I recommend you head down there

 As Scarlett O’Hara said, “Tomorrow is another day,” and well, here it is.    

Welcome back to our home. While last week, we showed you the initial entry way to our home, this week we will journey down ‘the hall’ to the kids’ rooms. Next week, Eric’s and my bedroom will be featured.    

Follow me down the hall to see where the gothlings dwell.

It is incredibly difficult to take good photos of the side wall in a narrow hallway when there is no opposing door to step into.  As you turn into the hall [to the right from the front entry] with your back to the cross and baby photo display, on your right is a trio of paintings that we quite love. We’re able to see them from the living room where we spend a lot of time.     

some of our favorite smaller paintings

Across the hall from the painting trio is a closet where we keep our more basic shelved needs.  Extra cold meds, bandages, sheets, and a few games. We are working on better organization to get the games out of there and into an area where we’ll use them more often. Next to the closet is a “den” which lately has become a storage room for items that just don’t fit anywhere else.  Extra school supplies, old magazines, books we’ve not thought about reading in a long time… You know, that stuff.      

Between the two doors is a wall panel with a small Day of the Dead painting as well as a heart shaped painting by Misty Benson.    

Day of the Dead meets Skelly Cats

 Next to the door to the den is the entry to the boys’ room.  On the wall panel between, we have a gorgeous shelf unit featureing another Living Dead Doll and a medal from the Women’s Relief Corps, dated 1883.     

Living Dead Doll with Civil War Medal

Close-up view of a Civil War Medal and the "pet" spider who has made her home on top.

 The boys’ room is next. They’ve asked for minimal photographs to be posted, so I just peeked in.  [I must admit, I was overjoyed with how clean it was. What mother would complain about the remote being the only thing on the floor?]   

A peek inside the boys' room

 On the length of hall across from the door to the boys’ room, we’ve showcased some family photos.  Why waste such a great wall?  

A wall of family history

 A smaller wall between the boys’ and girls’ rooms showcases a painting depicting Eve. 

Eve with her shiny apple

 The final stop on today’s tour is the girls’ room. Unlike their brothers, they are very excited to show it off.

They’ve decorated their door with Bella Morte and Teddy Scaresposters, as well as some artwork done by both Ravynn and Whisper and a Witch sign.  Of course, there is the required Hello Kitty door hanger.

The door to the girls' room

 Whisper’s bed on the left holds pillows and stuffies that are very special to her. A vintage ballerina painting and ballet shoes are favorites.

Whisper's space with special stuffies and pillows - one she got from my father.

 Also on the shelf over her bed are three sweet little ballerinas.

Whisper's ballerinas with a Nightmare Before Christmas toy peeking through.

Ravynn’s bed has even more pillows and stuffies. She also has a painting of a wee faerie hiding in a forest of mushrooms over her bed.

Ravynn's space

A closeup of one of Ravynn’s favorite stuffies. She took this photo to show off the bear she posed with in one of her first Bats! meow… photo shoots.

The bear I promised Ravynn would show up in the tour images.

A shelf near the foot of Ravynn’s bed holds more ballerinas, faeries, and Hello Kitty.  It really is a very girlie place.

Ravynn's shelf with so much girlie stuff

A shelf next to the door holds more dolls standing in front of an Ayria poster. Whisper was proud of this photo she snapped.

Porcelain dolls keep watch next to the door

And finally, Grandmother Spider keeps hold of their dreams as they sleep.  She hangs from the light in the middle of the ceiling in the middle of a ribbon web.

A very large dream catcher

Recently, Jordan brought home a paper of anti-Goth paraphernalia he found at school, taped to the bottom of a desk.  “How to Tell if Your Teen is Goth“.  As it turns out, we’re all goth. As are most of our neighbors and friends.  The list cannot be taken seriously, but it does end with the warning:

If five or more of these apply to your child, please intervene immediately. The gothic culture is dangerous and Satan thrives within it. If any of these problems persist, enlist your child into your local mental health center.

A mental health center?  Insane advice, really. I wish it was the first time I’d heard it.

Not long after we openned Bats! meow…, we were contacted by a hate group: God Hates Goths. We initially tried to have civil conversations with the group members and their leader, intending to explain our belief structure and our philosophy on raising children.  As it turns out, they had no similar interests and most conversations resulted in name calling and more hateful lies.  I was redirected back to the site tonight as I did a Google search for the text of the paper Jordan found so I could provide you a link.  RG [as the leader identified himself] upped his advice and has published a new page, “De-Gothing Your Child.”  I caution you from the link as several of the methods suggested are nothing short of torture. 

Way back when, we were hit from every side, it seemed, with advice from strangers on how to be better parents. It seemed to focus on a change in wardrobe, hair, and makeup, as if wearing the ‘costume’ of a normal person would improve our skills.  This past week, searching for information has yielded few results. Either the world has become more accepting of freaks [and I do use the term lovingly] or the fad of reforming us has passed.  Either way, it’s okay by me.

I did find some links that may be of interest to you, though:

.:. An Article On Gothic Parenting, which warns that raising children to look ‘like us’ will create misfits and outcasts.  I understand his concerns, but I cannot agree. I’ve raised little goth children and have well-rounded popular kids.

.:. Gothic Liturgy, tells the story of a Christian Church catering to the dark clad youth in their community.  I wish I lived closer. I’d check it out.

.:. The Goth Mom, another blog run by another Goth Mama.  I’ll be checking in there regularly.

All parents don’t need to be identical, just as all children aren’t. The key is finding the mix that works for you.  We’ve found it.  Yes, it involves skulls and gargoyles, bats and spiders. We also end up with stuffed hippos and pink ballet bags, Black Eyed Peas CDs and Adam Sandler movies.  But that’s okay.  We’re happy and not afraid to tell our kids that we love them.

Hug your monsters. Everyday.  That matters more than the width of your eyeliner

~sheila

The girls and I had seen an owl demo at the PowWow last October, but we were still excited to see this tiny creature [Alek had called it a baby].  When we arrived at the neighbors yard, Alek pointed and smiled.  It took the rest of us a while to find the wee thing – Bravo to its cloaking skills! 

Wow. 

It’s all I could say.  Jordan asked why I was so amazed and I laughed.  Why wouldn’t I be?? 

• I expect owls to come out at night, yet it was day.
• I expect owls to dislike the cold, yet here it is the middle of winter.
• I expect owls in the wilderness, yet we were in town.

So much joy from the unexpected.  Even being someone who loathes surprises of any nature, this was a wonderful bright spot in the day and left us wishing for a new surprise tomorrow. The potential impact was not unnoticed.  Mentally, I wagged a finger at myself.

We could all benefit much from delivering the unexpected. Most of us, I believe, settle into the ‘normal’ and the comfortable in many areas of our life.  Family friends, business… emotional, physical, mental.  The forces around us urge movement and perhaps even chaos, but we resist, wishing to be rocked like infants into a comfortable state. 

We must work towards new ‘unbelievable’ events by surprising our relationships in a new way.    We must. The owl has decreed it.

What unexpected things can you bring to your own life to better yourself, your loved ones, or even strangers you come in contact with?  I’m putting this into practice beginning immediately – focusing on Bats! meow… and on my intimate family relationships.

I urge you to look for your own owls.

~sheila

My goals -including my business goals- will be made with personal improvement in mind.

Our celebration was very low key.  Kids and I watched a movie while Eric played a game on the computer.  About 10 minutes before midnight, we switched the TV to the FOX NY party and counted down the last 30 seconds to the new year together, then toasted with champagne and sparkling juice.  A birthday wish to my dear Mother rang out in our home as fireworks echoed down the street.

For many years, my NYE plans included a midnight call to Pennsylvania. This year, though, it was spent explaining to our kids why Grandma doesn’t read the birthday cards we send.  That renewed my interest in completing our family tree project.  Keeping everyone connected, you know   And made me promise to take a photo a day throughout the year. Hone my skills and keep me blogging.

Best wishes for health, happiness, and prosperity to you in this new year.

The next week will move us closer to a solid plan for the year.

~sheila

Back in April, I took a temp job as a third shift sewer at a pillow factory in a neighboring town.  The work is easy; the other sewers are sweet; the hours took some getting used to, but I’ve adapted.  Even getting back into the swing of it after a long weekend (I work M-Th, 6:30pm-5am) is easier than it was at the start.  The real issue I’m dealing with -DAILY- is how much this schedule is interfering with everyday life. So many things I did regularly have fallen by the wayside.

I’m not just talking about FarmVille!    Although that clearly shows signs of neglect.

Mostly I’ve been neglecting this blog, my Facebook fan page, and other online communities and message boards where I promote the site and gather advice and hints.  By the time I get back, I’ll need to start over building relationships. More incentive to make time for all of it, I guess.

But when???

… pardon my moment to whine …

Working until 5am, I get home at 5:30 and cannot fall asleep right away. I stay up and catch up on some DVRed shows. I get to bed by 6:30 and sleep until 1 or 2. I do not get enough sleep; I know that.   Having to leave for work before 6, I have about 3.5 hours. During that time I want to spend time with my kids and I have to do errands and household chores. I feel bad about the things I feel there is no time for. And I feel there isn’t time for much.

… end whining …

Hopefully soon this time dilemma will change. I’ve had two interviews this week and I feel really good about them.  At the same time, I’m daydreaming about Bats! meow… being a full time job.

Step One:  revival of the blog!

Welcome back!!

~ sheila

Circumstances in my life indicate I’ll be spending a lot of time in the near future explaining exactly what it does and does not mean to be goth.  I want to know what folks are saying

For now, enjoy the rainbows   We ran into these on the drive to the grocery after the Egg Hunt on Saturday.  Luckily Eric was driving and I could aim the camera out  the window!

~ sheila

We’d never worked with brown eggs before, so we were unsure what dropping them in dye would do. To be safe, we added the suggested 2T of vinegar to keep the colors vibrant.  And let them soak extra long.

It worked

Now, we want to eat them, but the rules clearly state, we cannot until Easter.

Tonight, Eric and I are heading down to Indianapolis to do a little PR, but we’re staying home long enough to watch the season premiere of Wife Swap.  Maybe I can get a nap first.

~ sheila

Frozen fog sounds awful, but it sure is pretty. When I ran across town to deliver Alek’s backpack to the school [woops! he forgot it] this morning, I took some photos at the park.  I use this park for a lot of the product photos on my website.  I rarely see it in winter.  I think I’ve been missing out.

This is a rock wall which separates a picnic area from the playground.  I have to admit I’ve never noticed it before.

Just after I took this photo an older woman drove up behind me and rolled down her window.  “Lovely day for photos, isn’t it?”  And she shook her camera at me.  We talked about the ice frozen on the trees and agreed it was a shame that the paths weren’t clear for walking.  I would have loved to get down by the river which I could hear running in some place I couldn’t see.

I did push my way into the park a little ways to explore the winter.  I love how each branch is completely encased in ice.  And how you can see the unused playset in the background – oh, the cruel beauty that is mother nature

Happy to be back home, I’m enjoying a hot cup of coffee and will soon head out to the sewing studio.

~sheila