Wrangling Your Ducks

This!!!! watch to see all we do

Worlds Toughest Job - for our moms - unofficial

LOVE LANGUAGE-----What is your Love Language? We all have one. Do you know what yours is? Do you know what your partner's is or your child's? How about other people important yo you? Do you know what makes them feel good? How they like to receive love? Relationships are beautiful and hard and fun and complicated. All take work, communication and a give and take. Anything worth it takes effort. Do you feel you give what you get back? How are you as a partner? IS there anything you want to work on? IS there anything you would like to work on as a couple. When I discuss this, this can be for a spouse, partner, friends, co-worker, sibling- any important relationship. In order for relationships to be effective, both have to be clear on what they want and what they can give as well as what is needed. Are you effective and more in touch in some relationships but not in others that are just as important? Why? What is it that makes you guarded or behave differently.
It is important that we know the difference between preference and priority. Certain things are what we wish or would like but is it in the end a priority? Are we realistic? Can we still be quite happy without it? As people get older their dating checklist changes. What we value and prioritize when we are younger is not the same when we are older and wiser. The years teach you priorities. The same goes with other relationships. In our older years people look for loyalty, fun, similarities conversation. They tend to spend their time with similar quality and value people. And if you are a person with very little free time, you value who you spend your free time with and don't just give it away.
Communication in all relationships as well as mutual respect. If you are on the same page, things flow easier. That is not to say that you are always giving the same effort. Its important that if you struggling with effort or things on you mind that you communicate and say- "I'm sorry I can only give 40% or 30% right now while I am working through this." Your partner will come to you with the other 60 to cover you plus their share because that is effective teamwork. Then whey they are short with effort, You cover them. Teamwork is that you got what I can't give and I have the reverse for you. Most days its 50/50 each, but there are days and times where a person has to give more and compensate for their loved one. If it becomes a constant shortage by one, then address it. Some people are in a routine to allow themselves to give more or do more in a relationship. That is preference over priority. Do they know they are often short? Do you communicate it or do they feel they are doing other things that they see as contributing. If people communicate calmly and effectively, then they will both learn and understand where each other is coming from and what each feels that they are doing. Often times, people assume people know all they feel they do but they may not. If you value a friendship or relationship- wouldn't you want to communicate so that it canoe more effective.
How are we in keeping in touch with friends and family? How often do we get past the daily stuff with our spouse or loved one and check on where they are at with themselves, work, their lives, the family? Checking in is important. Do we reach out as much as we should? or want to? Do you feel they do? What are their love languages? Is it a friend who likes get togethers or a relative who likes phone calls and updates on the kids? Do we give it. We have aunts that remember every detail and love sending cards, making every occasion special for the kids. There is phone chain of relatives who call and tell their trick or treater number every year to each other or want to know the kids heights and weights. So then it is important to be the fact giver because that is how they want to be included. I can't see my friends as often as I would like but can send memes or things that remind me of them. there are mom group text who support each other and double check kids assignments. All of these relationships are important to all of us and it is important that we are giving and getting.
CHALLENGE- For the month coming up- Look at how lucky you are at who you have in your life. From spouse to co-worker to relative. Learn your love language and pay attention to theirs. Do what you can to nurture it this month and communicate what is important. Maybe you aren't free for a night out but you can nurture it some other way. Acknowledge these relationships and thank them in the way that would be their love language. Try and tell others how much you appreciate what they do and the little things that are taken for granted. Notice the Do-ers around you. The people always offering to help and jump in. That is part of their language. Give an overdue call or check in or text. Set up a plan. See how it feels, how the response is. See what the month brings. If you have kids- nurture their love language so they feel it. Say what should be said but often isn't. Say it also to partners and loved ones and older relatives. Say it, do it , acknowledge them. Each effort helps spread love and joy which the world needs more of. That is how we are going to wrangle our ducks.

True words

Weren’t you paying attention to how your parents were? What style you kept and what you did differently? Your kids are paying attention and you become
Their inner voice in life.

“ I am a slow walker, but I never walk backwards.” Abraham Lincoln

It’s almost that time. Your 30 day performance review. Work places do it. Why wouldn’t we take our progress temperature to see how it’s going, how we are doing? The new year has just started and it’s a great time to check in and do an end of the month assessment on your performance. Remember it has been one month so be kind and realistic. You weren’t going to lose 30 pounds in a month but have you eaten better, have you made changes? You may not have paid your debt off or purged and organized your whole house but have you made any movement? Movement is movement which is effort which is Winning!!! Have you made any effort or been more conscientious of the things important to you for your goals or what’s been on your mind?
If you struggled completely, consider re-evaluating your goal setting and see if it was too difficult. After all a goal
Is change and improvement so it will be more difficult than it will be easy otherwise you never would have needed to make it something to address.
Monthly goals are a huge part of having more successful
Months than not and making the year an over all improved year. It also helps you slowly strive to work towards bigger, long term goals while acknowledging all
Of your little wins and efforts you have made along the way for yourself. So ask yourself some of these questions-
1) What were the results of your monthly goal?
2) How much effort did it require and how much have you put forth?
3) What worked?
4) What didn’t work? What tripped me up? This is important to address. Pay attention to things that impacted progress so that you can set a mini goal to intervene the issues for next month so it can be more beneficial to your progress. For example, if you were hoping to lose weight but felt the pizza on Friday nights or the well deserved glass of wine threw you off-consider accommodating that this happens and possibly be more
Mindful for other meals so you can have the meal
Out or the wine or pizza. Or… Go smaller and say that for 3 meals a day x 5 and in between, I will try and make half healthier. That is progress. It’s change. If trying to save money an buy a coffee each morning and it’s important to you than either save money elsewhere and have your coffee or say I will
Buy 5 days this week not 7. Then next month pick another day. It’s progress and it’s a win.
5) How am I mentally, physically, health wise, financially, spiritually, socially-do a check in to see how you feel.
6)What did you learn? How would you rate it for yourself?
7) What is the next step and next plan for next month.
8)😎 consider doing this one week before the end of the month. That will give you the extra boost to finish the month strong or maybe make you work harder to make an effort last few days because that still
Counts. For those celebrating lent, start to think about what effort you want to put forward during that time that will contribute to
Yourself and community.
9) What positive habits did I use this month? Did I break any bad habits or start to break them? It’s important that while
Working on starting a new habit that you also work on breaking a bad habit.
10) What is your long term goals and what are your little
Goals along the way. Be clear, realistic and kind to yourself. Set standards of achievement you would allow another to do. We tend to treat ourselves worse than we would treat others. Come up with a plan and wrangle your ducks. Long term thinking, you have 11 months left to get there. Short term plan, you are starting a new month of possibilities. Your worth it. We are rooting for you and each other. 🐥🐥🐥

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/W9LbFd4mkT1w7MmU/?mibextid=WC7FNe. Snow thoughts!!!!! My neighbors used to do this for my parents- now we do it for our neighbors

If you have children capable of shoveling, they should help shovel-even clean off car- it teaches work ethic, teamwork, responsibility, and if you have elderly neighbors -help them. My kids go out when we go out. They started young having to be taught and now are great shovelers. The kids now automatically shovel our elderly neighbors because my husband always said—someone is shoveling my parents and your parents when they aren’t near us and I will do the same. It’s a piece of mind for those families. The kids feel great. They get a wave, cookies and even at times money. But they do it because it is the right thing and that’s their responsibility for now with our street. The streets used to be filled with kids offering work to do for extra cash. I hear my aunts on the phone hoping people come by them to shovel each time and they worry. Of course they can call a service. The world is different but we are training, raising and building our future so if you are out cleaning your car-have your children do it with you or without you. If your child is out there- shoveling brag and show us!!! Little kids should still be out even using a brush once to start the routine and expectation. Training on how to do it right is worth it. Keep our community helpful! After they are done doing a small task or the whole driveway, let them play!! Be safe!!!

When planning your menu for next week, to do your shopping this weekend-consider what’s in season which is usually what’s on sale. Although sales are not what they used to be, getting thing in seasons wins in price and flavor.