Every Little Thing is going to be okay. 🎶

I answered the phone one day, Allie asked what I was doing and then casually mentioned, “I’m pregnant… 🙆‍♀️ and we’re having twins!”

*by the way, I heard that ‘we’ to mean Allie and Me. 💁‍♀️

Back to that moment…
That shot of joy made me literally jump up and down on the living room couch (and I can’t explain it, but I often swear hard like a truck driver when I just can’t find the words to get my excitement out). 🤷‍♀️

That joy faded quickly because I was suddenly worried about … well everything, including a twin pregnancy in the middle of a global pandemic.

I pulled up my Brené Brown toolkit of self-help books 📚 and reminded myself that foreboding joy is not necessary, it won’t protect us from anything because we can never prepare for the things we are wasting time fearing.

Here’s the very short version of how I left my fear and welcomed pure joy and anticipation:

I was deep asleep one night and had been woken by the sound of two giggling little blonde haired boys whose image (I’m telling you) I saw where the moonlight came through my bedroom window. The boys gave me a glimpse into what was to come…

“Psst, we’re over here.”

I looked and I saw them, two bubbly, energetic little baby boys.

“Everything’s going to be okay.” -they promised me!

From that very moment on, from that very first life lesson from the boys, I learned to feel the joy and to know that ‘everything really is going to be okay.’

The next day I shared this story with my family (who thinks I’m a bit woo woo anyway 🙄), and I told them, “I know that you’re going to have two boys.”

Sure enough, to my daughter’s surprise, within the next day or two… they found out the twins are identical little boys. That’s when Matt did some jumping of joy too! 😝

So, of course I said, “I told you so. “ 🙆‍♀️ …like 3 times.

Then I reminded allie, and myself, that “…everything’s going to be okay.”

Saying Hello to Hygee!

Like plants, I believe that we all grow our most healthy selves when we are rooted in a 🌱 nurturing environment.

I am fascinated by the impact our surroundings have on our energy.

As a teacher, I am grateful to have the freedom to explore all types of classroom design to help make the inside of a brick and mortar school building feel like a “kinder- garden.”

The influence a space can have on a group of little humans who (similar to🪴 plants) have the ability to grow like weeds when they feel safe, when they are cared for, and when they are planted in their least restrictive environment …is an enormous factor in teaching children how to navigate the life-long skill/ability/gift to self-regulate.

I learned a new word as I was browsing 📚 at the local library this summer, “Hygge.”

🌱Pronounced: hoo-gah
If Hygge is new to you, let me know what you discover when you explore this tool as a way to design the inside of your home (or classroom or office space) -as well as the impact it can have on mindset, state of being, and overall peace-filled, clearing energy.

Digital babysitter

Dear daughter,

I know that sometimes you let the twins FaceTime me just so you can drink your coffee while it’s still hot. 🤷‍♀️

My conversations with the boys usually consist of them taking 50 (or so) pictures of me while I bark at them, “…get off the table, you’re making me nervous, put that down, let your brother have a turn, don’t jump on that, stop 🏃 🏃 running around with the phone, you’re making Grammie dizzy…”

In the 80’s, I’d just toss you in a playpen with a few 🍼 bottles of cold milk and drag that fishnet playpen in front of the TV so I could drink my coffee while it was still hot. 💅

So, I guess we’re just about even (until those teen years come). 🙄

My Job is Simple

My job is simple.

I work Monday – Friday.

September – June.

No nights.

No weekends.

No holidays.

Read the rest of the story here… https://www.southerntierlife.com/post/lessonslearnedsmacpherson

I was the Perfect Mom

https://www.southerntierlife.com/post/stiervoicesperfectmom

Cosmic Kitchen

Taken from the book, “Heart Thoughts” by Louise Hay.

Everything I need comes to me in the perfect time and space sequence.

Doing affirmations,

making wish lists,

creating treasure maps,

doing visualizations,

writing in a journal

can all be compared to going to a restaurant.

The waiter takes our order and then goes into the kitchen to give it it to the chef. We sit there and do whatever we do because we assume that the food is on its way.

We don’t ask the waiter every two seconds:

“It is ready yet?”

“How are they making it?”

“What are they doing in there?”

We place our order and we know that our food will be served to us.

It is much the same with what can be called the cosmic kitchen.

We place an order in the cosmic kitchen of the universe and know it is being taken care of.

It will come in the perfect time and space sequence

An Open Book

35 years ago, I was only 21.

I didn’t know how young I was and I didn’t know what I was capable of ~ yet.

Yet, there was a girl who chose me to be her mother; she knew that it would be through our time together that she would learn all the lessons she had already agreed to, the lessons in her book.

Here’s the plot twist, I had no idea how much I would learn from her …or what a story she was about to write.

Our first chapter together began when I was given a gift, an 8lb 11oz special delivery.  Her arrival was the easy part.

The hard part came next.  

I remember being mad at the world because no one had told me how hard it was to be a parent.  I was convinced that everyone knew how hard it was, yet no one told me.

Looking back, maybe I made it harder than it had to be.

Maybe I could’ve let those dishes in the sink pile up instead of staying up late to wash them by hand.

Maybe the laundry didn’t have to be ironed or folded during naptime; maybe no one else cared about wrinkled clothes, except me.

Except, this story isn’t about me.

In the great big book of life, those early pages are truly just a few chapters.  This excerpt is about Allie.

Allie is 35, her story is still being written; she’s holding the pen in her left hand and choosing all the right words.

Allie’s autobiography is full of mystery, adventure, humor, magical realism, and wonderful surprises ~ like identical twin sons.

Her lessons learned are my lessons yet to learn.

I’m still not able to let the dirty dishes sit overnight, but I do let them sit a tiny bit longer. 

I can’t remember the last time I ironed, but I do still fold the clothes and skip the nap.

Allie is a faster learner than her mother, she knows the dishes will sit but the babies won’t. 

She knows the clothes can be worn wrinkled. 

She knows what to skip -and she never skips pages (or moments) in her life.

I’d like to be just like her when I grow up.

Happy birthday, Allie.

“What day is it?” asked Pooh.
“It’s today,” squeaked Piglet.
“My favorite day,” said Pooh.”
― A.A. Milne

Using the Eff word on New Years Day?

When life is going better than expected, health is prime, that long-awaited baby is born, the job promotion is finally handed to you, you close on that 4 bedroom home, or …

~you get the idea.

That’s when the Eff word can creep in on us.   Foreboding.

According to Brene Brown (research professor and author of four #1 New York Times bestsellers), we gracefully allow joy to wash over us and then five seconds later the excitement is gone and we’re panicked about a bad thing that’s going to happen to counter the positive.

When’s the other shoe going to drop?

Let’s stop asking that question. Let’s take both shoes off and go barefoot through this New Year.  Let’s allow ourselves to actually feel everything… from the bottom of our barefoot sole to the top or our over-thinking monkey mind.

Brene gives us the most common example of foreboding.  Read on and ask yourself if you’ve been in these shoes.

The shoes of the parent who has stood over that sleeping child and thought, Oh God, I love this kid more than I knew was possible, and in that same second felt fear wash over you and picture something horrible  happening to your child?

Statistically, it’s about 90% of us.

My hand is up; I’m in that (top) 90%.

I’ve felt this; until now.

I’ve felt the need to prepare for the worst possible scenario. I say until now because I’m working on building up my gratitude bank; I know that worn notebook of mine, filled with a collection of awareness, living-in-the-moment, pieces of joy will build up my faith …and fill my emotional reserve with the vulnerability of joy.

Brene identifies joy as the most vulnerable emotion we feel; it’s an extremely fragile feeling …and that level of vulnerability can be frighteningly overwhelming.   This is when our joy becomes foreboding (if we allow it to scare us).

It’s not a helpful practice (and certainly not a healthy habit) to feel joy and then allow ourselves to expect, or even plan for, disappointment.

We can’t possibly prepare ourselves for pain or disappointment by foreboding joy; the Universe doesn’t make deals like that.

We deserve joy, He created us to be joyful.  Allowing ourselves to feel that ‘most vulnerable emotion’ and STAY IN IT is what helps to finance and prepare our emotional bank accounts.

We can’t be prepare for tragedy   …ask anyone who has lived through such tragedy.

We can’t anticipate tragedy like we pay for flood insurance.

We can find assurance and build our resilience by practicing moments of gratitude and remembering to celebrate every. single. one. of. our. many. joyful. moments.

“I don’t have to chase extraordinary moments to find happiness–it’s right in front of me if I’m paying attention and practicing gratitude.” ~ Brene Brown

Speak only words of Kindness…

♥For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others.

♥For beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness.

♥For poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone.

~Audrey Hepburn

 

More Lip Love…  ↓↓↓

1. Moisturize regularly!

Did you know your lips are made of skin? The skin on your lips is significantly thinner than the skin on the rest of your body, and it doesn’t contain any sebaceous glands—the glands responsible for secreting oil onto your skin to help it stay moisturized. So how do your lips stay properly moisturized?

Their only source of natural moisture is through saliva, so your lips can become chapped very easily! Young Living has awesome lip balms that use a coconut oil base, as well as other natural ingredients such as beeswax, sweet almond oil, jojoba oil, rose hip oil, essential oils, and vitamin E. There are three flavors: Lavender, Cinnamint, and Grapefruit.

2. Protect!

Just like the skin on the rest of your body, the skin on your lips is sensitive and needs protection from the sun. When spending significant time outdoors, remember to add some of YL’s Mineral Sunscreen Lotion around your lip area. It’s infused with skin-loving essential oils such as Helichrysum, Carrot Seed, and Sacred Frankincense.

3. Exfoliate!

By exfoliating your lips, your lip balm will work more effectively. This will also make your lipsticks and glosses apply easier and look better throughout the day. We are super excited about the new YL Poppy Seed Lip Scrub: It gently exfoliates and can also be used as an overnight moisturizer. Win, win!

 

By the way  …have you seen our HOLIDAY lip balm COLLECTION?

Grab that once-a-year -4-pack! Vanilla Mint,  Lavender,  Cinnamint,  and Grapefruit!

 

→Got questions?  Ask me…

Email…  macphersonshelley@yahoo.com

→ Or on Facebook ~ Shelley Merrill MacPherson

Can I be in Love Already?

“My original fears about changing to a new grade quickly disappeared as I moved from a curriculum-centered to a STUDENT CENTERED classroom.”
— Barbara Hanson, teacher at Willett School in Attleboro,  Massachusetts (Hanson, 1995).

I’m welcoming my 14th year of classroom teaching this fall.

I specify classroom teaching because as a mom, I know that parents are our kiddos #1 teacher.

I’m working with the class of 2030 as all 27 of us become the change we want to see in this worthy world of ours.

Every single fall is different because not one single season of life is the same.

What’s the same for our classroom this year?

We all stuck together and moved our kindergarten classroom family to the 1st grade on the 2nd floor in what feels like the 3rd dimension of this continuous learning path.

The educational world calls this opportunity, Looping.

Looping: a term coined by Jim Grant, author of “The Looping Handbook,”
refers to the not-so-new but (fingers crossed) increasingly common practice of
keeping groups of students (classroom families) together for two (or more) years
with the same teacher.

This year that teacher is me and those kiddos are my family for another 185 days of life and learning.

Learning via Looping isn’t a new concept in education; it’s  been around for centuries. Remember that t.v. show, Little House on the Prairie? Mrs. Beadle was THE teacher in that old-school, one-room schoolhouse (year after year).

I like old-school in classroom design, I like old school in theory, and I’m already in love with Looping. 

Here are a few lessons in looping from: “Looping: Supporting Student Learning Through Long-Term Relationships. ~ via Northeast and Islands Regional Educational THEMES IN EDUCATION Laboratory at Brown University.

ACADEMIC BENEFITS
■ Teachers gain extra teaching time. “Getting-to-know-you”
time becomes virtually unnecessary during the second year.
We don’t lose several weeks each September learning a new
set of names, teaching the basic rules to a new set of
students, figuring out exactly what they learned the
previous year. (Ratzki, 1988).
■ Teacher knowledge about a child’s intellectual strengths
and needs increases in a way that is impossible to
achieve in a single year. I had watched my students’ skills emerge and solidify. I was
able to reinforce those skills in a style that was consistent
over two years. (Jacoby, 1994).
■ “Long term teacher/student relationships improve…
student performance.” (George, 1987).

■ “Long term teacher/student relationships improve job
satisfaction for teachers.” (George & Oldaker, 1985).

■ Multi-year teaching offers tremendous possibilities for
summertime learning, such as summer reading lists, miniprojects,
and field trips. The thought of being able to ‘keep the ball rolling’ during
the summer recess seemed a logical and educationally sound
idea. (Killough, 1996).

 

SOCIAL ADVANTAGES
■ Students have reduced apprehension about the new school
year and the new teacher after the first year. (Hanson,
1995; Checkley, 1995a).

■ Students reap benefits from time spent on developing
social skills and cooperative group strategies in subsequent
years. (Hanson, 1995).
■ Looping permits students to get to know one another
well, facilitating social construction of knowledge.
(Zahorik and Dichanz, 1994). Students are better able to resolve conflicts and they are
more skillful in working as team members to solve
problems. (Hanson, 1995).
■ Long term relationships result in an emotional and intellectual
climate that encourages thinking, risk-taking, and involvement. (Marzano, 1992; Zahorik/Dichanz, 1994). The students have learned to take risks because they trust
each other. — April Schilb, teacher (Checkley, 1995).

■ Looping encourages a stronger sense of community and
family among parents, students, and teachers. (Checkley,
1995).

It’s the sense of community and belonging that allows us to build significant relationships in the classroom.

“No significant learning occurs without a significant relationship.”  ~James Corner

Dear educational system, please allow us the time (that we know matters) in our classrooms to build these relationships.  We’re raising young people, not just test scores.

Let that loop of logic run through your mind…