Recap of March Meeting

Last night was the first mom's group meeting at the new evening time. It was a success. Thanks to all the ladies who came and for the fruitful and interesting discussion. (and to Elizabeth Hatch who brought the MOST AMAZING BROWNIES EVER-seriously.)

The evening opened with a talk on fortitude given by Elena:
Fortitude was loosely define as the virtue that keeps us going in our daily struggles and challenges. It is differentiated from courage, which is the virtue that provides a necessary boost into action at difficult times. Fortitude is needed in daily events so that we can persevere in what we know is right.
Fortitude is needed in keeping up with daily tasks especially one of the most difficult ones of teaching the said virtue to your children.
The fact that it is a daily struggle implies that there will be times of failure and it is important to maintain a sense of optimism through it all.

These monthly meetings endeavor to provide that boost of optimism.

2 main topics were discussed: Perfectionism and Making work Convenient.

Basic principles of avoiding perfectionism: Don't do what doesn't need to be done and Don't wait to do it until it can be done perfectly. (you might never find that perfect time and while you are waiting you will drown in The Sea of Laundry.)

2 Keys to Making Work Convenient:Keep supplies close at hand and develop routines.

This section spurred a big conversation on order and organization and the importance of having daily routines. Setting up schedules will come so naturally to certain temperaments while the notion of schedules will send others running in the opposite direction.

It was interesting to hear the different temperaments discuss different approaches to work and routine. One thing was clear: Keeping supplies close at hand helped everybody.

**I found that keeping supplies so readily available (wipes and sprays in each bathroom and kitchen) makes work so easy to accomplish that the routine finds itself. When it takes no effort to grab the wipe from under the bathroom sink the task ceases to be a laborious chore and turns into a quick brainless wipe.