{mama prompt} :: boob tube

an occasional series of quick journal and creative prompts just for mamas

what was your favorite television show when you were a kid? what do you remember about it?

{family lab} walk to explore

In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.

                       ~ John Muir

We like to walk.

And look.

From the time my kids were babies we tried to take a walk most days. As the kids are getting older, and have higher stamina, I have realized how essential the habit is. Not only does it diffuse physical energy like mad, but it loosens and frees their minds.

As soon as we start walking, whether in our neighborhood or in the woods, they start talking and talking.

The most amazing realizations, confessions and connections bubble up. 

Then they start planning and scheming and wondering. It really is amazing. At the same time their thoughts are expanding and taking in everything around them, they will also hyper focus and notice the smallest and most profound things, like an ant trying to carry something that is so much larger than itself, or a bit of paper that has fallen from someone's pocket and is laying on the side of the road barely lifting in the wind.

They are like a snowball, gathering detritus and momentum as they go. The power of this holistic practice has ensured that it has become one of the pillars of each day.

 

Today we are thinking about walking and looking.

Sit in a chair in your living room or bedroom and write down every single thing you can see for 10 minutes.

Does just noticing your environment change your experience of it? If so, how?

Invite your children to do this prompt with you if you think they might be interested. Many times, I will just sit down and start working on a project and then my kids become intrigued and want to play along.

This afternoon or evening, take your family for "looking" walk.

Decide what sort of treasure hunt you will do (texture, color, flower, dog, anything...) and decide how you will document it (photos, collecting bits, drawing).

The intention of this exercise is to look deeper and pay attention to details. Yes, there is a hunt going on, but if you keep the mood relaxed and low key, so many other things will be noticed.

As soon as we start walking our minds loosen and we begin to talk and make connections. While some kids might grumble at the mention of a walk,  as soon as we are out the door, resistance melts away and camaraderie reigns. 

The hunt is just the means or reason for the walk. You can look for anything you want - and do not underestimate an older child's interest in this sort of project- as my kids get older they just become more sophisticated in their hunts.

As I mentioned in the welcome letter, approach this project with a collaborative intent Tharp writes about. Maybe a kid wants to decide what to look for or how the walk should be recorded. Also, this is not an excersie to do once and check off a list, it really can become an essential family practice. The power of walking, strolling, ambling together a a family can be transformative.

And I am always pointing out that every time we go for a walk we see something different. Every. Time.

Some more reading on walking:

5 reasons to walk with your family.

Thoreau's essay "Walking."

Salon review of Rebecca Sonlit's book Wanderlust.

{announcing} dispatches from Paris - real mail, from far away

My word this year is FLY and this May we are literally flying to Paris for the month. 

All five of us. 

I worked in Paris several summers and have visited on my own as much as I could, so it is a place I love deeply and yearn for achingly. I can not wait to share some of its quiet secrets with our children. 

I am also "flying" with my ideas, no matter how crazy or off the wall they seem. So, I have decided to offer a letter subscription while I am there. Why? Because I love getting mail and thought you might too! 

What am I offering? A handwritten, photocopied letter from me each week, tucked into a French envelope with a stamp and mailed all the way across the ocean to your mailbox.

I am drawn to low tech forms of communication the more time I spend on the computer. I want to experiment more with mail trades, zine publishing and public art.

I will fill you in on the adventures of my creative family, share some ideas, recipes, resources and probably a few funny stories. You can be sure there will be at least a few bits of ephemera tucked in the letters too. A leaf or feather, maybe a metro ticket or found grocery list - what ever presents itself on my wanderings.

This project is like a DIY Kickstarter project. It will help fund everything (food, museums, metro tickets) times FIVE! And it will help keep me accountable to you and my own heart about the trip. I will notice more details because I will feel like I am bringing you along with me. I will share about the grocery stores and the old women, about how much things cost, what is in bloom, and what the honey shop is like. 

Are you game? 


$20 for a weekly letter from Paris, all May 2013.

Subscribe here.

{mama prompt} :: paper boats

an occasional series of quick journal and creative prompts just for mamas

fold a paper boat, write a wish on it, let it go into a pond or the ocean. 

{wellness challenge} breathe

This month we are going back to basics. We are going to focus on breathe and slowing down our internal engines.

In the Facebook group I will be sending daily reminders to breathe, breathing techniques and some mediation resources that I really like.

That is it!

I hope you will join us in slowing down and filling your lungs with restorative oxygen!

*Do not forget, you have to be a part of the Facebook group to participate. Everything is done over there.  And feel free to invite anyone who might be interested. 

{family lab} imagination & play

"Play will be to the 20th century what work was to the industrial age, our dominant way of knowing, doing and creating value."

-Pat Kane 

The Play Ethic

There are a few things I will not interrupt my children from. One is sleep and the other is fully engaged, imaginary play. You have seen your children in this state - highly, concentrated focus on a miniature (or large) world, where minifigs, plastic animals, or little acorn people talk, sometimes battle and create a new world. The child is not only creating a world, but also processing all the wonderful, confusing, scary and intriguing bits from their life. Play is both learning and a form of therapy for children.

There is evidence that the creation of childhood paracosms (highly detailed, imaginary worlds) are signs of high intelligence and creativity. We can flip that around and make sure that we offer our children lots of opportunities in paracosmic play to encourage and strengthen their minds and creative muscles.

How can we do this?

0ffer lots of props (mini figurines, scrap fabric, pieces of nature, recyclables)

offer lots of time (we love movies and some TV shows, but generally do not encourage going to the TV when we are bored - that is a perfect time to create)

offer supplies to draw maps, guides, dictionaries, currency, flags, family trees, etc. of their world.

talk to them about the world they are creating, refer to their world through out the day ("I wonder how the people of Boobalot (my kids' paracosm) are doing in this storm?"),

respect their creation as a living and real thing. 

stay out of the way - although support and interest is important, be sure to not take over (ahem, Amy) or you will kill it.

consider creating your own paracosm, through writing, art, making a doll house, model making... invite your children in.

Write for 10 minutes about the imaginary play you liked as a kid.

Did you act out plays, or play with dolls.

Did you orchestrate major battles with army men?

Did you construct elaborate scenes with blocks and cars or did you miss out on this sort of play all together.

Think back to how and where you lost yourself to another world.

Puppets are a great way to ease into paracosmic play and explore new characters and themes.

So, tonight, after dinner, let's all have a puppet show. 

This is easier than you think; it can be as elaborate or simple as you like.

I have made a little project sheet for you here. 

And if you would like a some inspiration, I made a Pinterest board with simple puppets

for you to peruse. It is here.

The Creativity Crisis, Newsweek

Fan fiction as a form of paracosm.

An example of paracosmic play in a homeschool family

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Want to work with me in reconnecting to your creative spirit?

My lab just for mamas is registering NOW.

We start in just a few days and would love to have YOU!

Click here to learn more.

we have a winner.....

The winner of the double ecourse giveaway 

is 

Ellie from The 30ish Mom

And just for YOU! If you did not win, you can use the 

discount code:
MAMASCOUT and receive 15% off!
That makes the course only $50!

Both A Book About Me and Feather Your Nest start in a few days, pick one and join the fun!