Looking Back at March

A month ago it felt like spring would never come, but now we can definitely say it's here! The crocuses are up, the temps are consistently above freezing, and we've even had a few sunshine-y days. Here are a few highlights!

We're rediscovering how essential time outside is to our sanity.

We had a beautiful warm spring day this month recently, and we put our schoolwork on hold to spend our first extended time outdoors of the year. I immediately observed that when we spend the day inside together, I hear the kids arguing about once every twelve minutes and it feels like they 'need' me for one thing or another almost constantly. But when we're outside together all I hear is curiosity and collaboration, and the kids could care less if I'm nearby. I spent the afternoon sitting under a tree with my new copy of Julie Bogart's Brave Learner while they built a 'secret hideout' in the woods. It was magical. I'm glad we've plowed so much schoolwork over the dreary winter months so that we have the freedom to spend the nicer days outside.

I'm experimenting with oil pulling

Have you tried oil pulling? I have terrible teeth, and I despise flossing, so I've been looking into alternative ways to look after your teeth. Strangely I find swishing a tablespoon of coconut oil around in my mouth for 20 minutes much more appealing than flossing. I'm not sure if it's doing anything for my teeth, but overall I feel really clean and refreshed after doing it, almost like after doing yoga. We'll see if the habit sticks, but I'm quite happy with the experience so far.

We started tracking our miles driven each week and it's leading to unexpected results.

Growing in our stewardship of the earth is something that is on my mind lately, and my nature-loving kids are starting to jump on the bandwagon as well. As we talked through how our daily choices influence our carbon footprint, we decided the amount of driving we do probably has the greatest impact. We happened upon the idea of recording and graphing our miles driven each week just to get some data.

I've been amazed to discover that just that simple decision (writing down our weekly miles driven) is unlocking the momentum to make all kinds of other environmentally responsible decisions. We haven't proactively changed anything about our daily life, but our weekly miles are steadily dropping as we find a desire to walk to nearby stores instead of driving or do a better job combining errands to reduce our total miles.

But it's going even beyond that! Suddenly we are talking about collecting food waste to drop off at a local farm for composting, instead of just throwing it in the trash. We're discovering local businesses to source certain food items instead of buying from the nearby big box store. And we're thinking about how to shop for food in a way that reduces the packaging we're bringing home.

These changes have felt so effortless I wonder if we've happened upon a keystone habit, one of those tiny habit shifts that brings about massive life change. Probably too soon to tell, but I'm reminded of the old adage 'You can't manage what you don't measure.' In this case at least, measuring seems to be the gateway to some fun changes.

I took the Strengthsfinder assessment.

I love personality assessments! If you do too, I'm an ISTJ, Enneagram One, Questioner. Nice to meet you!

The Strengthsfinder is an assessment I was less familiar with, but when I had the opportunity to take it at work this month, I leaped at the chance. Turns out my number one strength is "Input".

I never realized this was a strength, but it fits me like a glove. Input people have an insatiable appetite for information. They are extremely inquisitive. They love taking in new content whether that's through reading voraciously, traveling to new places, or quizzing new acquaintances.

This explains my desire to read constantly, listen to 5 podcasts (or more!) a day, and pepper my husband with questions about every single aspect of his day. Much to his chagrin... I love having language to describe this aspect of my personality.

Have you taken the Strengthsfinder? Do you know your strengths? I'd love to know!

And now I'm going to take a peek at what we were up to in years past.

Seven Years Ago

We were escaping a frigid spring by touring the Wellesley College Botanical Gardens with baby Moses.

 



Six Years Ago

We were expecting the birth of little Abigail and enjoying the Boston Children's Museum with Moses.

Five Years Ago

We cheered Abigail on as she took her first steps just ahead of her first birthday!

 

 

I hope March has been good to you and your family! Onward to April :)