Spoonful of Imagination

Add it to a Family for Something Beautiful

My Creative Spot (part 2)

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As promised, here is what is currently clipped to my memo board.

The two charts are a behavioral system we picked up from Caleb’s teachers at school.  They use it in the classroom.  When our kids are obedient on the first request, do something unusually nice/thoughtful, are encouraging, or have good “quiet times” we give them a sticker.  (Waking up with dry pullups/underwear is also a current sticker get-er) Once their chart is full of stickers they get to pick something out of my prize box.  I also take stickers away for being rude, disrespectful, not obedient, etc.  They HATE to lose stickers.  This has really helped our family.

It has eliminated some of the asking for things at stores.  If they see something they like, I sometimes buy it and stick it in my prize box, so they have to “earn” it.  It has really helped with nagging/ begging for things.  They know they get prizes by earning them.

I am constantly adding new dollar store/Target dollar section stuff to the box so they never know what is inside.  It’s exciting.  I also am VERY tempted to buy stuff out of the dollar section that I want to do with my kids and just give it to them.  I think, “its only a dollar”, but that was rearing some spoiled attitudes.  This has been good for me too.  I  can still buy the items I want too, but it holds me back from giving them away for just any reason.

Our charts change sizes.  It makes it fun for me :).  Some times they are longer than others.  Some days I am more pron to give lots of stickers than others.  Either way though this is something that we constantly have going on and it has helped us.  Thank you to Caleb’s amazing teachers for this gold nugget!!

My half marathon training sheet might also be hanging here.  I was going to train for the Alien Roswell run on August 18.  It’s at night and looks amazing!  Its now looking like we might do a family trip over that time, so I probably wont be able to do it.  I might still train for it anyway.  I turn the big 3-0 this year, and I would really like to run a half marathon before 2013.  It’s a goal.

Our house is almost 70 years old, so it’s small and has lots of fun “characteristics” as in this built-in bench.  I think it’s suppose to hold firewood, but it definitely holds paint cans for us.  I love these three pillows my sister-in-law brought back for me from her World Race.  My house is all about color.  It’s my box of crayons!

That sign I made off one I saw on Pinterest.  As much as my OCD sometimes struggles with letting the house “go”  it’s a needed part of being a good mommy. This sign is a good reminder to me!

Thanks for checking out my creative corner!

Extreme OCD

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Did you listen to the Bert show this morning on the radio?  They talked about extreme cases of OCD.  I don’t usually listen to the “talk” part much on stations, but just flip to songs I like.  Today they had me!  Even as I write this I feel so understood and I guess not alone.

If you walked into my house or opened my car today, you would never know I struggle with OCD.  I fight it HARD core.  As a mom of three, there is no way I could possibly do all my rituals or keep things the way I want to if I also want my kids to love me…which I do!  There is this saying I got off pinterest that has now being written on my chalkboard wall in the kitchen for weeks.  It says ” Don’t give up what you want most, for what you want now.”  To me, I have to hang on to that phrase with my OCD.  What I want more than anything is for my kids to grow up feeling loved and treasured, but in some moments I just want a clean/organized house.  I know there will be a day when all my rituals will be able to be in full swing, but I want to think of this time as a blessing as my kids are saving me from myself, so I continue to fight it.

But oh how nice was it to hear other people call in today and say how they check the locks like crazy, they get up off the couch to slightly move a book or frame, or how they sweep their floors 50 times a day, or how they use cutting boards to prepare all their food-no matter HOW clean the kitchen counters are.  When I shared a room with my sister in middle school I remember making her get off her bed-on the top bunk- and go check the lock to make sure it was unlocked like five times a night cause I got tired of doing it myself .  That was a horrible sister moment-so glad she is still one of my best friends today!

Something else that I have realized about myself is that I can only let it go for so long and then my systems take over and I am mean and edgy until some is back in “order”.  It’s hard as crap.  I had one of those moments this morning.  Maybe this is my struggle so it helps keep me humble.  There is nothing like apologizing to your four-year old before he goes out into the world (school) and leaves you for the day with that nasty pit in your stomach.

I think I hide it pretty well, you might see things and write them off as quirks or just funny things I do…but I can’t hide what it does to me on the inside.  That comes out and oozes.  A battle within is so hard on top of everything else life throws at you, so I fight it…but not on my own.  I need Jesus.  As my J man said today on our run “Jesus is a nice guy, mom”.  So thankful I am not in this alone!