A Montessori mom recently confessed in my Montessori Facebook group about the constant feeling of needing MORE: more Montessori activities and materials, more quality toys, and more art supplies... When do you feel satisfied? When do you have enough!?
"You are not alone!" That was my short answer. It is so easy these days to get sucked into all the Montessori materials and related activities that are now available online, on blogs, on Pinterest, and showing up in Facebook groups! There is so much out there compared to five and ten and fifteen years ago when I first started Montessori online!
Here's my long answer: My family and I have a really tight budget. My time is limited. I'm craft-challenged and impatient with making stuff. We have a small home with an overflowing garage. So that pretty much stops ME dead in my tracks!
But not having all those Montessori materials and activities can make you feel guilty; unsure of your job as a Montessori mom; and maybe even depressed.
More often than not we moms end up thinking about what we don't have rather than being thankful for what we do have. (This is my daily reminder, to count my blessings... That, and staying off Pinterest for a while! LOL.)
Many summers ago, we did not have extra money for camps and activities and materials, so I found free things to do around the house: I made a reading tent with baskets of books outside, under our three-story high plum tree. (I used an old card table with a sheet over it and an extra dog bed under it.)
I dug out an old, dust-stained black boombox from my hubby's closet and set it up outside with music CDs from the library, as well as some of my old Motown CDs; and we listened and grooved to music outside in the sun every day.
We gathered purple-red plums all summer and made plum apple sauce in our crock pots and some very sour prunes in our dehumidifier.
We took weekly trips to the library; had some play dates at a local farm; made fruit salad; and played with our new kitten, Neo.
And it was the best summer we had together! It was so relaxing and stress-free! Something money can't buy.
Update: During COVID 19 our options were not the same as in recent summers. No library trips, no camps, no swimming pool trips, no playdates, no movie theaters. Instead, we took his new scooter out to local parks, played softball or badminton in the front yard, and experimented with our newish bread maker.
Above it all, I try and feel thankful for summertime!
~Lisa Nolan