At family gatherings, does your family segregate meals dividing its members between the “kiddie” table and the “grown-ups table”?
If your family does, this is a post for you.
If your family doesn’t, this is still a post for you because we could all use some blessings sent with good intentions (even if they didn’t start that way).
Dating back farther than my memory serves, my mother’s family has hosted all of its meals with separate tables for children and adults. As our legs and attitudes grew, my cousins and I lamented the fact that we were forced to dine at the “kiddie” table. My grandmother used to always tell us to be grateful because at least we weren’t like “the Dooley’s down the road.” Grandma would continue on with the story that the sweet Dooley family had ten (10) children and not enough chairs, so at meals they had to sit on the floor.
My grandmother also maintained the practice of saying, “And all for baby Jesus,” at the end of every meal prayer.
As a teenager, I maintained the practice of being a pain in my grandmother’s rear.
At one holiday meal where I feeling particularly disgruntled at my “kiddie table” status, (I’m sad to say I don’t remember the holiday or year), I followed up my grandmother’s closing blessing, “And all for baby Jesus,” with, “And God bless the Dooley’s. May they all have chairs to sit on.”
Since my jump start back into blogging, I’ve heard from a couple of folks who are excited to see me writing again and a few who are eager to share ideas for content. One of my sweet neighbors asked why I quit doing my Monday videos. My response, “I guess life happened.” This Monday’s Message is for you, neighbor!
In my video I spoke about struggling with the feelings of overwhelm and how to make our life journey more enjoyable. There are lots of solutions and people to support us. We just have to find what works best for us as individuals.
At the start of every month, I make a menu planner for my family’s meals, update my phone and wall calendars, and have a heart filled with optimism for a productive 30 days.
At the end of every month, I wonder where the hell time went and am so grateful I planned all those meals. I am not always able to stick to the meal plan but usually have the ingredients that allow flexibility in feeding our masses without repeats of frozen pizza and cereal too often.
Meal planning is just one way I keep myself sane, but the there are lots of easy solutions out there. Today’s Monday Message is all about riding the struggle bus and attempts to keep it together in simple ways.
Making lists is my #1 method for maintaining the madness of life.
The one thing I’ve learned about my lists though is that I can’t put too much on them or I get lost in the listing and fail to follow through the with the doing. If you are getting started on your holiday planning, give yourself 4 or 5 tasks to kick things off, as soon as they are tackled, assign some more awesome jobs to get a jump on. (You can always use my friend Lori’s theory of “One Thing Done”; she starts every list with one thing she has already accomplished and marks it off. That way she always starts with success.)
Another simple solution for flexibility and fulfillment is to keep basic dinner or gift-giving supplies on hand. I always keep goods for making stroganoff, spaghetti, or a soup in my pantry. This makes for easy dinner prep and meals to scarf down when we have to scamper to afterschool or evening events.
As for the gift giving essentials, you can never go wrong with:
a gift card to Target, Walmart, or a local store/restaurant (many schools sell gift cards as fundraisers; you can support schools and keep one or two on hand at the same time)
blank greeting cards
a few craft paper gift bags and white tissue paper
a couple essential items to give as gifts (i.e. coffee cup, water bottle, hand towel, umbrella, drawstring gym bag, etc.)
Sometimes you need a gift of cheer and others you simply run out of time before a special occasion. People can always use practical things, so stock up on cool utilitarian stuff when you can.
As always, thanks for taking time to make Intentergy a part of your day. Hopefully, these posts continue to put energy with positive purpose into your day.
By: Melanie A. Peters
P.S. Let me know if you ever need help with your struggle bus.
P.P.S. Let me know if you have any post ideas! I’m making my list for upcoming stories.
November Bloggers BeLOnG – Monday, November 8th at Missouri River Regional Library 6:30-7:30 PM CST
If you are a blogger, or have considered blogging, sign up to join us for this free session!
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