Monday, February 9, 2015

Ma Ingalls Didn't Use The Term "Stressed Out"


 

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Get this look:

Taupe jacket (similar here, here, here)
Grey and pink floral chiffon top (similar here, here, here)
Pink skirt (similar here, here)
Pink necklace (similar here, here, here)
Kate Spade Cedar Street Elissa handbag (buy here)

I cook my child's food from scratch. Literally. Everyday. Every-single-day. I don't even freeze, I cook fresh everyday. And I work outside the home. How do I do it? Thanks to the magic jar, which also happened to be a rice cooker. (In Indonesia, we eat rice everyday. It's our staple food.) It's basically just some chopping, throw all the meat and rice and veggies into a bowl, put it inside the magic jar, switch the power on, and leave it for an hour while I'm doing other things like taking a shower, putting on my makeup, changing my child, preparing breakfast, kiss my husband before he goes off to work. Piece of cake.

But I would never be able to do it without the magic jar.

What's the point of me saying all those things?

When I read stories of Laura Ingalls, as the child of pioneer and farmer, I could not help but wondering how Ma did it all: being a good, strong wife to Pa, keeping a clean house, plant a garden, pick wind-fallen apples and gather strawberries, cook, make canned fruit, milk the cow, haul the water from the well or the river, preserve butchered meat, spin, sew and mend family's clothes, bake pies and cakes, teach her children, play with them, and basically raise them; all without the modern convenience that we have today.

How did the women do it in the past without microwave, magic jar, electric stove, fridge to preserve the food, freeze, AC during summertime, washing machine, vacuum cleaner, running water and even electricity?

How did my grandmother raise seven children without disposable diaper, water heater, magic jar, bottle sterilizer, breast pump, and basically did everything on her own?

Now when I look at my life, I realize how lucky I am to be born in this modern age. When I get home, with a flick of a switch, the lights are on. On laundry day, I just dump everything into the automatic washing machine, put in some detergent, push the button and all the soak, rinse, etc cycles will be on, and I can leave the machine to do all the work for me while I'm preparing or eating my dinner. When it's bath time for my son, I just place a bucket under the faucet and I'll always have hot water running thanks to the water heater installed in our bathroom.

Yet, I heard myself and other women, and women on the internet and magazines, complain that they're tired. We say we are stressed out. We whine when we don't have enough me-time or pampering time or whatever it is it's called nowadays. Reading the many books of Little House series, I never read one word about "being stressed out". Neither have I ever heard my grandma used that "stress" word. Nor me-time. Nor pampering time. They didn't have the time to be stressed out, or depressed, or to demand me-time and pampering time, because every moment of their life is filled with activities to ensure the contuinity of their lives. Every day is filled from dawn till dusk with work to ensure that they have all basic neccessities like food and clothes to survive. Whenever I want to eat chicken, I just go to the grocery store to buy chicken, all year round. When the Ingalls family want to eat chicken, they had to raise them from hatched eggs and waited two years before butchering time. Two years! Can you imagine if we have to wait so long just to eat chicken nowadays?

Yet Ma still had the time to make paper dolls for Laura. Grandma raised chicken and ducks, for the meat and eggs, yet she still had the time to tell her children bedtime stories that she created herself. She sang for her husband and children while she was knitting after dinner. Ma Ingalls picked wild flowers from the field to beautify the house. And according to Laura, her Ma was a happy woman with sweet disposition and very long patience. Same as my grandmother, who was also a happy woman and said that she lived a full life.

What about us?

Technology has made life so much easier these days.

And for that I'm thankful.

Next time whenever I'm complaining about something trivia, for example when I'm upset because the internet is down for one full day, just remind me of Ma Ingalls. And of my grandmother. And of all the women in the past who could not even imagine reading blog of someone located in another continent, search for information on how to cook crock-pot lasagna by typing several letters into google, and have a grocery store near your house that opens 24/7. No need to take that big trip to town to hoard on coffee and salt and sugar, like Ma Ingalls did.

Next time I will remember not to use the word "stress" too lightly. Because it's just me whining and exagerrating. I don't have any reason to get stressed out THAT easily.

Now if you will excuse me, I am going to take a shower with a lovely scented bath soap, put on some sweet smelling body lotion, slip on into some nice silk night gowns, and write on my gratitude journal.

Because I have soooo many things I need to write that I'm grateful for.




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Monday, February 2, 2015

January Resolutions Ain't Black N White


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MICHAEL Michael Kors Meadow Wedge Sandal • MICHAEL Michael Kors • $67.00
Furla Leather Linda Tote • Furla • $498.00
Rebecca Minkoff pink floral zipped silk 'Hydra' jacket • Rebecca Minkoff • $144.00
Marc New York by Andrew Marc Stretch Sheath Dress • Marc New York • $138.00


Hello, Friends!

Last year, I made a list of Easter resolutions and today I would like to share with you of how it had been, as well as making new resolutions. Since it's still the month of January, I just think the timing is perfect.

Here they are:

Intentionally praying for my Husband everyday

It's a hit and miss, there are days that I forgot or was already in bed and too lazy to get up again and read from my little prayer book. It's still a work in progress.

Making to do list and actually doing them everyday

I have to say that it does wonders to my productivity level! I'm getting back to making list again since I didn't do it during the holidays, but it's something that I'm doing regularly and I have found to be extremely useful.

Story Time with My Son Everyday

It's "play time" instead of "story time"; because not everyday that my son would ask me to read him a story. Sometimes he would ask Mommy to sit with him and listen to music, sometimes we would dance, build blocks, play hide and seek, etc.

Finding Time to Read Books Again

Done. So happy! Not much time to do it, but I do some regular reading almost everyday now.

Incorporating family journal into Style N Season blog

Done. Yayy!

Now for January resolutions.


Fitting into my jeans again

Being skinny almost all my life, I used to be able to eat anything I wanted, as much as I wanted, without gaining weight. However, now that I'm a thirty seven years old mom, my metabolism is slowing down and I noticed slowly but surely extra pounds crept in, adding thickness to tummy, waist, hips, upper arms and thighs. Actually, I think I still look and feel okay with my rounder body shape. Still, it's not nice that I cannot fit into any of my jeans and fitted skirts! I'm not interested to invest in a whole new wardrobe! So, I'd better lose a few pounds, nothing extreme, just so that I could fit into my clothes comfortably again. Better do it now than letting it spirals out of control. Not to mention the health benefit!

The plan:
  • Reduce carb intake during dinner.
  • Walk around for 15 minutes after lunch time at the office instead of sitting down.
  • Stop late night binging that I usually do right before bedtime.
Dress better at home for my family

I'm not a slob, but I do wear not-so-pretty house dresses at home. Now that I have a son and I often play with him on the floor, I realize that wearing almost-kneelength shorts are much proper so I don't accidentally flash my underthings! Also, I don't wear any makeup when I'm home. I mean, don't my most loved ones deserve to see me looking pretty and making effort to look nice for them is more important than doing it for other people?

The plan:
  • Wearing cute, colorful knee-length shorts and tops at home on daily basis.
  • Cutting up my old, faded housedresses and turn the pieces into rags for cleaning.
  • Making up my face a bit even if I'm just staying home. Nothing fancy. Just brushing my eyebrows and wearing some color on my lips. 
 Incorporate one slow-cooker menu a week to our meal plan

I have successfully introduced one meatless dinner per week to our weekly meal plan. Now I want to go a step further by reducing that delish deep-fried things like fried chicken and fried tofu to our diet. My mother in law gave us a slow-cooker last year and we have not made use of it yet, but now it's about time. I figure I can cook a healthy, hearty, delicious, easy dinner that doesn't need to be fried. By using a slow-cooker, I can throw potatoes, broccoli, carrots, beans, and some broth to make a tasty meal with minimum unhealthy oil. I can even reduce the meat intake, because cooked with galic, shallots and spices for 7-8 hours, the food will be flavorful enough without us craving for deep-fried crispy things nor meat!

The plan:

  • Monday is for meatless dinner.
  • Thursday is for crock-pot/slow-cooker dinner.
  • My goal is to add one more night of soup dinner per week, but we'll just take baby steps.

Introducing Church and praying habit to our son

Michael is two years old now and I have begun teaching him to pray before meal times and bedtime "Just like Mom and Dad!". Also, we begun to take him to mass. We have to change his eating schedule a bit, but so far, so good. Sitting quietly for nine minutes at Church could be quite boring sometimes even for an adult, but Michael bore it sweetly. Though he often asked, "Mommy, are we done yet?" during mass. ^__^ Bringing him to mass would also force us, the parents, to give a good example, and I need that extra push from time to time! Haha!
Later on I will start introducing him to Bible stories, as well.

Besides all these humble resolutions, of course I will continue doing my previous resolutions that have become habitual to me. Well, quite. Afterall, isn't life is all about self-improvement?

"So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect."
(Matthew 5:48)


 
I'm linking up to these wonderful Ladies:

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