According to Shawn, a daily intention is simply a “focus on one area that I can excel or accomplish.”  I had to stop and think about that for a bit.  “ONE area.” I’m a list maker so I have a tendency to start with a few things that need done and add and add and add until the list is so long it lacks focus and it could never be accomplished in a single day.  To help curb this habit, I long ago started each day by filling out my daily docket where there is space for only 3 MIT’s (most important tasks). But this Daily Intention thing … it’s about more than tasks.  It’s more about an attitude … a way of approaching tasks. “Be patient”, “embrace silence” and “say yes more” are a few of her examples.

I’ve set a couple different intentions this week “don’t raise your voice” was somewhat forced upon me because of a scratchy throat, but had a remarkably calming effect on the entire household, and even allowed me to laugh when Dora added Do-A-Dot’s to the walls mere hours after the handyman had removed her previous artwork.  “Don’t interrupt.” is a big one for me and one I’ll have to keep working on because I’m terrible on this point.  But the intention that had the most far reaching effects on this week was “rethink normal.”

See it’s winter in Oklahoma and while the weather has actually been fairly mild, I can’t send the kids outside to play all day like I can in the spring or fall.  Consequently, my sofa was constantly be re-made into a fort, the game room looked like a toy truck exploded and requests for screen time had reached a record high.  These kiddos had some energy that needed to be released.

Normal:

Rethinking Normal:

You should also know that part of rethinking normal means rethinking rules and the value of rules and which rules we value. Not many, in case your wondering.

• This structure is for outdoor use only. (uhm, yeah.)

• Recommended ages 4-10 (we only have one child that falls in this range … pretty sure everybody else is going to use it too.)

• Requires 2 adults to assemble (or one adult and a tween and a big kid and a toddler and a slightly bigger toddler)

• Children should not be present during assembly (see previous note)
• There must be no obstructions within 6 feet of the structure (I would totally comply with this one if I lived in say … a castle … or a gymnasium.)
• Do not allow children to add anything (ie ropes etc) that is not specifically designed to be used with the structure. (Actually, using sheets as hammocks was my idea so technically the children didn’t add them.)
• No more than 4 children should be on the dome at one time. (Really?!)

I mention these mostly because these may be rules that you do value, in which case it is unlikely that you will be installing a geometric dome climber in your house anytime soon but if you don’t and you do then you will be glad you did because no one will even think of taking apart your sofa all day.

They’ll be way too busy.

Categories: everyday us, games 'n activities, product commentary | 5 Comments »