Finding STRENGTH in uncomfortable moments.

Have you checked out the amazing Linsey over at The Delightful Collective? If not, you're missing out. She shares everyday delights that inspire her, in hopes of inspiring others.  She's talking about STRENGTH up on her blog today.

She mentions:

"... you'll have moments where you'll have to be strongest at your weakest in order to get from point A to point B and sometimes that means taking mind over matter."

This made me think of my approach to teaching my middle school students. 

Two of the grades I teach are 6th and 7th graders who are required to take dance as part of their performing arts curriculum. That means I see every 6/7th graders by the end of year regardless of their interest in dance. Sound like your nightmare? Oddly, I enjoy it. Most students have never taken a dance class, some have danced since they were itty bitty, and others are Olympic qualifying gymnasts who study dance as part of their training. (I'm not exaggerating!) 

Our class motto is: 

"Embrace feeling uncomfortable because feeling uncomfortable builds character, leading to higher confidence, equaling strength and success."

I'm constantly reminding my students to embrace those uncomfortable moments when their lack of confidence leads them to believe they are weak. It's in these moments they want to give up because they don't realize the strength they already possess, nor do they remember the strength that will develop from preserving. It's an honor to see the transformation that occurs in these tweens as they navigate and apply our class motto to their learning. The result includes a developed strength that is both physical and emotional. Many students have mentioned they apply the same mentality outside of school and have felt a difference in their self-confidence and the way they view the world.

Why is it that I have no problem reminding my students to embrace the uncomfortable when I have a hard time doing that myself? I embrace their transformation, yet I don't apply what I'm teaching in my own life. Why do I find it easy to apply this mentality to the physical, like achieving a good workout, but forget the benefit of it when it pertains to emotional strength? 

The Delightful Collective  has curated 10 quotes on strength, see photo and link below. My goal is to include a handful of these in my daily mantra rotation so the next time anxiety and fear want to seep through, I'm armed and ready to fight back with developed emotional STRENGTH. 

Click on photo to read The Delightful Collective's blog post on strength.

Valentine's Day Project

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Thank you DancescapeLA for Aiden's "up and coming artist" tee. click this link to find out more info about dancescapla.

Valentine's Day isn't super high on my priority list. My favorite Valentine celebrations have included an In-N-Out picnic on the living room floor, another eating Chinese food straight out of the paper take-out container. I don't especially enjoy going out to dinner on this particular day, only to be forced to order off a pre fixed menu and rushed to give up the table for the next reservation. 

Since having a child, my Valentine's celebration has become more about appreciation and less about gifts and a fancy dinner. This year is no different. In trying to find creative ways to include a 2.5-year-old in the process, I turned to my Pinterest board and found some fun ideas I'd pinned ages ago.

Side note: If I'm being real honest, before Aiden was born, I would pin ideas on my board that I dreamt about doing with my future children. Silly? I know! Oddly, in my struggle to get pregnant, dreaming and planning in such a way was therapeutic. Perhaps it's because I knew if it was on my Pinterest board, it would totally get done. (Add sarcasm here.) Does anyone else have an abundance of pinned ideas on their Pinterest boards, most of which haven't been attempted or thought of since the day they got pinned?

I digress... 

Aiden is now old enough to appreciate, even request, to do art projects. Tapping into this JOY of his, I decided to try out two projects.

Wall of Hearts:  I got the original idea from Skip TO My Lou, but put my own spin on the process, making it more of a family project. For the past few nights, we've come together as a family and wrote what we appreciate about our family or what brings us JOY. Once they were written out, we took turns explaining what we wrote and why, then added it to our JOY banner. Over a few nights, it was neat to watch the banner grow.  (Even Aiden's poop obsession got a shout out!) More so, it was a lovely way to connect and laugh together. 

Will ZOO be mine?: I was intrigued with the homemade valentine cards found at Blue Robin Cottage, and knew Aiden's obsession with animals would be a perfect match. We used these self-inked stamps (perfect for lil' toddler hands) from Recollections, ordered some animal figurines like these on Amazon and used paper and a paper puncher we already had as part of our craft collection. Not only was it fun for Aiden to make his own valentine cards for his buddies, but it was also low cost! So much more fun than giving candy!

How do you celebrate Valentine's Day?