Earnest Parenting » Personal/Personal Growth

The Process; Determining the Best Way to De-Stress with a Hobby

Melissa Cameron — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 15:28:26 +0000

I needed to find a way to blow off some steam.

Like all of us, I know about the standard recommended stress-busters; exercise, eating right, getting enough sleep, etc. Like some of us, I actually do many of those things, but I find one component is still missing.

Just like homework, housework, and the work that keeps food on the table, those stress-busters are activities that I do because I ought to do them. What I don’t see anywhere on my schedule is an activity that I want to do – just for the pure pleasure of it.

Dale Carnegie was a pretty smart guy who came up with some good ideas. Here’s one of them; “Today is life-the only life you are sure of. Get interested in something. Develop a hobby. Let the winds of enthusiasm sweep through you.” I think I’ll take his advice.

I figured that a good hobby would be one that is affordable, convenient, and allows me to be creative. Of course, there are a lot of hobbies which meet those qualifications, so I need to narrow things a little further.

The Art of Being Realistic

Sewing, for instance, meets all of my self-imposed requirements, but I’ll have to admit that I have absolutely no interest in making clothes. I like wearing them, and I love saving money on them. However, I can usually find a cute dress at a discount store for as much money as I would have spent sewing it, so why bother?

So it appears that I should have added one more requirement to my hobby hunting paradigm; I need to find hobbies I’ll actually want to do. I guess that knocks out stamp collecting, community theater, and basket weaving. At this point, my ideas for a hobby were narrowed down to three pretty easy options; gardening, scrapbooking and playing the piano.

The Art of Discernment

The next step in the process is to consider the advantages of each of these hobbies, and pick the one that suits my purposes best.

Gardening is has been a favorite stress-busting activity for many years, and the reasons are pretty well known;

Fresh air and sunshine are good for both seeds and people
Nurturing a plant can nurture your patience
Pulling weeds will give you plenty of perspective

The only real drawback of gardening is that I won’t be able to do it year round.

Scrapbooking is a good year-round activity, but I probably won’t want to do it on a really nice day. That being said, this activity has several benefits for me;

I’ve done a little scrapbooking before, so I won’t need much instruction,
It will be a fun way to organize that big box of photos in my closet
I’ll have some great heirlooms to leave to my daughters

I would have to give up a corner of the den for a workspace, but that seems a small sacrifice for lowering my blood pressure.

Playing the Piano seems a bit complicated on the surface, and it sure seemed like that to me when I was in high school. I remember constantly scheduling everything else around lessons, practices, and recitals. Consequently, I didn’t stay with the piano for very long.

I’ve since regretted that decision.

Well, now not only am I older and wiser, but I am a happy denizen of the 21st century, so I have some more options. The other day while I was surfing the net, I found out how to learn pianowithout dealing with the demanding schedule: I could learn to play the piano online.

I could schedule my lessons and practices to suit my schedule, not the instructor’s,
I could perform if and when I want to, and best of all;
My family would no longer have an excuse not to sing Christmas carols!

Maybe I was always meant to be a piano player, but I’m just a late bloomer.

The Art of Making a Decision

After seriously considering the pros and cons of each of these hobbies, I made an executive decision, and it didn’t even cause me any additional stress. I decided that I now need three hobbies. I’ll scrapbook in the winter, garden in the summer, and play the piano whenever I please.

I guess that, for me, the key to finding the right hobby is to keep my options open.

How to Find Hobbies that Suit Your Needs

If you don’t have a hobby yet, maybe this is a good time to find one. You can find hobbies online or by talking to some like-minded friends. Better yet, think of activities you might have tried when you were younger, before your life became full of too many grownup things.

You may like one or two of the hobbies I’ve discussed here, or you might go in a completely different direction. The important point, though, is that whether you decide to learn piano music online or climb a mountain in person, you find an activity that brings you pleasure but doesn’t cause more stress.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. Do you have a hobby you’d like to share, or are you

looking for the perfect activity? Let us know how your process turned out!

About the Author

Freelance Writer Melissa Cameron provides tips and insights to her readers about living frugally, parenting sensibly and enjoying life at home. When not spending time with her husband and daughters or researching and writing useful articles, Melissa will soon be scanning seed catalogs and collecting scrapbooking paper.

Photo provided courtesy of alancleaver_2000 via Creative Commons license, some rights reserved.

Earnest Parenting: helping parents lower stress with hobbies.

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5 Great Reasons To Take Photos Of Your Kids

Melissa Cameron — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 05:25:54 +0000

(Editor’s note: please welcome Melissa Cameron, writing about photography, kids, and a little blackmail I know I’m planning to perpetrate when the boys get older. Thanks Melissa!)

Often times, kids don’t want to be photographed. They think it’s dull and useless to take them either by themselves or with people. For us adults, photos are a great way to hold on to the memories of when they’re still young. They don’t realize that, but we sure do. We just want to remember them as kids, even when they are grown. Here are five main reasons why you have to take pictures of your kids:

1. They Mature Fast – Our kids simply grow too quickly. Crawling one day, then the next they’re moving out. I’ve always told my husband Dave that the kids are growing up too quickly. Now they’re in school, and the next thing you know, they’ll be leaving the house. It makes me almost want them to not grow up. But I do have to be a realist. So instead, I’ll take pictures of them and enjoy every single minute I have with them as kids.

2. Treasure Their Baby Years – As we grow older we tend to forget things. We will always want to remember things just as they were. I wish I had a time machine to go to the past when all I did was change my kids’ diapers. I really had a lot of fun. I took pictures of them and I always go back to them seeing how wonderful we all were, and still are. Until recently, the only way to have pictures was to develop film rolls. Now that technology has advanced, we can use digital cameras to take hundreds of pictures and store them in the computer.

3. Making Memories – Even as they grow, taking pictures of them help create memories. While playing in the park, I’ll take my camera out and take a quick picture of them playing. I can later look at these pictures and remember how much fun we had.

4. Capture Amusing Moments – This one is pretty easy. I want to catch them doing something weird or when they’re making silly faces. We can look back at those times and remember how silly they silly they were. They’re cute, no matter what strange things they do. When they try to tell a joke, they sometimes try to act out what happens, and it’s always best to keep the camera handy.

5. Embarrassing Them – This is probably going to be my personal favorite thing to do when they grow up and leave the nest. When their partner comes to drop by, I can present to them awkward images of goofy things they did as youngsters. Showing them photographs of their tiny butts will do the best job. It’s nice to see their faces turning red like a tomato. My mom did that to me. I have to keep tradition.

I have listed a few reasons to take photos of your children. There are several more which I’m positive I did not think about. Even so, when it comes down to it, in case you do not take photographs of the essential moments while they are a youngster, you might regret it and it will be too late. They grow older so fast. Be quick and don’t let time beat you. Any memory you can capture, make sure you hold on to it.

About the Author

Melissa Cameron enjoys taking photos of her growing family and is continually looking for ways to take better photographs. Melissa is currently exploring the world of IR camera technology to broaden her knowledge on the subject. She enjoys researching and staying abreast of the latest developments in digital photography. She lives a busy life together with her spouse Dave and two children.

Photo courtesy of andrewrennie via Creative Commons license, some rights reserved.

Earnest Parenting: tips for parents who like to photograph their kids.

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I’m So Glad I’m Not Her Anymore

Amy LeForge — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 08:44:49 +0000

Growing up I was what many people might term a “type A” personality. On top of that, my social skills weren’t….great. Soooooooo, yea. I didn’t bond well with many other individuals. (I’m terribly thankful for the friends who were willing to put up with me. You know who you are.) I tended to be critical, perfectionist, and picky, among other flaws. If someone made a mistake or even looked like they were going to make a mistake, I felt compelled to offer correction.

Of course I was doing it to help them. Right? Well, there was that impulse. But my behavior was also grounded in insecurity, pride, arrogance, and foolishness. Oh, and I was judgmental too.

Have I overcome all these flaws? No, but I’m improving. Recognizing the problem is a good part of the battle.

One area that has improved is the amount of pickyness about things. I used to believe that all my possessions should be perfectly maintained and that no one should be allowed to touch or despoil them. If anything was damaged, there was hell to pay.

Ugh. What a burden all that care was.

There have been some robberies in a nearby town and security has been on my mind lately. In thinking about the house and its contents I was struck by the realization that there’s really not anything of value here. Well. I’m sure an enterprising individual could get a few bucks selling our stuff on Craigslist. But for the most part, we don’t have valuables or even fragile things here.

Sometimes I think that when the boys grow up I’ll buy pretty and/or fragile treasures and display them around the house. But then I think about the potential damage that grandchildren could wreak and I think, “Maybe we should wait until they grow up.”

Or.

Maybe I’ll never bother with any of that. It’s not here now, and I don’t miss it. I don’t miss worrying that boys will break a trinket or a tchotchke that ultimately can’t approach being as valuable as one of their toenails.

More importantly, I love being detached from all that worry. There’s freedom in being able to say, “Eh. It wasn’t important anyhow” or “We can fix/clean that” if something is broken or dirty.

Yes I do fuss at the boys about taking good care of their things, because I think good stewardship is important. But at the end of the day, I’m not the girl I used to be.

And boy am I thankful for that.

photo credit: anolobb

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When You Feel Like You’re Drowning

Amy LeForge — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 19:58:02 +0000

Around here, it seems like September is the month for just drowning in stress. With the new school schedule, there are always changes. On top of that, the boys usually aren’t fond of transitioning from summer break back to schoolwork anyway. So we all struggle.

We’re talking about it over in my post at GNMParents this week. Come on over!

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We Owe So Much

Amy LeForge — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 00:30:55 +0000

Part and parcel of Memorial Day celebrations around here include the local parade and memorial service at a cemetery. The boys march in the parade with the Scouts, then have a part in the service before officially retiring any flags that are too old or damaged to fly any more.

This is a special day. First we wait for the parade. Both the Captain and the Manager decided they had to sit on a lap instead of on the curb. Hubby did a good job managing two wiggly boys while I snapped pictures of unsuspecting victims.

Leading the way each year is a group of military folks, both retired and active duty.

Following right behind are the Scouts. Aren’t they handsome??

After the parade, everyone heads over to the cemetery for the service. The program this year didn’t differ much from last, but that didn’t detract from the meaning of the words one bit.

I don’t know which poem recited by the local high school students is my favorite. This year I was particularly moved by the poem We Shall Keep the Faith, written in response to the very famous poem Flanders Fields.

We Shall Keep the Faith

by Moina Michael, November 1918

Oh! you who sleep in Flanders Fields,
Sleep sweet – to rise anew!
We caught the torch you threw
And holding high, we keep the Faith
With All who died.

We cherish, too, the poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led;
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies,
But lends a lustre to the red
Of the flower that blooms above the dead
In Flanders Fields.

And now the Torch and Poppy Red
We wear in honor of our dead.
Fear not that ye have died for naught;
We’ll teach the lesson that ye wrought
In Flanders Fields.

To all who have served or are serving in the armed forces……

Thank you.

From the bottom of my heart.

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