Simplify Days, Board and Card Games, Fall Leaves, and ADHD Video
Hi, friends!
I’ve really been enjoying my Simplify Days membership lately. (And I’m not an affiliate, I don’t earn any commission for saying that. Though regardless, I’d only tell you I’ve been enjoying it if I really have!)
It’s a membership site that gives you access to courses and community all built around the simplicity and freedom of paperless living (or almost paperless -- not that you never use paper, but you move it through your systems, and only keep one box of important documents). It’s stuff you could definitely learn and implement on your own, without the membership, but I love that it’s all broken up into small and logical steps for you already, and that she focuses on foundational methods before tools and tech. And not turning a paper mess into a digital mess.
After going through what felt like a bunch of foundation and prerequisite courses (like a Backups course, that was really good to get solidly in place), I’m finally in the Paper course, and have moved through that course to the lesson on processing and cleaning up digital information, which comes before you take inventory of your paper piles and start digitizing them. Woo!
I don’t know that I’m really going to go for paperless or even all that close, but I do want to move towards more paperless, and there are aspects of some of the courses that feel like she’s taken the Getting Things Done methods by David Allen and put them in a course format instead of a book format, which honestly, seems so much better and more helpful for the content! And the fact that I’m paying for a membership is extremely motivating to me. Not only do I want to keep moving through the video lessons, getting that little hit of dopamine every time I finish a lesson, but when she has me set up digital inboxes, I really want to make sure I process those digital inboxes on a regular basis, because now it’s not just my Thing, it’s homework. Wait, that didn’t come out right. Um, what I’ve learned in the lessons and courses becomes meaningless if I don’t maintain the systems that we put in place. So wanting to move on in the videos pushes me to want to maintain my systems, too.
And it’s expensive, at least to my mind, but then on the other hand, less than we pay when we (frequently) order pizza for our family, so. I mean, before I pay for any other memberships at around this price, I’ll cancel this one first, but still. We can manage one, for now. So I just have to learn and do everything as fast as I can. :)
Board and Card Games
Recently-ish one of John’s relatives passed away, and he flew to Texas for the funeral. I was alone with the kids from a Thursday morning to a Tuesday morning. It was kind of intense. But we survived. Fortunately.
Anyway, I’m not sure it’s so much board and card games that were saving my life while he was gone, or since he’s gotten back, as just the fact that our oldest was almost eight years old at the time (now she is eight), and capable of playing semi-complex games. There were days where by the end I was pretty much having a nervous breakdown, but after the younger two were in bed and the oldest and I got out a game? That was so good. Games while the younger two are up and interrupting or literally jumping through the game, should we be playing it on the floor -- that’s no good. That leads to the aforementioned nervous breakdown. But when other inputs and sensory data are turned off or down and I can just focus on playing the game, that’s fun. Even when the board games are still pretty simple, like playing Life together.
Some texts about it:
“I was fired from my job as a rocket scientist for bringing a cat in to work. So then I could’ve been a rocket scientist somewhere else, but I chose to become a vet. Same salary. [A] was very jealous.”
“[A] wins at Life. She had three kids, I didn’t have any. We both became millionaires somehow, but [A] was richer.”
“But no cats? That hardly seems like winning”
“[A] is proposing that each baby comes from the hospital with one kitten.”
“I know what we’re getting her when she has her first kid”
A VERY cat-obsessed eight-year-old, but still, an eight-year-old.
Fall Leaves
If there’s any section of this email/post that should have pictures attached, it’s this one. But lots of times we’ve gone for walks and I’ve just walked and enjoyed without getting pictures. Or getting good ones. Fall is a hard season for me, but man. It’s gorgeous up here in western Oregon.
Fortunately after I drafted this we went for a walk at the nature park and I got a chance to take some photos!
And no matter how many times I told her we didn’t have time for her to pick up every pretty leaf from the ground, she persisted in trying.
ADHD Video
I absolutely loved this video. And I don’t normally watch videos that long on the spur of the moment, but I started it, and then it sucked me in and I couldn’t stop. :) And later I listened to it while I was driving, since the visual component wasn’t really necessary.
If you don’t want to watch or listen to something that long either, maybe I could offer you my transcription services?
Eh. Anyway, it was fascinating, and I strongly suspect my middle child and myself of having ADHD, at least, and quite possibly my oldest child, too. All of us in different “flavors” though, so to speak. These days ADHD types are all called ADHD, not ADD/ADHD, but then you can either be the “hyperactive type” or “inattentive type” or a mix of the two. My middle child is the most hyperactive of us, which makes it more noticeable, makes the symptoms a little less subtle.
(What really cracks me up — I was literally right in the middle of typing a reply to someone about how yes, quarantine can totally make ADHD symptoms worse, it's not just you, when I glanced to the side and saw my daughter like this. 😂)
I could be wrong, she hasn’t gotten a neuropsych evaluation yet (and it sounds like the waiting lists for that are currently about 18 months long), let alone has anyone else in the family, but that’s what I suspect.
The emotions with self-diagnosis can be quite a roller coaster.
First the relief. I’ve already been dealing with the symptoms, but ohhh, something that explains it all! And can provide tools and support in dealing with it! Yay! “Grieving process,” you say! Nope! Not grieving yet!
Then grieving. It’s… still a lot to deal with. And swear words, I’m 37 years old. Uh, 38 now. Some of this help would’ve been nice to have earlier. And it’s strongly genetic, so not only do I need to learn to manage myself, but to provide the hated but desperately needed structure for the special needs of little ones. Yay.
But tamp it down and minimize it, ‘cause practically everyone was diagnosed as ADHD when I was a kid in the ‘80’s, seems like. It’s so common. Such a minor issue. Especially for people so intelligent that the symptoms are all masked quite a bit.
And then on Instagram I asked the psychologist from this video a couple more questions, one of them particularly on distinguishing between the subtle symptoms of ADHD in girls and the subtle symptoms of autism in girls.
Well, she really needs a full neuropsych eval. Because it’s a spectrum, and there’s so much to look at. Being good at things in one area doesn’t rule out a diagnosis. So… yeah, that’s validating to my grief. Because everyone knows autism is a big deal.
I mean, we’re okay, we’ll cope and learn and figure this out… but yeah, it may be a journey.
Instagram Roundup
Quite a bit this time. The above photos from the nature park, plus a couple more.
I posted about cracking myself up, making homemade Grape-Nuts. So crunchy.
Also I drew! With new gel pens from my birthday! I’m quite happy with this. I pronounce further exploration warranted.
And Oregon is gorgeous, even in supposedly bleak and dreary November. Perpetually saving my life.
::Ponders trying to draw the above photo:: Ooh, I could use drawing for a low-tech HDR effect! :D
I posted a bit about Christmas music, and again about fall leaves, and the ADHD picture of my daughter above.
And finally, I posted about Long Days of Small Things: Motherhood as a Spiritual Discipline by Catherine McNiel, one of my all-time favorite nonfiction books. Mini-review over on Instagram, although I highly doubt it’s the last time I’ll write about it. It should get its own blog post one of these days.
I’m going to post the actual cover here, instead of my picture of it, because I have it on Kindle in black and white, and it’s so much better in color:
I mean, right?!
Your Turn
What about you? Did you experience anything this week (or month, or fall…) that was super validating?
When I originally drafted this, I asked, “Have you been enjoying the weather, or do you live somewhere like California, Arizona, or Texas? ;-P” But I’m not sure what it’s been like in California, Arizona, or Texas lately. Has it started to cool off?
Hmmm, what’s your favorite board game, and do you know off the top of your head the age range it’s recommended for? And can it be played with only two players? :D
Love in Christ,
Marcy