Oh July of 2019, you were not my favorite.
I spent a lot of time thinking yesterday about scenarios that DIDN’T happen this past month.
No one I know got a new cancer diagnosis. No one had a catastrophic car accident while reading an ‘important’ text. No one was struck by lightning (though the number of storms has been annoying).
We don’t have lice or the flu or gastroenteritis in the house. No kid was kicked out of school/camp/etc for terrible behavior.
It was still a frustrating month. Our family vacation fell a little short. Our childcare has been spotty. We didn’t get to go on our much-anticipated couples weekend. G has been sleeping like utter #$(*@# (I think she may need a new round of sleep training, which is not going to be any fun). I’ve had so few uninterrupted mornings, and I NEED MY MORNINGS. Our house is still on the market. The non-clinical portion of my work has been challenging (growing pains in my new position I hope — mostly due to staff turnover at an inopportune time). And more that I can’t really write about, but it’s all this same level of not catastrophic but totally irritating and energy-sapping and well —
I’m so ready for things to turn around.
August, you’re here for me just when I need you. New school routines, a weekend girls’ trip (that I believe will really happen!), and a proverbial fresh start. Q4 (of 5!) begins in earnest mid-month with the start of the new school year, and we should have our normal (and wonderful) nanny back.
AUGUST WISH LIST
- Get G into a better sleeping routine (limit nap to two hours, move bedtime closer to 7:30 or 8 pm if she can last that long, try to get her sleeping until 6:30-45 AM or so)
- Get big kids into a better sleeping routine (opposite of G – they need to go to bed EARLIER because I am having to drag them out of bed at 7:30 – the discordance in their routines is doing us no favors)
- Take one night off / week entirely from bedtime
- Have fabulous trip to see my college BFFs (weekend in Toronto!) & plan “do-over” weekend w/ Josh for later in the fall
- NOTE: this trip will most likely be a natural weaning point for G (currently she is still nursing 2x/day or 3 if I’m home, and sometimes OVERNIGHT which is terrible for me)
- Sell house (hey, it’s a wish list!)
- Get to a point of feeling less frantic than I have been at work
- Get back into consistent workouts (July was much spottier than my typical routine), ideally 3 runs & 3 interval or strength sessions/week
- No hurricanes PLEASE
Reflecting on this, I feel like so much is related to sleep quality and getting my mornings back. I am going to make this a priority!
Two notes:
We had Julie Morganstern (organizing guru!) on the podcast this week! I think her episode is one of our strongest (because she was so great!), so give it a listen if you are interested.
I am thinking of putting my name out there to be a guest on some other podcasts (mostly to get the word out more about BOBW and also just for fun). If you have ideas for me of who to pitch (MD type podcasts, organizing podcasts, etc), I would love to hear them.
24 Comments
What about Ali on the Run as a running mother combo? Seems like a good fit.
Also the Natalie Crawford “As A Woman” podcast would be good.
I love your blog! Here’s hoping for a better August for you. Sleep, G!
Haha I don’t think I’m a serious enough runner to qualify for Ali anymore … but maybe i end up picking a race for next year. I will look into the other- thank you!!
To be honest, a lot of her more recent podcast interviews are way less about running and more about being a mom juggling work and family, especially her Motherhood Mondays episodes. As I’m a dog mom and not mom to humans, I’ll be honest and say I can’t quite get into them, but I think you’d be perfect for them!
I night weaned my son at about the same age as G is now (bf until 2.5). It helped a lot with the sleep. I also introduced a comfort toy at the same time. He quickly worked out how to find his snuggle puppy in his crib and would roll over and go back to sleep. He was never much of a napper so I never had to limit naps with him 😂
I hope you can get G sleeping better! We have a 17-month old and he was a terrible sleeper during his first year, mostly due to non-stop ear infections that required tubes, but we got serious about sleep training after he got tubes and he now sleeps for about 12 hours straight, sometimes a little more! He does not nap well, though, so there is a trade-off to his loooonnnggg nights of sleep! I pumped since BF’ing didn’t work for us so it was probably a little easier for us to drop the night feeds. He goes to bed easily since we did sleep training around 4 months to work on getting him to go to sleep on his own. All this is to say that you might have some pain points (all the crying!) in the process of getting her to go to bed more easily and stay asleep, but man it’s worth it when everything clicks!! We take turns doing bedtime but neither of us ‘minds’ doing bedtimes as we just read 3 books and set him in his crib.
I’m glad you have a trip with friends to look forward to. The time away will be so good for you as you have a lot going on in every area of your life right now!
I had a rough July too – it’s a really busy travel season for my husband’s job so I end up holding down the fort at home and it’s exhausting! I like the idea of an August wish list. Hoping the hurricanes stay away from you!
I think you’d be a great guest on the Edit Your Life podcast with Christine Koh and Asha Dornfest.
100% agree with this!
I feel you. I’m ready to move on from July as well. For what it’s worth, both my girls slept like garbage until they weaned. Like, 100% weaned. Even just an early morning session made them get up so much earlier. I have no idea what that was, but it was 100% a thing. Not to say you should just rush right out and do that, I get that this is a whole thing, but I wouldn’t be surprised it that was the case for you, too. I can certainly empathize. When my sleep is disturbed over any sort of period of time, I get very irritable/frustrated/sad very quickly. Amazing how a few nights of 8 hours in a row can really help perspective.
Ugh about the sleep / mornings. I can’t seem to skip back into a normal morning semi-routine either. My youngest is a little younger than G I think (17 mo) – was waking up every morning at 5 screaming – definitely wound up and hard to settle but would go back to sleep after more than an hour. I wonder if they were night terrors or some sort of sleep cycle disruption. I ended up setting her lullaby/sound machine (we have the Hatch) to come on at 4:50 and she stopped! Maybe coincidence, but I’m not going back now!
Also so glad to be done with July – we do a whole orientation month for interns with lecture every day and lots of sim (my gig) and I’m ready to settle back down!
Good luck with your August wish list! As a long time reader and Toronto resident I hope you enjoy our fabulous city when you come. I’m sure your trip is planned but happy to pass on recommendations if you are looking for anything else! And I feel you on the sleep. Our 10 month old is routinely up between 5:30 and 6 for the day. Sigh.
July has been rough for me too. I’m not sure August will be better, but we have a REAL vacation planned, that will hopefully be refreshing. I’ve gotten all off my routines for sleep/eating/exercise and its taking a toll for sure.
Yay -Toronto! A long time reader (and Torontonian) here. Have you been before? It is such a magnificent city. I hope you have a wonderful time!
I have not and have always wanted to! I’ve been to Montreal a bunch, Vancouver briefly, and whistler but this is my first trip to Toronto!!
I hope your August is the reprieve you need. I feel like summer lasts so long here (back to school is Aug 27) that I’m not even thinking about new routines yet. That being said, we don’t deviate very much because G really needs consistency with sleep / wake so his summer bedtime is pretty much the same as the school year and no one has slept past 5:45 in my house since 2012, so that’s not an issue.
I LOVED the book Time To Parent. It really works with my parenting philosphy and personality. I can’t wait to give this one a listen!
This week’s podcast was one of my all time favorites. I could have listened longer and would vote for her as a repeat guest.
Agree! I loved her wisdom and advice and encouraging tone! Would definitely have her again if she is willing!
Agreed & agreed!
I agree that weaning will likely help with sleep. My son didn’t sleep through the night consistently until we totally stopped nursing at 18 months. And it is game changing, everything is better once everyone is sleeping.
My son (6) has the same bedtime everyday of the year (weekdays, weekends, school, summer)–we’ve found the consistency to be 100% worth it. He gets up and goes to bed like clockwork. There are probably less than 5-6 days each year where this gets messed with (usually from traveling). Maybe something to consider for the older ones?
Sleep really does make a difference, which is such a frustrating thing, because I feel like it is the first thing to go when things get hectic and stressful (and let’s face it – life is often hectic and stressful, especially with kids and a high-pressure job). I wish I could get by with little sleep but I can only do it for so long before I reach the freak out point. Good luck with sleep training. I hated sleep training and night weaning (it felt excruciating), but it really worked, and nothing else worked for us.
The caption to the weather forecast made me giggle… I wonder if anyone is ever truly in the mood for a hurricane? 😉
You would be great as a guest on The Mom Hour!
Would love to be on the mom hour !