Hello,
A cosy, warm welcome to this week’s newsletter.
We’ve spent the last couple of days playing in the snow – it’s been chilly this week, but we’ve spent most of our time outside.
I was reflecting on the beginning of the 1000 hours outside challenge we did last year, and how I felt daunted. We’ve changed our days up a lot since then and it now seems normal to be outside as much as we possibly can! My daughter and I are both much happier outdoors.
Of course, there’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing!
We are lucky to have some great outdoor stuff, mainly secondhand. My daughter has Didrikson waterproof dungarees, Warm Wellies and padded gloves, made with recycled materials, by PO.P.
I have a couple of merino base layers, recycled cashmere hand warmers and some Spray Way waterproof trousers. We’re snug as bugs! We always take a flask of tea, or cacao out with us too. And plenty of spares in case things get wet. (Stuff always get wet. Yay, puddles! Sheets of ice! A stream!)
At work, I’ve been finishing up issue 123, with the theme Adventure, which will be out in a couple of weeks – very excited! Get your copy delivered as soon as it's out.
At home, I’ve been reflecting on being well resourced as a parent.
My partner and I do a regular walk to check in with each other, using a framework he learnt through Man Kind Project. It’s called P.I.E.S. (physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual). We each get about 15 minutes to talk about how we’re doing in each of those areas (no interruptions). It’s a really good, clear way to get in touch with what's going on in each of our lives.
One of the things we realised last week was that our ability to hold space for our daughter’s emotions was dependent on how well resourced we were. So we got to talking about what resources we each need.
Here’s what I need to make sure I can show up (mostly) as the parent I want to be:
