Well!
Thanksgiving is over. I am not going to a full ‘recap’, because the summary suffices well: we spent a nice weekend with family, and Josh and I are both tired.
Parenting these days is intense. There are generally 2 streams of management going on: the behavior of A&C, and the safety of G. Neither job is easy. At the end of many of these days, Josh and I just look at each other and note: “Well. That was tiring.”. And at one point I pointed out to him that we have approximately 150 weekends until G is 4!
(I cannot decide if this is a sadly high or low number.)
There is so much cuteness, so many inspiring moments. There are peaceful segments of each day. But it’s also a whirlwind. It is a challenge not to lose myself (and my chill) in the process.
Highlights and trends:
* Dressing the kids in matching plaid outfits!
* Taking G for scenic stroller runs in which she falls asleep
* Reading! (I’m on a non-fiction/personal development bender, as fits my mood at the end of the year. Current read = Ryder Caroll’s The Bullet Journal Method)
* Challenging myself to remain calm while parenting all 3 — it’s actually a fairly effective exercise with an almost meditative quality. I took all 3 to YAA (kids’ art museum) and out to dinner on Sunday by myself and actually sort of enjoyed the experience
* I am not spending much time on my phone, which is really refreshing and actually feels like a somewhat momentous habit shift. (How to Break Up With Your Phone by Catherine Price did help, and I think I was also just ready for a change. I did not follow her plan specifically but used her ideas as inspiration. I will share the changes I made to my actual phone/habits in a future post if, as I am fervently hoping, this habit change sticks.)
* I am doing a lot of reflection and forward thinking on future projects and what I’d like 2019 to look like. Laura and I recorded our annual goals podcast, which helped me define goals for each quintile (yep, using this system again!)
* Blog makeover is nearly done! I’ve now seen the preliminary migrated site and it looks beautifully clean and modern. I am now motivated to improve my photos and update some of my main pages (some of which have been languishing for year. Oops!).
Happy Tuesday — I was off yesterday (very strategic use of my one day off, as I knew I’d need a Thanksgiving recovery day), and entering my last ever week of pumping at work! Here we go . . .
Two separate days.
Two different beaches.
Same unimpressed passenger.
Gorgeous
I love this drink pic!
Plaid pic #1 (outfits Tea Collection)
Solo parenting (and rather zen) museum trip
Plaid pic #2
Brainstorming ways to make weekends run smoothly
(Math problem: can you fit in some personal/work time for each parent, workouts for each parent, a date night, and a morning to sleep in for each? Yes! So why does it so rarely actually happen? Trying to figure that out!)
5 Comments
In your allotted time for “afternoon family outing,” I”d totally implement “quiet time” (ie-in their rooms) for your older kids on some of those days & have the baby nap then. That would create some more “free time” for you & your hubby to have down time, get things done, etc. Just an idea & what we do with our kids!
good point – I am hoping G’s nap will drift later to help this be possible! RIght now she often passes out 10am – 12:30pm and that’s it!
Just out of curiosity, did you consider having more kids, or are you sure you’re done with 3?
How was the solo outing to the museum so zen? I dread taking all three by myself anywhere. There is so much stuff to carry, and they seem to be in three directions. How is it going living with your in-laws? How did you pack for a long time? We may be doing this for 4-6 weeks in a few months and it’s already making me think about the planning.
Loved the schedule–visuals like that are so helpful and inspiring to me. I know it seems simple but when you are in the middle of it everything feels crazy so seeing it makes it feel doable.