1- So many great comments on the last 2 posts (here + here)! I am going to spend some more time prioritizing while keeping my desired work time frames in mind. I also plan on filling out a monthly calendar and love the idea of a yearly rhythm as well. I also appreciated ideas around the 1:1 kid days, but as noted I am not going to move them now as deep down they ARE something I want to prioritize. I will get less work done, and I’m okay with that right now.
2- Summer reading is going well! I’m pretty sure I will finish I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai this weekend and soon after, my current nonfiction: Unwired by Gaia Berstein. I have really enjoyed both. I Have Some Questions is a perfect summer read — immersive, propulsive, and a mystery element. I definitely enjoy a fluffy summer romance from time to time, but I think I prefer books like this one.
AAAAND look at these babies ready for pickup:
3- Pod rec: Lisa Damour on Spawned Podcast – this was a great episode on teen parenting, and much applies to tweens as well. Lots of great and nuanced discussions on screens, parental support, and more.
4- Interesting blog post: Many Physicians Waste Their Vacation Time. Only part I had issue with was where they chastised doctors for trying to fit too much into to a vacation — noting this defeats the purpose of rest/relaxation — but then also said not to bring a nanny. We don’t bring our nanny or any childcare on vacations as a general rule, but I could see how in the right situation it could be very helpful for a tired couple that doesn’t have a great way of leaving the kids home for a week (the alternative suggested!).
Also, we rarely take more than a week off at a time, but we WILL be this summer. Not a full 2 weeks (for Josh), but close. I’m exited!
5- CALL WEEK. I haven’t talked much about call. I have been . . . surprisingly calm through this one so far! It has been fairly busy, but more during the day than overnight (a good thing!).
It has also helped that the kids have been off of school (since Weds) so my mornings are much more relaxed — even leaving at 8:10 (with no drop-off) vs 7:35 makes a difference. I need to remember that.
(The only evidence of my stress? I HAVE ORDERED NO FEWER THAN 3 PLANNERS FOR REVIEW from various sites. This is such a ridiculous call coping mechanism, and totally related to my desire to think of my time a bit differently (zooming out a little, really). But – I’m excited for them to come!!)
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I love essays and LOVED These Precious Days…
Rebecca Makkai’s The Great Believers is the best novel I’ve read in a long time! Highly recommend!
I read that last year also and loved. And cried a lot! Very different books and both excellent.
We often travel with childcare. It is a little different for us because we have an au pair who also lives with us. We also often travel with my mother and her significant other. It think changing the ratio of adults to kids makes for a more relaxing vacation and I will never regret doing so.
I find that if I stay home during vacation it’s too easy for me to get sucked back into work. You have to be absolutely rigid with your boundaries because YOU WILL BE EXPLOITED BY EVERYONE if you are not. Hence, more travel is planned this year and while I will bring my computer, the plan is to open it as little as possible.
If you do a staycation it is absolutely imperative that you plan something fun so that it doesn’t feel like a total waste. I did one this Spring that was lovely and we went to several local restaurants that I had been wanting to try for a while. Only one totally sucked (Do not bother with Knights in A2)! I did do minimal work, but it was much less than prior vacations and I felt more in control of it than I had previously.
We traveled with the au pairs and it sucked just as much as traveling without them (yes, we did this multiple times with multiple au pairs). Even if they didn’t act like petulant teenagers — which some of them did — I felt the pressure of having a third person to make happy. Which was impossible. Solution #1: Have fewer children and the time you are stuck taking trips rather than vacations will be shorter. Solution #2: Be rich. Solution #3: Have helpful family. LOL. Spoiler: If you don’t have #2 or 3, there is no solution until they get older, and then you will be old too.