and it is how i want to live.
i don't need to know what's going on on the bachelorette... living vicariously through someone else's "reality" romance. i need to have my own romance with my own life.
i guess i've always been old fashioned and an old soul, but i don't think it's a bad thing.
thoughts? how do you connect with your family and with the earth in a way that is meaningful... outside of TV and eating in fancy restaurants???
(as an aside, i realize this post got a little out of hand.. ten things all at once, i admire you for reading the whole thing!)
3 comments:
love, love her blog! *love yours, too*
I love her too! I'm sure you know this, but she has a new book coming in August. I'm sad we never connected when I was in Richmond. I feel like it's harder with two babies, almost two years apart to play together. I treasure walks/stroller/moby rides. And I get warm fuzzy feelings when Nash and Margot roll a fabric beach ball I made back and forth. Also, Nash and I make things for Margot while she naps, even if she can't actually play with it , hopefully she enjoys looking at whatever it is, and I like that he thinks he's making something for her! Can't wait to see what you come up with.
i LOVE that you get nash involved in making for margot. what a great idea. we'll have to catch up one of these times when you come back east. we go to big lick too so maybe we'll see each other there.
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