Say Hello to Happy

Today, I bring to you Rebecca from A Happy Heart.   Rebecca has been a faithful commenter here at the circus for several months.  Her encouraging and humorous comments have flowed into numerous e-mail exchanges between the two of us.  Without actually meeting her in person, she has crossed the line from “virtual friend” to “real friend” and I look forward to meeting her face to face next month.  She has two adorable preschoolers, two helpful tween stepdaughters, and another little bun in the oven due to arrive in time for Thanksgiving this fall.  She’s one busy momma!  So, without any further ado…here’s Rebecca!! 

When Crystal asked me to guest post for her I was honored and excited, albeit a tad nervous.  It's one thing to ramble without a point over at my own blog, but another thing entirely to take the ceaseless ramblings somewhere else. 

Crystal suggested I write about how I would fit in with the Circus at which I immediately started to chuckle because while Crystal has certainly cornered the circus market I have my own set of clowns at home who make me feel like I'm walking a tight rope on a daily basis, afraid to look down for fear of seeing my son drinking out of the vaporizer unit or my daughter playing in toilet water.  For someone with OCD tendencies those scenarios can be less than humorous when stumbled upon. 

However, I'm learning to throw my OCD tendencies to the wind these days and for me that's where Crystal's circus comes in.

A circus isn't a circus without the aspect of fun and I think that is what I'm learning most as a regular reader of Life At The Circus.  I'm learning through Crystal and Scott's parenting style that there can be fun found in everyday if you look hard enough for it and take a moment to savor it.  I'm the type of person who wants to "schedule" fun and let's face it, that takes all the, well, fun out of it.  It seems like Crystal finds the fun in the most ordinary of everyday things and I'm striving to do more of that in my own home.  I'm learning the unexpected fun is the most fun of all.

I've also learned a thing or two about teachable moments.  Again, being a scheduler I want to have a time and place for learning when in fact there are so many teachable moments that pass me by without my even realizing it until it's too late.  With toddlers and pre-school age children it seems almost everything can be drilled down to a teachable moment and that's something I'm realizing more and more as a Circus reader.  It seems not a day goes by that Cyrstal isn't seizing huge opportunities to teach her children.  I'm amazed at her children's understanding of concepts many adults have a hard time grasping such as why we celebrate Christmas.

A lot of Crystal has been rubbing off on me in the past several months reading her blog.  Most of them I'm thrilled about as I feel they are truly making me a better parent and a better person.

However, there is one thing about Crystal that's rubbing off on me that I'm not sure is a good thing.  Those of you who know Crystal know that laundry is the bane of her existence and while you don't know me well, you should know that I pride myself on a clean and organized home. 

Or at least I used to.

This is a picture of the scene you will stumble upon when walking into my laundry room right now.  I wish I could say we just recently had a terrible tsunami that's only victims were my whites and darks, but alas, it just isn't so. 

It's just me trying to fit in with the Circus.