The GGA Project -- Day #340 "Gobble Gobble"

As I've mentioned before, I find the idea of giving kids (especially little kids) things that make messes incredibly anxiety inducing.  This has pretty much kept me from doing anything in the way of art with my son.  I've just never been the kind of person who says, "here kid, play with this Play-Doh, these markers, this finger paint, etc.," because all I can think of is the huge cleanup that would follow.  Aww, but I don't wanna be a stick-in-the mud Mom!  So, better late than never for

Today's New Activity: Kid-Included Art Project

Ok, so there really isn't a whole lot to speak of in the world of Thanksgiving decorating.  I never noticed or cared, but now that I have a child, I feel like I want to acknowledge and make every holiday special, so I thought maybe we could make some of those turkeys-made-by-tracing-hands as a little nod in the direction of Turkey Day.

But I couldn't remember how to do it.  Sounds ridiculous, I know, but I couldn't remember if you trace hands to make the turkey's body, or the feathers, or what.  It's times like this I thank Al Gore for the internet, which helped me to find this helpful tutorial.  I was especially drawn to this project because it was super simple and I'd be able to remember the steps without having to check back to figure out what came next.

All you needed were scissors and a glue stick, construction paper in these colors,

and willing participants, which we had.  Even my parents wanted in on the action :)

First you trace your shoe twice on brown construction paper and cut out the shapes

Then you trace and cut out your hand shapes twice each on red, yellow, and orange construction paper.  Monkey was so curious about this whole project business that he actually stayed still for this part.

He also found a way to entertain himself while I did the shape cutting for both of our turkeys.  Next time I'll pick a project that isn't so scissor-intensive.  It really didn't leave a lot for him to be able to help with, so I let him handle the glue stick :)

So you just glue the two shoe shapes with the narrow heels overlapping and the wider toe part fanned out a bit, then you glue the hands behind and add little legs and a beak and that gobble gobble thing, then just draw on eyes (stick on wiggle eyes optional)

Here are mine and Kalil's:

And here are my Mom's and Dad's.  I love the method of using both shoes and hands because then every turkey comes out proportionate to the person who made it.  Too cute.

Happy turkey-makin' y'all!

The GGA Project -- Day #335 "On Abundance Revisited"

I might have written about this before.  I've certainly thought about it plenty of times over the years.  I'm referring to a brief conversation I once had with my best friend Nicole's husband, my friend Raul.  I don't know what prompted it--maybe it was just a pressing financial matter or a general discussion about taxes.  But in that conversation I mentioned that I was living pretty happily on the $8,000 a year I was managing to scrounge up between the multiple part-time jobs I worked while in college.  He told me that he used to judge pretty harshly my lifestyle (going pretty much day-to-day, not stressing the small stuff or the anything really) but that when he thought about the weight of responsibilities a person *could* take on, and which he had, sometimes he found that lifestyle pretty appealing.


I really appreciated his telling me that then.  He has a decade of wisdom on me, and I was pretty young at the time (23 or so), so it felt good to have a little bit of validation that my freedom-lovin' lifestyle was--at the very least--not a bad thing, necessarily.


Over time, I've waxed a little nostalgic when I thought about that period of my life.  In the intervening years I got married and found myself worrying about finances nearly all the time.  The crazy thing was that our means were plenty.  It seemed that what was causing the stress was the idea of needing to hold tightly to what we had.  I can say honestly that the time in my life when I had at least joint access to substantial financial means (though I was strongly discouraged from spending money and so did not) was the least happy time of my life where money was concerned.


And beyond that realization, a simultaneous change has taken place in my attitude toward money, as the reality of being a parent and providing for somebody in addition to myself set in.  See, back when I had that conversation with Raul, I still believed that money, wealth, rich people were somehow evil just by virtue of their association with the so-called filth that was the driving force behind capitalism.  I actually believed that anybody who had money had probably done something rotten along the way to get it.


Yeah, I don't believe that anymore.  The majority of the people I know who are wealthy have worked really hard, really honestly to get to that point.  And I really like money.  Money is great!  I welcome prosperity and the freedom from finance-related stress that it affords.  However, I have also remembered that when I was poorest, when I had the least in my possession, was also when I was most generous with what I did have to offer, monetarily or otherwise.  I believed--on some deeper level--that my needs would be taken care of.


And they were.


It was that sense of over-abundance-despite-all-outward-signs that I hoped to one day return to...

Today's New Activity: Meditation on the Lessons of George Bailey

I don't think I've made it any secret how much I love It's a Wonderful Life.  That I saw it first at a young age has, I think, a lot to do with my perpetually hopeful outlook on the goodness of man and on life and love and friendship in general.  I feel like that movie alone could teach a person as much about what it is to be a righteous and loving person as any of the great books associated with the world's religions.  It is during the times in my life when I've lost sight of the messages contained therein that I've counted myself most unfulfilled.


Today some events outside of my control made for an unpleasant and briefly stressful financial situation. I found myself worrying about the future even as part of me knew how little worrying about it could do to remedy it (this is not to say that action is not required to amend certain predicaments--I mean worrying in a generalized, aimless way).


And then, as quickly as the stress entered my life, it was gone.  I think this has largely to do with the fact that I got to spend a wonderful afternoon with Kalil, who was especially sweet and well-behaved today. I swear sometimes I think he knows on a soul level just what I need.  And the two of us were home alone because my parents went to visit the mother of a family friend, who is very ill and hospitalized.  There they were: two awe-inspiring things to ponder: family and health, my gratitude for each alone great enough to overshadow any stress about money, or any material thing really.


Beyond that, I considered the richness of friends, of laughter in my life.  I considered my warm clothes and the beautiful place in which I live.  I considered good food and the wonders of technology.  I considered the happiness in finding like-minded people and enjoying the company of coworkers.  I considered great movies and books and works of art.  I considered the joy of driving and of dancing and of singing terribly, and terribly loudly at that.  I considered kissing and sweetness and honesty and good intentions acted upon.  I considered love.


And so, after spending some time remembering what it really means to be wealthy, through all the overcast skies that marked this fall day, I found myself feeling freer and happier and more full of gratitude than I've been in a very long time.  I felt that I was that 23-year old young woman again, infused with the senses of wonder and hope and joyful wanderlust and the absolute knowledge that my life is blessed beyond measure.

It is my sincere hope that--whoever you are, wherever you are--this day finds you feeling the same...

The GGA Project -- Day #333 "Crossing Over, Overdue"

Well this is one of those things I just can't believe I've never done, with over a decade in the bay area under my belt.  I guess it falls into the category of touristy things you don't think to do when you live in a place.

Except that I don't, in fact, live in San Francisco.  I just like to reap all the benefits of being a stone's (really amazing) throw away. 

Today's New Activity: Walking Across the Golden Gate Bridge

I don't think all the double, double, toil and trouble in a band of witches' cauldron could have conjured up better weather for it.  This, folks, is Northern California in early November :)


How nice it was, too, that my parents and Monkey were able to join in the fun today.

For the record--and in case you're considering crossing this landmark bridge yourself--it doesn't take long at all to cover the just over 2-mile trek across and back.  Well, not unless you stop to take 40,000 pictures.  Not that I would know anything about that.  Hey!  I said it was touristy!

There are still about a million things I would like to do in The City that I haven't gotten around to yet.  And with just over a month left in this project, chances are most of them won't make it onto this blog.  But I'm so happy that this past year has afforded me the opportunity to get off my ass, out of my rut and my backyard, and take in some of the wonders this area has to offer.

And you know...one more thing.  I was thinking about it, and why is this blog even "anonymous" at this point?  When I started this project, I was concerned about certain people finding the blog and reading about me and what was going on in my life.  That was like a worst case scenario for me at the time I started writing again.  But that thing I didn't want to happen already did happen, and many months ago at that.  What am I worried about at this point besides the thought of being all the way out there?

No more hiding.  Just over 30 days left to go, I'm finally ready to begin truly living out loud--joyfully, gratefully, abundantly...

My name is Kisa.

...and this is my beautiful son, Kalil.

Thank you so much for reading...

The GGA Project -- Day #10 "The Box"

There are some things I do as a Mom that I just can't get past feeling guilty about, despite the fact that I know they


1) won't likely cause any trauma or serious damage and
2) are sometimes necessary


Timeout is not one of those things.  I am fine with giving the monkey his little 1 minute timeouts (per Super Nanny's example--1 minute per age of child) because I think discipline is important and can spare the world having to put up with yet another spoiled brat.


I do, however, feel guilty about "The Box."  That's what we call the baby's playpen, and he goes in there about 2-3 times a day from 10-30 minutes so that I or his Nana can take a shower or get some other kind of work or chore done.  I don't know why I feel so bad about this thing.  I know it would be impossible for me to have 100% of my attention focused on him every second of the day, but still I feel strange because it looks so much like a little prison.


But I've got a new take on it.


Today's New Activity:  Role Reversal/Change of Perspective/Reverse Psychology...Mama in a Box


At one point this evening, I was sitting in the living room and Kalil was playing with his plastic flip phone, standing next to me.  Then he tossed it into his playpen and almost immediately started crying and pointing toward it.  So I reached in a grabbed the phone and gave it to him.  He gave it back and started whimpering.  He grabbed my hand and moved it toward the playpen (a new thing he does--he grabs my hand and leads it toward whatever object he wants me to manipulate, turn on, or otherwise make entertain him in some form).  So I was taking one toy out at a time and handing them over, trying to figure out what he wanted.


Soon he was clearly frustrated.


Maybe he wanted IN the playpen.


I put him in.


Now REALLY crying!


What to do?


My Mom walked in on this scene.  "Maybe Mama should get in the box," she said.


I have no idea why she said this.  But did I care?  Not especially.  When you're a Mama and the kid is doing this kind of thing, all frustrated and helpless and desperate-like...well, you'll pretty much try anything once.


I started playing with all his little toys and in no time he was trying to climb in and join me.

The takeaway I got from this was that once I was in there, I realized it wasn't bad at all.  I mean, I was surrounded by all kinds of fun stuff and had a great view of the Christmas tree, living room, and kitchen--the heart of the house basically.  I could have hung out there a while for sure.

I picked up the monkey and brought him in there with me, and he was pretty happy with that arrangement for a little while.

Kalil is at the age where he wants to get into every thing, all the time.  He basically spends every moment at home wandering the house and looking to open, take down, or yank on something--anything that isn't a toy of his, that is.

But when he's in the box, he has no choice but to actually play with age-appropriate toys and find a way to make the best of it.  What I like about The Box is that, knowing he can spend time in there by himself and stay happy gives me hope that I am not raising a self-centered child who will expect everyone to cater to his wants and whims at every moment.  There are times when he's going to need to comfort and entertain himself, and he's getting good at it.

And this kid's got PLENTY of in-his-face lovin' and attention, so the balance--the time he spends to himself--is starting to feel like a pretty good thing.

And just a sidenote: today was one of those days when engaging in a new activity was looking like a pretty difficult thing to make happen.  I worked, then had an appointment, then had a visit with my friend Ramon at home, then playtime and dinner and bath and bed time for the baby, and still trying to make it to the gym!  Climbing into the playpen for a little new perspective was about as much as I could muster.

I've already said that I know I won't be able to get all crazy or even interesting every day.  There are days when my new activity may just involve taking a new street on the way to work.  Or, as my friend Kelsi mentioned, I could, "just try practicing full consciousness while brushing my teeth some day."  That will be cool, too.

This project is about experiencing joy, and I don't want it to ever feel like pressure...a little pressure--the pressure that is positively motivational--is good.  But I've had a few friends reply to my request to introduce me to something they're into with words like, "I don't do anything interesting," or "There's nothing I do that you haven't probably done," and I say no way!  First of all, I very seriously doubt that is true of anybody I know.  But more importantly, this is not about blowing anybody's mind or being all crazy out there.  And even if it's true that a friend out there has truly only overlapping interests or hobbies, then I say we head out together in search of a change of pace, even if it resides in the simplest and least-eyebrow-raising of activities imaginable...