Things I don't do
I've still been thinking about all the stuff I wrote on Monday, about comparison and imperfection and the pressures that we feel.
And because I am a blogger, I've been thinking about how it's really tough to show the whole picture on a blog, even when you try to be mindful of it, and even when you try to share some of the not-so-perfect parts.
Anyway...I thought that today I'd just make a list of some of the things I don't do.
That way, if you ever are like, "Gosh, I can't believe she made bread AND painted her kid's bed last week!", you can just refer to this and remember that I really, really do not do All Of The Things.
_____________________________
I don't send Christmas cards.
I don't throw beautiful birthday parties for my kids.
(They usually have one friend sleep over, they pick the birthday meal, I make a cake, we open presents, and that's about it!)
I don't sew my kids' wardrobes.
(I mend and I modify, but I don't think I've ever sewn them anything from scratch.)
I don't make beautiful birthday cakes. I never use piping tips or a frosting bag...just frosting and a knife, which makes a very imperfect cake.
I don't make fancy frosted cookies either.
I don't garden.
I don't can.
(At least not much, outside of a batch of tomatoes every few years. And the tomatoes come from my parents' garden!)
I don't do crafts.
I don't knit.
(I know that's a craft, but it's such a huge one, it deserved its own sentence.)
I don't take my children on tons of fun outings, though I am trying to be a slightly better about that.
I don't make my own cleaning products.
(Though I use very few. I should write about that sometime.)
I don't keep chickens.
I don't put together super stylish outfits every day.
(Ok, probably more like never. I am passably with it pretty much every day, but no one would ever ask me to write a style blog!)
I never have my fingernails painted.
My toenail polish is often chipped/grown out.
I don't make my hair look its best every day.
(Down & straightened is probably my best look, but I wear my hair in a ponytail/braid/bun most of the time because it's easier and out of my way.)
I don't eat vegetables at every meal.
I don't buy everything local and/or organic.
I don't ever have my whole house clean at one time.
I don't ever have my whole house decluttered at one time.
I pretty much never clean underneath furniture, except when we're rearranging.
The fan blades at my house are almost always dusty.
I don't shop at garage sales.
I don't do freezer cooking.
And if I had all day, I'm sure I could fill up many more pages with things I don't do!
Edit: Since this is getting a little bit misunderstood, please know that I really am quite ok with not doing all the stuff on this list. Like everyone else on the planet, I'm a mixture of strengths and weaknesses, and I think it's smart to focus my energy on things I'm good at (and that I enjoy) while letting the rest of it go.
For instance, I know I could get good at decorating cakes because I can do almost anything I set my mind to, but I do not enjoy decorating cakes. Plus, the cakes I turn out make my kids happy and they taste good. So I see no reason to spend time honing my cake-baking skills.
Since I'm very much not a perfectionist, I can acknowledge the things I'm not good at while cheerfully giving myself a free pass on the other stuff. And that's exactly what I would want you to do too!
I like this game - I'll play!
I don't sew new or alter; I mend with only bare competence.
I don't can. (I might can or freeze pizza and spaghetti sauces, that's as far as it goes.)
I don't care for my own yard.
I don't clean my house.
Whole house tidiness is a goal, not a reality.
I have no pets.
I don't blog.
My meal planning is half-hearted.
I don't use internet coupons, scour the internet for the best deals, or shop at several stores to get the best price.
I eat out.
I don't majorly repurpose furniture. (I have an underbed drawer that I aspire to make into a bookcase. Check back in 5 years to see if I really did it.)
I don't buy used clothing. (I have no objections to used clothing. As a dedicated clothes-shopping hater, I object to the effort involved.)
Ok. If I'm still blogging in five years, I'll do my best to check in with you about the bookcase!
For full disclosure: all it really requires is figuring how to affix more shelves and set it on its side. For aesthetic purposes I want to trim the scalloped edge and likely paint/stain so all the shelves have a uniform look.
I like this game too...
I don't make yoghurt
I don't grow my own vegetables
And I definitely don't own chickens (live poultry kinda freaks me out)
And I don't do a million other things... but today I'm not doing a list 😉
(we have something in common Kristen - I never paint my fingernails but I do polish my toenails! Interesting!)
Jo, your comment made me laugh. I paint my toes, because it lasts about a month and looks pretty, especially in sandal season. I never paint my fingernails because never seems to last more than a couple of days. Once a month is a reasonably good value:less than a week, not a good deal. Plus, I think all the things that make a manicure last longer look fake and cannot be good for your body or that of the manicurist who breathes that junk all day.
I love Kristen's List and all the other Lists, but don't have time to make a List of my own, because I'm too busy not doing those things today.
I love this post....thank you!
Kristen, thank you for this! Be who you are, you know? All we can do is that. I did want to refer to your frosted cookies - you say they're not beautiful, but I think that they are very beautiful. Every time I see that photo of the angry Christmas tree cookie, I chuckle. I get this feeling of "home" from looking at the humbly frosted sugar cookies, not food network TV perfection, and sometimes, that's far better.
I actually do feel the same way. I love the personality of the cookies that my kids make more than I love magazine-perfect cookies.
If perfect cookies were super important to me, I'm sure I could learn how to do it. But my personality is such that I really can't bring myself to obsess over the appearance of a soon-to-be-devoured cookie!
Please, pretty please, run a photo of the angry Christmas tree cookie every year. It's like its own holiday tradition now 🙂
This made us all laugh!
Joshua said he'll make another angry tree this year, but even if he doesn't, I'll dig up the photo from a few years ago. 😉
I am not sure if saying this list makes me feel better but it does.
But in the spirit of your last post, I would like to point out:
You are drop dead gorgeous, so the clothes always look exquisite on you.
You spend quality time with your kids. And they seem pretty darn good.
You make time for your spiritual life.
You express yourself through your creativity - both photography and music.
You seem like a really good person (well, I haven't met you! 🙂 )
You make time for fun.
You blog and share with us.
You make me feel part of your family through your blog.
You cherish family.
That is all I can think of right now. But I am sure once I walk away from the computer, there will be more.
Aww, thank you for your kind words!
I probably should have said so in the post, but I really am ok with most of what I put on the list (I do think I should improve on the fun outings bit, and I AM working on that!). I know I can't be awesome at everything, and I'm quite at peace with that most of the time. 🙂
(This is a perk of not being a perfectionist...I'm able to give myself a lot of grace!)
So true!
My fan blades are almost always dusty, too!
The hair on the baseboard heaters and terrible carpet always make sure everyone knows I have a dog. (Like WilliamB's "Whole house tidiness is a goal, not a reality." 🙂 )
There are always dishes to be washed (by hand, because the terrible dishwashing machine doesn't clean things properly).
I *could* quilt and sew if I ever bothered to get a craft table... and figure out the ancient sewing machine. But in two years I haven't.
But my life is still good, and God is great. So I'm not going to sweat the small stuff.
Yup. And we ALL could make long lists of the things we don't do, because no one does everything! Just do your best and don't sweat the rest.
This is why I love your blog! I always look forward every morning to your calm and honest posts, along with watching your family grow, the creative projects you undertake, etc! You know, I first found your site through an article about Aldi, and I've never left because I hope to have a similar life, with a big family that I homeschool, teach piano and voice lessons on the side, all while keeping happy with what we have, staying frugal with coupon craziness, etc! Hard to believe that was 4 years ago when I was a newlywed, and now baby 3 is on the way and homeschooling only a year or two away! Keep up the great work, Kristen! God bless!
Love that you said that you don't take your kids on fun outings a lot. I'm curious, since you homeschool, how many days of the week are you home all day, and how many days are you out and about running errands, taking the kids to activities, etc. I think I'd get a lot more done if we were home more. 🙂
How many days are we home all day? NEVER AS MANY AS I WANT.
(Introvert homebody here!)
Also, we are never out as many days as Sonia would want us to be.
(Extrovert there!)
I get sooo much done when we get to stay home all day. But between music work at church, ballet (once a week), our martial arts class (once a week), and then various things such as dentist and doctor appointments, I'm often out of the house for at least part of the day.
Thank you for this post! As a relatively new mom, and soon-to-be stay-at-home-mom after #2 is born in April, I feel like the struggle to "keep up" will continue. Making a list like this would be very healthy for me, I think. As much as I want to do all the "wife-y" things like make outfits from scratch, cook nice meals, craft, decorate our house, clean our house, I think I need to dial back and re-assess what is the best use of my time and money. There are many things that I think I can do better, but there are also plenty of things that I strive to do but just shouldn't because I don't enjoy them and it's not really worth the time that goes in to it.
I really enjoy reading all of your blog posts, and this especially made me happy today. I can relate to so many of them, my favorite is the bit about having the whole house clean and/or decluttered at once! With kids and pets, that is so hard to accomplish and I'd have to just send everyone away to do it!
Thanks for being my favorite email to read so often!
Sonja
Yea! I was just feeling bad because I saw one of those Facebook posts (What I plan on doing: awesome carved pumpkin; what I actually do: plain pumpkin). I don't even have plain pumpkin on my porch and I was thinking what a bad Mom I am. This post made me feel so much better.
You do lots of great stuff, none of us can do everything.
That's awesome! It's so easy to read blogs like yours and think how much I'm failing because of a perception that you (the writer) does all of these things. I mean, not to minimize in any way what you do, but it's nice to see that you have dust bunnies under your furniture just I like do. And I don't know about you, but I don't do windows either. 🙂
I don't like the way that women have to put themselves down and find "imperfections" in order to be liked. It's a way that the patriarchy keeps women from achieving.
Why can't we like people even if they're Martha Stewart and Sheryl Sandberg put together? Why do we have to pull ourselves and others down?
And saying we don't do these long lists of things makes them seem like they should be important, as if, "here I'm imperfect too because I don't do these important things" but in reality, they're only important to some people. Not doing something that isn't important isn't really an imperfection. I don't think it actually makes people feel better about themselves to see that someone doesn't do something but lists not doing it as an imperfection, just gives a longer list of things that we're supposed to care about.
I'm sure more people are going to say that this is why they don't read our blog, but this post is a light version of "crabs in a bucket" http://nicoleandmaggie.wordpress.com/2011/06/09/crabs-in-a-bucket/ . And I really don't think it's healthy or good for women in general. I guess we should have posted our deliberately controversial post on the topic (inferiority, putting ourselves and others down, etc.) today instead of queuing it several months from now.
I like Martha Stewart but I wouldn't want her in my home. I would feel self conscious about my house, the décor, the cleanliness and so on. I just had a party for my son and I got a lot of ideas from Pinterest. What I realized was that my execution was not Pinterest material. I made the Lego marshmallow pops, but the edible pen I bought wasn't cooperating. I followed the instructions for the lego piñata but in the end it looked like a box wearing a flapper dress. I was starting to get very stressed and then I realized that I was trying to be perfect for the adults not my kid or the other kids at the party. My son did not see any of the imperfections. He loved his party and all the favors and the effort that went into. Truly the adults loved it too. The reality is I have four boys ages 7 and under and that was the best I could do. It wasn't perfect and getting my house ready up to the minute guests arrived really resembled some reality show where there is a giant clock ticking and a host counting down as guests arrived. As women we are really hard on ourselves. I think the spirit of Kristen's post is lighten up. No one (not even Martha) can do it all.
Hmmm... nicoleandmaggie, interesting take on this topic. I do agree that sometimes we humans (not only women, by the way) do feel that we compete with each other, which can lead to "pull[ing] ourselves and others down." It's something we should look out for, and be aware of in our own tendencies towards.
However, I didn't read Kristen's post that way at all. I understood her to be making a list of things that she doesn't spend her time on, with one item that she's trying to improve. One of the things I love most about this blog is Kristen's view of frugality -- save as much as you can on things that aren't critical to you (e.g., for Kristen: bake bread, make yogurt, paint furniture) so you can spend your resources on things that are really important to you (e.g., for Kristen: photography equipment). How you choose is up to you, e.g., unlike Kristen you may hate making yogurt but love your homemade laundry soap. The point is to choose consciously for what makes sense to you.
I understood this list in the same vein. Kristen obviously loves to bake but doesn't choose to spend her time frosting cookies to magazine-perfection. Another person might love cake decorating but really not enjoy scrapbooking. I never had the impression that these are imperfections, but rather choices. None of us can do "it all," we have to make choices. To me, that's part of what makes life interesting.
Speaking of interesting, thanks for the interesting comment. Good food for thought. And Kristen, thanks for the great blog and this particular post. Though I wouldn't always make the same choices you do, I really appreciate the way you bring us in to your family and your decision-making in such a lovely, non-judgmental way. I work towards that in my own approach to life.
Goodness, I should have just waited for you to respond. Everything about the way you read my post is the way I meant it.
(And you probably understood it that way because you've been reading my blog for so long! You've got lots of context for what I say.)
🙂
While I do know what you're talking about (when someone posts a picture of their living room with two things out of place and says, "Oh my STARS! My living room is such a pigsty." that makes other people feel worse, not better.), that's definitely not how I meant this post.
I didn't write it, thinking, "Oh, geez. I'm such a failure because I don't garden."
Rather, I think, "I'm not especially good at gardening, my yard isn't well-suited for it, and I don't care to spend my time trying to make it happen."
Ergo, I do not garden.
And I do not feel badly about myself because of that. I have plenty of other strengths, and my self-confidence is not about to be zapped over a black thumb! 😉
With the exception of fun outings with my kids, most of the things on the list are things I don't particularly care about.
(Ok, maybe I WOULD like my house to be totally clean and decluttered all the time, but I recognize that I would have to let other, more important things go in my life in order to accomplish that!)
If I cared about those things or thought they were super important, then I'd probably get them done. But other things that I DO think are important...that's the stuff I get done.
Here's why I think it's important to hear these things from other women: we tend to hold ourselves to an impossible standard when we don't have a realistic picture of what actually IS possible. Regardless of what you say about your son's friend's "perfect" mother, I am unconvinced that there is a person on earth who does and is everything perfect.
I know you said things like this don't make people feel better, but take a look at the comments on this post (which are admittedly a small sample and not scientific.) Am I supposed to believe that the people who say they feel better when they read this are self-deceived? That they are lying? What about when I feel that way when I realize other people don't do everything? Am I deceiving myself?
Here is what I know: if I were to present nothing but a varnished version of my life, where there are no problems and I have nothing but strengths, that will not lift my readers up (to reference your crabs analogy). What lifts them up is seeing a real person, one who confidently uses her strengths while calmly letting the other things go.
Thanks for the thought-provoking comment! I have two main thoughts in response.
1. This may just be a matter of different people/personalities having a different way of looking at things. I read a few of your blog posts on the topic and it sounds like you are very self-confident (in fact I think you might have expressly stated this in a post or comment). I am not. I am VERY hard on myself and honestly have said out loud, "I hate myself" more times than I care to admit. It actually makes me tear up a little bit to think about that because it's so sad and ridiculous! I shouldn't hate myself! I'm awesome! But constantly thinking about all the things I SHOULD be doing, SHOULD be better at, really wears me down. Sometimes it's comparing myself to other people, and sometimes it's just comparing myself to an idealized, ridiculous version of myself. Either way, it does help me to remember that NO ONE ELSE can really "do it all" either. Or maybe 5% of women can... but I'm okay not being that 5%.
2. I agree that faking incompetence and putting yourself down to fit in SUCKS and should not be happening. I did this a lot throughout elementary and middle school (started to get a little more confident around 10th grade, and also it started to be more socially okay to be smart) and I regret it. But somehow, I view admitting/accepting my incompetence and/or imperfection in domestic tasks and hobbies to be VERY different than doing the same in the professional realm (e.g. downplaying how good I am at my job, being overly humble at work, etc.). I think the latter is a real danger for women and holds a lot of us back. I think the former is healthy and helps me reduce anxiety and hate myself less. No idea why I look at the two so differently or if it's based in anything real!
I would vote for Sheryl Sandberg's personality with the mix. She seems less judgy.
I dug up another post of ours which is probably more relevant to this: Are women supposed to pretend everything is perfect or that everything is screwed up?
http://nicoleandmaggie.wordpress.com/2012/04/03/13497/
There's a commenter who I think nailed it saying that, "If you are a woman, you are always damned if you go out in the world because, whatever you are doing, it’s the wrong thing."
I agree
I'm glad to see you using your lovely sense of humor to gently make the point that what we see on a blog is not necessarily the way things are as a whole. I think a lot of us (not just women) have a tendency to see or read things on the internet, tv, magazines, books or newspaper and think that we're getting the whole picture. The whole picture is usually much messier and more interesting.
Thanks, Kristen, I feel so much better!
I think you accomplish an incredible amount though
Thank you for this post! A lot of woman do try to have everything all together at one time. The reality if it though is its not possible! Thanks for the reminder today 🙂
Well, you better get on that! We expect more of you!!
I don't can either but I did make homemade pickels. My wife is the gardener of the family.
I don't mow my own lawn. I pay my brother to do it. He needs the money and I'd rather paint a strangers toe nails than mow the lawn.
I don't have kids (yet) nor do I have pets (ever!!) Furry things are not allowed in my house.
I don't do much in the way of house repairs. I can replace capacitors in your broken TV, swap out your video card or install Linux with the best of them. Give me a hammer and drill and I'm going to hurt myself. :-/
With you on furry things. Except a hamster is totally ok because it stays in the cage.
It's funny how rare we are. So many people think I'm evil because I dislike cats and dogs.
It's not that I dislike dogs, cats, or other furry things, it's that I dislike them IN THE HOUSE!
I love this post so, so much.
SO much.
I've never, ever, not one time, ever got the feeling from you that I should be like you to be a good mother/daughter/wife/friend/homemaker/blogger/whatever else, and I've read every single post you've ever written except some of the lost to time pre-Frugal Girl food waste ones.
Even if I did get that feeling, and I could trace it back through my own insecurities and hang-ups to something you wrote or some way you wrote it, I have the feeling that if I told you about it (in that fictional world where we're real-life, in-person friends), your first reaction wouldn't be defensive.
I very much admire your attitude, and am battling my Ironic Generation's Aversion to Sincerity Syndrome to say it.
A compliment from an IGASS member is a high honor indeed!
I'm super glad that you feel like this, especially after reading all of the things I've written.
(The blogpost food waste blog..well, you're not missing much there. Was kind of blogging on training wheels!)
It's so nice to see someone "keep it real"! LOL! If we use our time to keep up or do what everyone else thinks we should be doing, we'll just drive ourselves over the edge...and then what? Thanks for sharing this!
I was just telling my 11 year old our very unorganized and sometimes chaotic home is not normal. It's a weakness of mine but I keep trying. It reminded me of a friend that said she may not be a "good"mom, but she is a fun mom. I didn't understand her then since I thought she was a "good" mom. I really like your blog because it seems real and relevant to my life.
You know, I have a friend who is disorganized, but the upside of her personality is that she's really good at being spontaneous and going out to do fun things. Whereas I am quite good at being organized, but then when someone suggests a spontaneous outing, I'm all, "ACK! But it is not PLANNED. Must plan all of the things."
I think we have too narrow a definition of a good mom. Good moms come in so many different varieties!
I don't do any of those either. 😉
So what good are you?
Just kidding, thanks for giving us some perspective yet again!
Thanks for this post!! I assumed or at least suspected you did some of these. Now I don't feel so much pressure. I thought, "If she has 4 kids, and has time to homeschool, make photobooks, cook, clean, read, etc., what am I doing with my time and two kids?" I thoroughly enjoy your writing and appreciate you sharing your life with us!
Thanks Kristen for this post! I always wanted to be as productive as you are but same here,our fan blades are always dusty and I haven't touched cleaning it yet.Sigh.
P.S- We also don't throw birthday parties to our girls. Just us,it's more personal that way and they don't need to accumulate presents every year.
I think I mostly do crafts, keep pets and blog so I have an EXCUSE not to do housework... I figure no one cares if I don't care 🙂
Thank you...it's a great reminder of keeping things in perspective:)
I like this post, so I'm going to add to it.
It's not unusual to wait until the morning to do the dinner dishes.
I'll go days without really going anywhere or doing anything.
I don't garden. I really don't like crouching/kneeling in the dirt.
I hardly own any clothing. It's all fashionable to have a "minimalist wardrobe," But really I'm too lazy to clothes shop. So I wear the same stuff over and over again. I am very lucky to have the hospital supply my scrubs for work. (It's not every unit, just the nurses who work in the OR's.)
I never make roll out cookies, because they're simply too time consuming.
I love that you shared this list with us, Kristen. It really makes me wonder where the need to feel like we have to do everything comes from. I suppose it is our human nature and our pride. I think it is extremely helpful when we are willing to give others a realistic glimpse into our lives, both on our blogs and in person. Thanks for sharing. I can agree with most of your list!
Luvvvved this post!
I also don't do lots of the don'ts on your list. And many other "don'ts" of my own. However, I have lightened up on myself as I have grown older. I came to realize that I feel so much better when invited to someone's home and they are less that "perfect". I feel so much more welcome and at ease. I don't mean a pigsty....just a few things they might spot at my home that is less than perfect....maybe a cobweb I've missed or carpet that the dogs have made look polka-dotted. (And if you have pets in the house, you know what I mean.
Now, I take time to smell the roses while trying to keep a reasonably clean home. My pastor's wife says her home is clean enough to be healthy but dirty enough to have antioxidents. I liked that.
I tend to invite people in more often this way and sure enjoy them and myself lots! more.
Cause you know, I have lots of don'ts but I have lots of do.....and that is fine with me. Kristen, you a blessing to your readers and we thank you very much!
Yay! Here's to being frugal with our time and energy as well as our money!
On that note... I DON'T decorate for the holidays! 🙂
I just wanted to say that I have really enjoyed the pictures of the birthday cakes you have made your family over the years. (And the bear rolls and the snake rolls, etc.!) They are always darling! I don't expect (or want) them to look like bakery cakes. I think I must love them because they remind me of the cakes my mother made for me and I know how much love went into them. I knew back then, too.
There are a lots and lots of things I don't do. Including comparing myself to people on the internet. I take what is inspiring to me and the leave the rest behind. I am inspired by a great many things, but do not find it necessary to BE all those things.
Thank you for this but I'm not terribly shocked by it. However, I'm surprised you don't make cleaning products. I've read that it saves so much money but I've tried homemade and I'm not sold on the idea (particularly homemade laundry detergent). I'd love read a Frugal Girl Cleaning Product post!
By the way, every time I read about your photo books, I'm inspired to work on my own. I'm looking for a faster method, though, because I have such a backlog of photos. Any tips to streamline the process would be helpful. 🙂
I really like my homemade laundry detergent but I ran the numbers and it saves me maybe $25/year.
Hi Kristen,
I do not believe that I've ever commented on your blog before. I've been reading it for just less than a year (I think!). I have to say I really enjoy just about everything you write and the pics are a nice bonus. This post was the absolute most perfect one however because you became my twin self! What I mean by that is that "yes" most blogs do make you feel a bit inept after a while. I do not believe that is it's intention but everything always looks and sounds so perfect. By listing all of the things that you do not do we get a more rounded picture and I have to admit that I am much of what you wrote!! Thank you for your humor as well. It helps lighten the load.
You're still pretty AWESOME in my book, Kristen!
You are so candid and honest and are so much appreciated even though us readers don't always like or agree with what you have to say. I think we should start a game of what we think you do do.
Like:
You DO inspire us each and every day to live more frugally and be more environmentally conscious!
I need in on this!
I don't clean my own house during the semester.
I don't watch my own kids during the work day.
I don't wait for meat and veggies to go on sale.
I put very little effort into birthday celebrations too.
I also don't garden.
I dot wear makeup or paint my nails.
I don't iron clothes.
I don't play with my children. (I might steer them toward toys, but I let them do their thing on their own.)
I don't exercise as much as I should (or as much as I like)
What is with this current trend? Be a stay at home mom! with a full time job! and a monetized blog! grow your own organic veggies! sell the abundance at a local market! coupon for free groceries! knit! crochet! bake!
There are a few spots on the internet I used to enjoy that just trigger me to sit on the couch in protest of their productivity. If I made dinner every night (veggie or not) and took the little ones to the library and didn't forget to pick someone up from some sort of sports practice, then it's a good week.
Thank you so much for this post. I love the cheerful tone and wish I could adapt that myself.
Hi five on stepping out!! ...revealed in the most recent email.
I very much appreciated this list. Thank you. 🙂
Thank you for sharing b/c I thought you did everything! From my experience it seems like we all get better at things that we like to do. Its so smart to focus on getting better at doing what you love. You take fabulous pictures. I would like to get better at picture taking b/c I like to paint from the pictures that I take sometimes.
Thanks for this! It's easy to get caught up in hyper-homemaking mode, thinking everyone is way ahead of you.
Hilarious! Many of these things, I don't do either. It's so nice to think about doing all these things, being the perfect wife/mother, but doing these things often gets in the way of actually being able to enjoy life! Let someone else knit the socks, I'm going to go light a candle, and read my book.
I want to thank you so much for putting this post together, and also thank everyone else for sharing their comments!! This post prompted me to make lists of "Things I do..." and "Things I'm happy to NOT do..." and to note the things where I'd LIKE to put in some work improving, and moving other things to the list of things I don't do. It's an entirely too-long list to share here, but examples include "I do make yogurt, get good haircuts, wash dishes promptly (that's a good one to work on...), attend and make live theater, and buy pre-made salad when I'm busy" and "I happily don't torture myself eating foods I don't like (beets, avocado, banana), garden, decorate, listen to opera, or iron clothes." This has been a GREAT tool for introspection! Thank you so very much for sharing your real life with us!!
What a great idea. I've come to the same realization as you-that it really is ok to have a few foods you can't bring yourself to eat. It's pretty freeing!
Thank you! You don't know how encouraging this was to me tonight. 🙂
ditto to what Laura said! 🙂