That elusive balance
This has been kind of a rough week.
- Make more time for D. I’m going to block off a few hours a week (a good chunk of a weekday afternoon) to spend time exclusively with four-year-old D. I feel like I never get one-on-one time with him anymore, now that he’s in preschool three full mornings a week (and we’re hanging with his sis on the other mornings). He loves to make crafts and sew projects, so we’ll do that. Maybe even sneak off to a movie one afternoon, while Darling Husband stays here with a napping C.
- Be more intentional about my time with C. My girl and I spend three mornings alone together each week, while big bro is in preschool. We do a parent/tot gymnastics class on Monday mornings, and we’re going to be attending a Friday playgroup starting this week. Wednesdays, I’m keeping as our “free” day for errands and whatnot. But I’ve been guilty of letting her play on the iPad while I clean the house, check emails, etc. I want to plan more fun Mommy/Daughter activities for us.
- Find more alone time with Darling Husband. His work schedule and my work schedule are complete and utter opposites at the moment, which is really hard. We see each other for about 20 minutes, total, on too many days. Yes, this means we don’t pay for childcare, but it’s also rough on a marriage. I’m going to start blocking off the evenings when he’s off, so I can see them in the calendar and look forward to them. I also want to plan a lighter workload one day, in the middle of his rotation, so we actually have an hour to sit and hang out while the kids are down for quiet time. Talking to my husband for more than 20 minutes! Imagine that!
- Be more careful about scheduling my work. Yes, I’m insanely organized. My series of colour-coded Google calendars is legendary. BUT! I often think I can fit in more than I really can. I need to be MUCH. MORE. CAREFUL. about only taking on what I can handle. I HATE working after the kids are in bed, because (A) I work much more slowly, because I’m zonked, and (B) I need time to myself! (Or time to spend with Darling Husband, if he’s off that night).
Five things about working late (when you’re self-employed)
- It’s much harder to concentrate at night. For me, at least.
- It’s much more tempting to shop online, read blogs, check celebrity news … hmm, who was Mindy Kaling’s ex? … Then you slap yourself and remember that you’re wasting time. Your manta must become: “The longer I frig around on the internet, the longer I’m going to be sitting here.”
- The only real benefit is that you’re not snacking in front of the TV, so I’ll go as far to say that working late = skinny? Maybe? Hopefully?
- You are wasting your precious kids-in-bed time, and it’s sad. What a sad, sad, sad waste of a few hours of free time. The TV is lonely. The couch is crying fuzzy tears.
- You don’t get overtime when you’re self-employed. You just get … to stay employed.
xo
Dusty jeans + boots + deep-fried Oreos
Nearly three years ago, we moved from the city to the country in order to live a different kind of life.
We’re happy with that decision every day, but on the days we spend traipsing around a farm in dusty jeans and boots, we’re especially pleased. There is a special place our family goes every single fall, and it’s become our ultimate destination for fall family fun.
RiverBreeze Corn Maze is just five minutes from our new house, and you can usually find us there most weekends from mid-September until Halloween.
Our kids call it “The Pumpkin Farm,” and one of the highlights is always clamouring up onto bales of hay and taking the bumpy ride out to the pumpkin patch. As the wagon creaks past the cornstalks, we hold the kids tightly on our laps and try to keep them from jumping over the sides. The tour guide tells the same punny corn jokes each year — “Be careful what you say, because the corn has ears!” — and each year, we laugh.
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| Continue reading in my weekly parenting column, The Mom Scene … |
Sniffing my life away
Seasonal allergies or a fall cold? Who knows? Who cares?
I have hardcore “seasonal” allergies that require me to take allergy meds ever day of the damn year, but sometimes the symptoms get worse than ever. Sneeze City, population: me.
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| Ew, this makes me glad I don’t work in a real office anymore. |
Ragweed kicked my booty for all of August, it seemed, and now I’m going through another Horrible Allergy Phase, like I do every fall.
What am I even allergic to? Well, I haven’t been tested since I was a kid — which is something I should remedy, considering I write for the most kick-butt allergy, asthma, and eczema site on the web — but … dust, dog and cat dander (almost typed “danger”), any basically every form of outdoorsy plant, grass, flower? Pretty boring, as allergies go.
Of course, we suspect D has a cold — BUT WE ARE ALSO KIND OF BLAMING ALLERGIES, TOO, BECAUSE WHO EVEN KNOWS ANYMORE? — so maybe I am just sick, on top of my usual allergies?
Perhaps this would be a good day to take DayQuil on top of my regular allergy medication? (So not recommended) Probably not, because then my head gets fuzzy and my articles are like dskhfksjfhdsfhjksdhksf.
I think I am just blogging at the moment because I am SO VERY VERY ANNOYED at my running nose and itchy eyes. They make it difficult to work without sniffing, difficult to concentrate, difficult to stare at the computer monitors with pathetic, itchy, watery, squinty eyes.
Is there a hashtag for this? #journalistswithallergies or #selfemployedallergyprobs?
/end rant
Chipaholics Anonymous
- I do OK for breakfast. Eating two soft-boiled eggs for breakfast each day is just fine. Only 66 calories! Verdict: Go onward!
- Bread is tricky. Some types of white bread actually way less calories than whole grain bread (like HALF the calories) which is stupid and unfair, because whole grain is way better for me. Verdict: Frustrating! (I’m eating a little of both, depending on what we have in the house)
- Butter is a little bitch. When I did Weight Watchers, I used “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter” because it was way lower in points. But, of course, it tastes like bland oil. So now our household uses real butter (no chemicals!) and it’s much higher in calories. Verdict: Worth it.
- We eat too many convenience foods. We may do homemade spaghetti sauce and pancakes from scratch, but we still a fair amount of frozen fish sticks and chicken burgers/nuggets. This crap is high in calories and salt, and it doesn’t even taste “worth it.” It’s just … so easy? You know? Verdict: I can’t promise we will cut out these convenience foods, but I’m certainly more aware of it.
- I eat way too many chips. But we knew that, right? Chips are my absolute No. 1 weakness, and I know it’s ridiculous because who feels so strongly about chips (except for me)? No one! I’m tracking every one I eat, and the results aren’t pretty. I bet if I gave up chips entirely, I would be 115 lbs. and look fantastically supermodel-esque. Verdict: Darling Husband is at the grocery store right now, as I type this, and he is NOT buying any chips. That’s saying something.
- I feel disappointed at myself when I make bad choices … and see them written out for me. There’s nothing like seeing that you ate chips twice in one day — right there, in print, on your phone’s screen — to make you feel guilty. This is why tracking your food intake works, guys. There’s no running from your choices. Own the shame, embrace the guilt, and use it to power through.
- I really am starting to miss exercise on my non-Zumba days. This is a HUGE development, because I was never, ever, ever one of those people who enjoyed exercise or ever missed it. Ever. But I’m hooked on the endorphins it gives me, and I’m disappointed on non-class days. When I found out earlier that I have to miss tomorrow’s class (Darling Husband works) I was really, really bummed. WHO AM I? WHO HAVE I BECOME?
I CERTAINLY use food as an anxiety drug — as well as a reward — and until recently, I certainly haven’t been using exercise the way I should — and it really does make me happier.
Have a good week, everyone. Make good choices (i.e. put down the chips with me).
xoxo
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