See – The Beauty in Everyday – Day 3 {Intentional Parenting}

If you’re new here, welcome! Right now we are in the midst of a 10 Days of Intentional Parenting series. To get started click HERE to begin with post one titled Awake and to grab the first download. Day Two’s post titled Heart is available HERE.

Today I want to talk with you about documenting your day. Now, I’m not talking about taking pictures of everything looking perfect, but rather about your day. Your real day. Do not go overboard tidying things up {and yes, it’s okay to tidy…I do..you all don’t need to see the breakfast dishes in my sink everyday, right?} before you document – we don’t live in those Better Homes and Garden homes. Truth is?

We live in homes that are lived in.

And that is good.

Our children will not remember that the napkins coordinated with the throw pillows which coordinated perfectly with the rug which drew inspiration from the upstairs bath room hand towels which you picked to match the shower curtain which matches the rust color in the handles of your drawers that you bought on clearance when you were looking for new dishes because your now ten your old was a toddler back then and dropped your old dishes {which didn’t match anything} off the table and crashing on the floor that you still haven’t updated.

Honestly? They don’t care. It’s okay for us to care, but not okay for us to push our family away so that we can achieve living in a magazine pinterest facebook bloggy print photo ideal of a perfect life. That just cannot happen along with life. It’s this crazy balance of learning to mother, and learning to be intentional in the midst of what can be a messy world.

And there will be messes. Crumbs on the floor, markers on the wall, cute throw pillows thrown on the floor, and towels that should be hanging crumpled in the corner. And that? That is, in a mother’s heart way, beautiful. That is your memory of now. Someday your home will have shining floors, spotless walls, throw pillows plumped on the couch, towels hanging neatly, and it will be quiet. Without those littles that you love wandering around.

This? See? This stuff that can be so messy is real life.

Friends, there is beauty in the everyday.

So today, my task for you is to start to document your life, your day, just a bit. And, lol, you don’t need a fancy camera. A cell phone camera is fine, that point and shoot, anything. It’s an exercise in seeing.

When your toddler draws with that broken crayon, or you see your littles reading {even if the room is messy} or they’re running around outside {with mismatched clothes and pajama pants} — record it. I have pictures of messy faces, mustaches drawn on faces, spilled milk, flour dumped out, pillows thrown on the floor, and more. Those pictures? They matter more than the pictures where my kids are standing in a line with forced smiles on their faces. This is my life. What I know I’ll want to remember when I’m old, and my children are grown, and when I look back at my life lived.

This is about intentionally beginning to see the beauty that is in your life around you.

Today, I want you to take five to ten pictures. Little things, big things, a note, and more. There are no rules. Instead, it’s about you, your life, and your kids. What is important to them? Begin to see the world through their eyes and begin to take those pictures.

And, as a parent/child activity I’d like to encourage you to either let your children take about five pictures or if you’ve got a fancy expensive camera or they’re toddlers ask them what they want pictures of and you take them. It might be the water running from the faucet — but you see, that fascinates them and you are being given a gift to be able to see what they see and what they enjoy. If you have babes — document the little things. Where you kept the diapers, what books you read, the corner of a blanket, the view of the sun rising from the chair where you rock them in the morning. That matters. These pictures on the post today? These were my four year old, Elijah’s choice. He told me he “loves playing Zingo with mom.” These pictures are priceless to me.

Your download? It explores the idea of time and your relationship with time, priorities, and children. I’d love to chat with you more about it on facebook as well. The more we begin to examine the patterns in our day the more we will become aware of our time and how we spend our time with our children.

Tomorrow’s topic? Listen. What? Are you talking to me? And remember, if you haven’t yet subscribed via email and are interested simply click Subscribe to finding joy by Email {and complete both steps as you’ll get an email asking you to verify email}. Thank you! And thank you for your shares, likes, encouraging words, and kind emails . It has been fun to watch this community grow and I appreciate you sharing. If you are on twitter I’ve started using the hashtag #10DaysParent.

10 Days of Intentional Parenting Series: Day 1 : Awake, Day 2:  Heart

The 10 Days Series is organized by iHomeschool Network, a collaboration of outstanding homeschool bloggers who connect with each other and with family-friendly companies in mutually beneficial projects.Visit us on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. And of course, click the image below to visit all the 10 Days posts from these homeschool moms of the iHomeschool Network. You’ll be blessed with almost 300 posts on things ranging from  how to handle bad days to cultivating curiosity and teaching with Legos to cooking some fabulous gluten free/wheat free meals. Click the photograph to visit the iHomeschool Network site with links to all participants!