The intention of this project was to encourage awareness, provide some extra independence for the boys, promote a better sense of community and throw in a bit of patience and work ethic - so far... it hasn't been a stellar success.
Between one kid having one bike crisis after another (riding into a car, very narrowly escaping being hit by a car and now scared of his bike), the garden JUST WON'T GROW, discovering there are no actual local farmers at the local farmers market, the clothes line falling down, the internet at the library won't run facebook or any of the sites the kids like, we don't really see our family anymore ("you guys don't eat that anymore"), it costs a small fortune to go anywhere as a family on the bus and quite frankly, we're getting sick of spending so much time together.
Time for a project readjustment I think. I just don't know what that looks like. The first priority is getting Dylan back on his bike and then we will go one step at a time.
There are things that have changed through the month for the better, it's just hard to think of them right now...
I know we have just hit the project "wall" and we have to push through it and keep moving forward. Change takes time, right?
I really need to spend some time with a couple of good vegetarian recipe books, because we are sick of what we've been eating - don't even ask. We also need to find some like minded families - does anyone know anyone?
Wow, a whole post just complaining about things - that isn't good. Time to go find some eco friendly fun...
1 comment:
Oh dear... You know, all things take time, and embracing a whole new lifestyle is bound to have its ups and downs. It's taken me years to get where I am with "green living", I mean we live in a world that's not built for it after all.
The no car thing is especially hard. I have my driving down to under 1000 miles per year, but going completely without a car just isn't feasible for me. Sometimes you've just gotta take the lesser of many evils.
That being said. My favorite vegetarian cookbook is Laurel's Kitchen. I bet you could get a used copy on Amazon for cheap. It's a wonderful book because not only is it full of amazing recipes, but it also has a pile of valuable info about nutrition and just how to make things work.
Another thing I've found is that sometimes it just doesn't work to try to get people to go cold turkey (har har har) on the vegetarian thing. One strategy I had great success with is just adding in a lot of vegetarian dishes as side dishes and making the meat portions smaller. Think Thanksgiving dinner. I think it's just way less threatening for people to try new foods if it's just a "side dish" and they don't feel like they have to eat it or else. If you play your cards right everybody will eat much less meat and the response you'll get is: "what a feast!" instead of "where's my meat!"
Another one is to think of meat as a seasoning rather than the center of the meal. So maybe slice up one portion of chicken in a casserole, or pasta dish, or soup, or stir fry or whatever. It doesn't take much to meat to give a meal that "meaty" flavor.
Hang in there, and maybe consider some bicycle safety classes for the boys? :)
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