Mommy and Me Work Day

Recently PJ has been having a harder and harder time dealing with some attitudes and approaches of the German kindergarten system. It doesn't help that he is still having some challenges health wise that make him feel physically uncomfortable. Some days are good, most days are just average, and some days suck.

Last week was especially rough and on this past Tuesday he had an unusual and especially strong, negative reaction to entering his kindergarten group. He kicked, cried, clung to me. I tried to go but my parental intuition spoke up. Loudly. I got as far as my car, took some deep breaths, and turned around again. I secretly watched my little guy for a few moments and could see he felt sad, uncomfortable, awkward.

It is important that we all learn how to deal with uncomfortable feelings. It is important that we learn to adapt, to grow, to work through situations that cause us difficult feelings. We start developing those skills as soon as we are born and we continue developing them throughout our lives.

And sometimes we just need a break. Sometimes we need to be sheltered and cuddled and given space to not deal with the negative feelings.

So I picked up my almost-four-year old, held him extremely tight, told him how much I love him and that we were going to have an Exception Day together. Thankfully I work at a company that offers infrastructure for tight-moments. I could have worked from home - like I do more than half of the time anyways due to the global natural of my work - but I needed a printer.

So we went to the office and into the dedicated "Eltern-Kind Büro" (parent-child office) space for a few hours.
Side note: how awesome is it that that isn't yet another "mommy&me"?

I had never used the "Eltern-Kind Büro" before and was extremely pleasantly surprised that there is an entire playroom with tons of toys, books, and space. All of this was right next to a quiet, clean, tidy temporary office space with monitors, laptop docking stations, phones, charging units, and more. Actually it was much better stocked than the various office/desk spaces I use when I am in the office.
PJ was stoked. All those signs of sadness, uncomfortable-ness, and awkwardness dissipated. He was excited, proud, curious, active. Which is how I personally want to see my almost-four-year old.

It worked really well. I wrote, edited, and posted an internal blog. I updated a strategic presentation. I held two relatively informal meetings. PJ popped in and out but on the whole he was quiet and focused. Then suddenly I heard a very excited and extremely loud yell of excitement, followed by "Mommy! You have to come now and see what I did!"

This is what I found.

Look at that face. That excitement. That pride. We made the right decision. Everyone won.

The next day he walked into his kindergarten group, had a not-great-but-not-sucky day, and practiced learning how to deal with those uncomfortable moments. If only adults did the same.

XO

Time is Precious - Is It Time To Walk Away?

Last week I got a shock: Pickles and Onions' blog storage space was totally filled. To continue our little blog here - and include pictures - we'd have to pay a monthly fee. It isn't a lot of money but it changes the set-up and raised the question, "Do I want to continue writing this blog, however humble the cost?"

Honestly, reader, I needed to think about it for a little while before coming to a decision. Life has changed since I started Pickles and Onions, Life in the Steinbach clan. I have an awesome but rather time and emotion consuming little man. I'm happily married and that, naturally, takes time and effort. I have lovely friends ... okay, that hasn't changed that much, but finding time to enjoy their company has. I'm finally getting back into the jogging groove after a too long break (three years, but who's counting?). I also have my American family and I want to have time to enjoy who they are and who they are becoming. Oh, yeah, and I still work full-time in the corporate world.

Then there is that whole sleep thing too. Sleep takes time too. And I am very happy to commit all the time I can to that whenever I can.

In other words: Time is precious. So, so very precious. Writing a blog also requires time and, lets be frank here, I haven't been taking the time to do a good job. Recently I've been sticking with okay: throwing some pictures into an entry; weaving a rather weak story around them; and signing off with 'xo'. Less than inspiring stuff, if you ask me.

My family is the most important part of my life, but, really, I didn't mean to turn this blog into a picture gallery. I've meant to write entries that share my thoughts and experiences as well as a glimpse into wonderful world we inhabit with our little man. Which is where the issue of time comes up. Where do I want to dedicate my time - because I can't and won't try to do everything. Already I played with the idea of getting this thing printed and walking away from a good run.

So, when faced with the requirement of suddenly paying a humble free for the ability to continue to this blog, the question of stopping became evermore present. I thought about it; the Mr. and I talked about it; and...well, here is my decision:

Pickles and Onions will continue. With pictures. And a whole lot less pressure on yours truly.

xo