The Gift of an Ordinary Day

hey friends!

here is a short review and pitch for Katrina Kenison's book The Gift of an Ordinary Day.

ok, be forewarned. this book will make you cry, weep, sob and laugh, smile & chuckle. i highly recommend it if you have kids, are a mother, have a mother, or know a mother, and all parents world wide, far and near!!!

my sweet friend Tiffany turned me on to this book. as many of you know, i spend a LOT of time in my car and i listen to a LOT of books on cd. of course i listened to this book and after Tiff shared the video with me:

how could i not?!

did you watch the video?!  are you crying yet?!

i am just in awe of the universe putting these much needed experiences in my path when i can really use them. this book is about a mom who has two teen sons and how she is maneuvering through all the changes that come with our kids getting ready to fly the coop.

i have been lamenting to friends, and really, to anyone who will listen, about how hard it is getting and staying centered in the here and now and enjoying the gifts of an ordinary day. i find myself complaining about the speed of life, the time lost or past that was not knowingly appreciated, and the unfairness of only "having" my oldest son for just two more years.

Kenison speaks to all of this and more. she writes about finding peace and balance and quiet. she writes about finding new adventures, new friends, and centering.  and about how all the hard stuff, the choices, the decisions, how it's all transient, fleeting, short lived. how all we have control of is ourselves and our next step. how the past is in the past and that we don't need to "future-trip" so much about the future.

So much of what Kenison shared, her insights and her opinions, were like crystal clear gifts of love to me. i listened with my kids in the car and they just silently watched me weep and wipe my eyes. it was nice having my teenager hear some of what i have tried to tell him about why i do and say what i do and say! it is such a gift to be reminded of how i want to live and interact with my boys, what i want them to take away when they go and what it is that is important to me that they "get." Kenison nailed it, spot on, and i am so thankful and appreciate to have had the opportunity to hear this from her now while i am in the thick of it. earlier would have been nice too but at least i got it now. for that i am grateful.

here is a quote from kenison's website:

“Watching my sons growing and changing so visibly, almost from one day to the next, I sensed something in me breaking loose and changing as well, something no less powerful for being invisible. It was almost as if, having strived for years for predictable comforts, urban conveniences, and security of our well-established routines, I was suddenly haunted by all the things I hadn’t done, the dreams that might never be realized, the sense that the tidy, civilized life we’d worked so hard to create didn’t quite fit the person I really was, or, rather, still thought I might be.”–from The Gift of an Ordinary Day

if you have young children, tweens or teens, i would love for you to get your hands on this book. Dads too!  the small bit Chad has listened to so far has given us so much good stuff to talk about.  and i dare the dads to not be moved to tears as well! 

even though Kenison has two boys i think all of us parents, with 1 or 4 kids, girls or boys, who parent thoughtfully and with much care, can learn from her experiences. the earlier the better, i'd say. and i will definitely be revisiting this one over and over again. it's a keeper and i am thankful!

listening to Aimee Bender's, The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake,

a little escape after the serious,

xoxo

jennette