Mothering Many

I read this the other day, and it started me thinking about my floors again.

While it’s always important to have an impressive trade show display, it’s also important to remember the little things about your display. Top quality trade show flooring is just as important as the display, and I think you’ll be happy you went with Modern Day Displays to get yours. They have the best selection of flooring for all of your trade show displays.

I still haven’t done anything about either the kitchen or the living room, and they are both still on my last nerve. Could anything possible work better for a family this size than industrial quality flooring? I think not! I should totally quit complaining and just do something about it, shouldn’t I?

The problem is two-fold. Well, actually is several fold, but the reasons all begin to merge together when I think them through. Because of the size of our family, we put a lot of stress on household products. Not from abuse, just from use. The stuff that would last a “normal” family a decade or so, lasts about 5 years for us, IF it’s a high quality product, less if it’s not. That’s why I haven’t done anything about the floors. I could get it done for about 200 bucks, if I was willing to go with a cheap product. But I know if I do that, I will be angry with myself in less than a year when my “new” floor looks like crap. So, I’m holding out for the good stuff, and the good stuff is spendy. I’m not a business that can afford to drop a couple grand on a floor, yet that’s the quality I need. It’s a juggling game, balancing cost and quality.

I know I keep coming back to this, but it’s such a cool concept, and something I am trying harder to do with my children, that it just bears repeating. The fact that I’m also using it on myself with decent results just adds to the appeal! So what is it again? Appreciative coaching “uses positive questions, mindfulness, and other tools to acknowledge the strengths of individuals and effect change”. It’s a fancy name for that technique we’ve heard about before–praise the good stuff, and ask questions to point to the areas where we’d like to see changes. One of my favorites is “how’s that working for you?” because it helps the child in question (or me) see that poor choices affect them in concrete ways. You can find more info in the book written by Capella University faculty member Sara Orem, Appreciative Coaching: A Positive Process for Change.

It’s going to be a fly-by weekend around these parts. DH and the boy-oes are leaving this afternoon for a much anticipated camping trip. The living room is awash in backpacks and bedrolls, voices are loud and excited, and man, I just can’t wait until the take some of that boy-sterousness on out of here, LOL.

They will be back on Sunday morning, and Diva and I will be leaving Sunday afternoon for a trip to Carowinds. (Country isn’t going because her room is still not clean. It’s been six weeks with no life, and she still won’t clean it. Stubborn and crazy girl.) We’ll be back late Monday night. We are going with the church youth group, so I don’t even have to drive. That’s my kind of trip–no worries, just free time and fun.

Suncreen? Check. Clean under-roos? Check. Yarn? Check. Phone number for an Atlanta locksmith? Not my problem.