Erica Layne

Two years ago I learned a lesson that I hope will stay with me the rest of my life. It is a lesson that would come in handy in the teenage years. Now I use it when I am standing in front of my husband with one foot jutting out at 11pm. Or when I’m staring (without seeing) out a window in quiet, somber moments.

Two years ago I learned to pop the bubble.

Strangely, this simple, simple lesson is one of the most useful tools I took away from the life maintenance (as I call it) therapy sessions I did after having my second baby. I tend to work things up in my mind. One problem becomes two, two problems become four . . . four become sixteen! For me, this tendency is greatly magnified after 8pm. “My husband hasn’t taken out the trash in a while” becomes “My husband must think I should be responsible for all the housework,” which quickly becomes “My husband is a chauvinist and must not really love me!” Which morphs into “I have no friends and my kids are out of control!” (Why hello, left field!)

When I sense my problems growing and can feel myself losing my footing, I tell myself to pop the bubble. I find something to get my mind off my troubles. Or if it’s late, I head straight to bed! If I can’t shake the spiraling thoughts, I pray for help and write them down in my journal, re-reading them later when I have gained more clarity.

The point is, I don’t let myself stay in that place. The place where my thoughts are spinning and my problems ballooning. The place where anger and discontentment breed. I am much quicker to pop the bubble and move on.

Have you popped any bubbles lately? What techniques do you use?

* I want to acknowedge that I know many problems are too serious to be “popped.” I am simply referring to that irrational spiral of thinking that I sometimes fall into.

Only a few days after telling you that I don’t deck out my house with bunnies and baby chicks at Easter time, I went out and bought myself some bunnies. Don’t you just love it when you contradict yourself?

But they’re so cheerful, and they make me smile every time I look at them. A touch of whimsy is good for the soul.

I also clipped some leaves and flowers from the grounds of my complex. I love when the wisteria is in bloom!

We are all set for a simple Easter! I hope you enjoy yours and take some time to remember the reason for this day. Happy Easter!

You might guess from the title that this post is about the development of my boys, but you would be wrong. This post is about moms growing up.

On Tuesday, my girlfriends and I met at a park to throw an Easter egg hunt for our kids. The little ones (the oldest was five) chased each other on the playground while we moms tossed candy-filled eggs into a grassy field. Then we gathered the kids and sent them running into the field. My youngest was content with one egg in his basket; I had to prompt him to look for more. My oldest filled his basket within a couple of minutes and was extremely proud of that fact.

After the kids had applied their chocolate lip liner (aka, eaten some candy) and returned to the jungle gym, one of my friends announced that we were official moms know that we had thrown an Easter egg hunt. That launched a conversation about how sometimes we can’t believe we are moms. Some days it feels like we were just teenagers, looking up to women who are my age now and thinking that they were SO much older, just by nature of the fact that they were married—to a boy!—and had given birth—to a baby! Those seem like HUGE milestones when you’re 16, but in reality they come one day, one decision, at a time. So slowly, in fact, that one day you wake up (or throw an Easter egg hunt!) and wonder how in the world you grew up.

When I sit down to eat lunch with Trenton, I look at those lively blue eyes and imagine how I look from his perspective. I look to him like my mom looked to me as I was growing up. I didn’t see her as a person until at least my late teens—and probably not entirely until I became a mother myself.

Isn’t it strange how quickly the tables turn?

Linked up with Richella at Imparting Grace. I love the concept behind her link parties, entitled “Grace at Home.” Welcome to any first-time visitors! Please leave a comment so I can come visit you at your blog!

Oh heavens, another WIWW post! Can you handle it? (Can I?)

My husband snapped this one for me right before we left on a date! (To see Hunger Games!) Because I liked the outfit so much, I wore it again the next day. 🙂

Sweater from Zara. Striped, long-sleeved tee from Ann Taylor. Jeggings that are in every single WWIW post, from Nordstrom. I got a ton of mileage out of all three of these pieces this winter! The shoes are new, from Nordstrom Rack. I eyed them all last summer at Nordstrom but never took the leap, so seeing them at the Rack a week ago made my heart sing.

I am still not sure about this outfit, but branching out is the point of WIWW, right??

Same sweater from Zara (told you it was getting a lot of mileage!); navy short-sleeved tee from Loft; rose cropped skinnies (which you’ve seen before) from Gap; and Nine West flip flops that I wore into the ground last summer!

This was taken on a rainy day here in Northern California!

White North Face jacket that I adore and have worn on almost every rainy day (and it rains quite a lot here!) for the last two winters. Black scarf that was a gift from my fabulous sister-in-law. Same jeggings as #1. Rainboots from ASOS that were great deal but are no longer on their website.

Now that I’ve done WIWW a whole three times, it feels like you have seen the majority of my winter wardrobe! (And what you haven’t seen on me, you’ve seen in my closet. 🙂 Is anyone else ready for shorts and sandals?

Welcome to any first-time visitors! Please leave a comment so I can come visit you at your blog!

When do you do your best thinking?

For some people it’s in the shower. I am usually too rushed by the little rulers of my home to think in the shower. Some of my friends think best when they exercise; I so wish that were me! While I’m on the treadmill, all I can manage to do to keep my mind off the minutes is wonder about the people around me or search (fruitlessly!) for a better song on my ipod.

I DO pull off some pretty darn good thinking when I vacuum. The boys race from the vacuum to the couch, pretending that the vacuum will eat their toes if they get too close. But the loud sound of the machine at my hand drowns out their gleeful cries, and I review my day in my mind.

I also think when I’m driving, particularly on an open stretch of the road, when my backseat passengers’ inquisitive minds have run dry of questions and are quiet for a precious few moments. It is then that I often feel the soft sting of tears in my eyes as I reflect on all the good in my life. I picture in my head images of the next week—the next ten years. I think about family members, all hundreds of miles away. I confront myself about habits I do and habits I don’t want to pass on to my kids. I wonder if I can teach them—how to pray and trust that answers will come, how to be kind even when their friends are not, how to believe in themselves enough to ignore the voices of so many others. Something about seeing the road stretch lazily before me turns my mind to the future. No wonder we go on so many drives.

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I honestly love to hear your responses. So tell me, when do you do your best thinking?