Dare to Dream

Were you a Girl Scout? I was. I loved pouring over the Girl Scout Badge Book; I'd look at all the beautiful embroidered badges, starring the ones I dreamed of seeing on my sash. I would read over the requirements x-ing the activities I hoped to complete. I dug out my old Girl Scout sash last week and looking at all the badges and awards brought back many memories and reminded me of how I got to be the ambitious person I am today. Check out the book You Can Do It! The Merit Badge Handbook For Grown-Up Girls by Lauren Catuzzi Grandcolas. I recently gave a presentation to our local MOPS group entitled "Dare to Dream". I challenged these mothers of pre-schoolers to rekindle the dreams they once had, rediscover their current dreams, and look into the future. Here are the highlights. Give yourself time to dream; commit those dreams to paper, maybe a dream journal. I dream of learning how to download pictures to my blog, ballroom dancing and becoming a medical doctor. Set up a time frame for yourself; would you like to work at something 15 minutes a day or 2 hours once a week? Set up a plan of actions necessary to realize the dream. A dream without a plan quickly becomes a nightmare. Carve out the unnecessary work from your schedule. For example, limit the amount of laundry you do be enacting the "Seriously Soiled Rule". I insist that my kids wear their play clothes for most of the week or until they are seriously soiled, before I wash them. They have one town outfit for the week. Anytime we go to town, lessons, library, etc. they put on their town outfit which is kept folded in front of their dresser. This works well for eliminating loads of hardly worn laundry. By doing this you will find some time that you can dedicate to fulfilling your dreams. Find a mentor; maybe a friend, specialty shop owner, librarian, older relative, that can help you formulate your plan or teach you a few of the skills. Once complete, celebrate with a badge of honor. You could design your own badge or use the above book for ideas and sticker badges. When you accomplish your dreams you become a beautiful, interesting, passionate woman. You will make a better wife, mother and friend when you expand yourself by dreaming. It's so important for our kids to see us as people. People who fail at our first attempt, people who get frustrated when the going gets tough, people who perservere and make great things happen. I dreamed of pushing aside the bread maker and making bread totally from scratch. Feeling my way to the perfect loaf. As Grace and Lee watched they joined in and now are proficient at making 60 minute mini white loaves from scratch. I, however, have gone back to the bread machine, but use the dough cycle and then bake the bread in the oven. The bread is much softer and tastes better the second day. Get cozy near a sunny window and dream big!