How To Use Butter to End a Fight

As part of our Family Mission and Family Values project---the ongoing journey---we are trying to live the life we want. (even if we haven't been able to capture it on paper yet) I think this is a HUGELY important part of the process.

(Though it might just be a justification as to why I can't seem to cement it in writing yet.)

Realistically this project takes time to iron out what you most value. And to be honest, I'm a little stuck right now...call it writer's block.

So to unblock myself I've been reading and listening to others views---and unexpectedly it is changing the way I think about even some of my deepest rooted values and habits.

Case-in-point, I never would have paired values and habits together---until I heard it from the Organic Sister. It was such a new way of thinking about this that I really had to pause and give it some thought.

Your habits are your values in action.

OUCH!

No hiding from that.

It's one thing to say you value something (say patience) and yet yell at your kids as soon as trouble arises. The proof is in the pudding...you in fact value IMpatience...no matter what you THINK you value. This is where you have to start working out who you want to be and how you want to get there.

And it's a learning process for us. Sunday my husband and I had a fight. Over something stupid, I'm sure. He went to the store and I stayed home and ran through the whole thing in my mind. When he came back he had made a second stop to the grocery store and bought organic whipped cream so that we could make butter. Of the many things we need to learn before we have a farm (our ultimate family goal) one of them is how to make butter...and he thought of one little activity we could do together to bring us into an active role of trying to be our best selves.

No apologies needed after that.

So everyone stopped what they were doing and made butter together for the very first time.

Then the kids convinced Jon to pull out his saxophone (for the first time in TWENTY YEARS!) and show them how it worked. And for the next hour we took turns blowing on it, dancing to it and generally just laughing.

We also sprouted something new...lentils.

And made some more bread to go with our butter.