1- 1:1 day installment #1/3 = success!
I decided “Mommy Day” sounded a little juvenile at this stage so . . . 1:1 day it is! A had hers yesterday and it included:
- a trip to Target
- home manicures (I offered a salon experience but she wanted to get some new polish + do it at home!)
- face masks (OBVIOUSLY)
- JetPens video watching
- Dairy Queen
- Barnes & Noble – mostly browsing; she did get 2 books including one on the summer reading list
- dinner @ Sakura Ramen
- Bring It On (just A + me; Josh handled C/G bedtime).
Genevieve did come to dinner (necessary as we went right from piano and C had a basketball game), so it wasn’t entirely 1:1, but it was close and I think she had a great time! I didn’t get her approval yet on pix (key step these days) but will share if I can later on.
Next Thursday = C; Thursday after that = G. I suspect there will be an arcade and action movie experience in my near future . . . I’m ready!
2- Theme of two podcasts I listened to today was a social media break! It was discussed in this Mom Hour episode on taking a break (great overall episode too) and this Best Today Guide ep by Shunta Grant. Laura and I also talked about the topic on this week’s BOBW – the last in our screen series.
I am glad others are sharing potential avenues for temporarily or permanently escaping the time-sucking and in some cases mood-lowering effects of social media. I feel like this concept/movement is becoming less fringe and more widely talked about, and I love it.
3- Currently reading:
I have been consistently captivated by Elin Hilderbrand’s recent books and so far this one is no exception (though now that I look at the cover I’m sort of nervous because the first chunk did not feel like a suspense novel or thriller but what is shown there certainly looks ominous).
((I don’t like my reading life to be TOOOO stressful, you know?))
June was a great reading month for me – I finished 6 books, 3 fiction and 3 non. (2023 reading list is here!)
4- HALFWAY DAY!!!! Midpoint of the year = July 2. Annual “mid-year goals update” ep of BOBW coming out next month, and loved listening to the Happier version.
I don’t do anything special personally for halfway day (other than prep and record the episode in advance) but I am looking forward to making my July goals list this weekend. July is really the only pure ‘summer’ month for us, since school ends in June and starts in August. Most of my goals will focus on family + relaxation. AND I am happy when I look at my calendar lately. There is just a lot to look forward to!
5- Including . . . heading to PHL with just the kids tomorrow! Josh has call, and so I decided to bring the kids to visit my parents (and escape our weather a bit). This is becoming a bit of a tradition, as I took just G last year (big kids were at camp). Maybe one of these days Josh will make it too . . . 2024?! He often has call 7/4 but maybe next year he can mix it up and take Labor Day instead or something.
On the positive side, I no longer have any qualms about traveling with all 3 which is a far cry from just a couple of years ago. I’m honestly looking forward to it!
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I’m traveling solo with my kids, too, although it’s just to my parents lake home. The first 4 biz days are the busiest for my husband and the biz days following a quarter end are extra extra busy. So he can never take time off around the 4th! We have stayed home in years past, but the kids program/daycare aren’t open on Mon-Tues so I decided to head to the lake for a change of scenery. I’ve found that long weekends at home have felt extra long lately as our toddler has been going through a challenging stage. So I figured getting away would be good for all of us, plus I’ll have help from my parents and siblings (whose kids are much older so they find my boys’ stage to be so novel and exciting!!).
Well I will forever credit you for inspiring to go off social media. It’s been the best change for me. It’s been about 1.5 years and I don’t miss it AT ALL.
I’m so happy to hear that!!!! It sounds like a perfect change of scenery and having other adults to interact with always makes toddler time more bearable.
Same here, Lisa! Quit social media back in 2018 and been so much happier.
I quit all social media mid May, inspired by your screen habits and use of time. It was stirring up negative feelings in me too. Thanks for the encouragement! It’s been such a positive change.
wow – so glad it helped you!!! Amazing!
Thanks for the podcast links- will be sure to find those episodes to my favorites. Social media: off back in 2018 and now only have Facebook with like 2 friends (to follow the library events).
I’m not a huge IG user but I love getting bookish news there. I follow several authors and book “influencers”. I’m an all or nothing person so would need to completely cut it off. Was there anything in particular you were worried about missing out on or was it just a time suck?
I (and many others) cannot use it in moderation! Constantly distracting, and I would turn to it as my default down time activity or when I was in any kind of mood. I always felt worse after use (not the case for me with blogs or podcasts!). So for me cutting it off made sense.