First of all, welcome to the blogosphere to The Mama. Her new blog is over at Kieran Does Not Knit.
Today is her first day back at work and the theme for her entry is doing corporate America's bidding while wishing there was a better way to make ends meet.
We're both ready to go off the grid. Maybe not literally a cabin in the woods while growing our own crops. But finding a way to spend more time with our kids, together, and feeling less stuck in the daily grind.
I think that's why we both love the Duggars from 20 Kids and Counting or however many they have now. They've gone off to do their own thing. They're different and a bit unusual, for sure. But they raise their kids right and much respect to people who choose to thoughtfully live outside the norm.
We've thrown around the idea of starting our own business for awhile. Coffee roasting, a cloth diaper store, I'll need something to do when the kids go off to school. Maybe now is the time to start working on that.
Not to mention that my love affair with small, local businesses has had an awakening of sorts lately. Two of my favorites, Bleeding Heart Bakery and Blue Max Coffee have each had some changes in direction that I don't agree with and I've been trying to put together an intelligent defense of the small business customer and what a good model for small business ownership should look like.
It would be a lot of work, for sure, just to open. Finding capital and deciding on a business model and putting the kind of time/energy into it that would make it something not half-assed to be proud of. But much like having kids, it may be worth it to set our own hours, be your own boss, make your own rules, and do something rewarding for yourself rather than giving that time and energy to someone else's organization.
This whole philosophy is off to a start this Christmas, too. We're not participating in some of the traditional ways. Or at least trying to wean ourselves off the materialism and idea that you must do x, y, and z. Starting next year, the major gifts for our children will be an item they must agree together they want or both will like. Share with your brother/sister. The focus this year is on family time together, baking cookies, making memories. There's no need for the holidays to be stressful. Their true meaning should be more jolly and less holly.
So we still believe in electricity, science, modern medicine, etc.. But don't be surprised if our vision for the future sounds a little more "centered" to use a Buddhist term.
Today is her first day back at work and the theme for her entry is doing corporate America's bidding while wishing there was a better way to make ends meet.
We're both ready to go off the grid. Maybe not literally a cabin in the woods while growing our own crops. But finding a way to spend more time with our kids, together, and feeling less stuck in the daily grind.
I think that's why we both love the Duggars from 20 Kids and Counting or however many they have now. They've gone off to do their own thing. They're different and a bit unusual, for sure. But they raise their kids right and much respect to people who choose to thoughtfully live outside the norm.
We've thrown around the idea of starting our own business for awhile. Coffee roasting, a cloth diaper store, I'll need something to do when the kids go off to school. Maybe now is the time to start working on that.
Not to mention that my love affair with small, local businesses has had an awakening of sorts lately. Two of my favorites, Bleeding Heart Bakery and Blue Max Coffee have each had some changes in direction that I don't agree with and I've been trying to put together an intelligent defense of the small business customer and what a good model for small business ownership should look like.
It would be a lot of work, for sure, just to open. Finding capital and deciding on a business model and putting the kind of time/energy into it that would make it something not half-assed to be proud of. But much like having kids, it may be worth it to set our own hours, be your own boss, make your own rules, and do something rewarding for yourself rather than giving that time and energy to someone else's organization.
This whole philosophy is off to a start this Christmas, too. We're not participating in some of the traditional ways. Or at least trying to wean ourselves off the materialism and idea that you must do x, y, and z. Starting next year, the major gifts for our children will be an item they must agree together they want or both will like. Share with your brother/sister. The focus this year is on family time together, baking cookies, making memories. There's no need for the holidays to be stressful. Their true meaning should be more jolly and less holly.
So we still believe in electricity, science, modern medicine, etc.. But don't be surprised if our vision for the future sounds a little more "centered" to use a Buddhist term.