Take yourself seriously

Moxie is running a 60-day Take Yourself Seriously Challenge, and I'm trying my best to join. The premise is to choose three things you want to work on and commit to them for 60 days. I didn't read all of the comments, but it looked like a lot of people were (1) reducing their intake of high fructose corn syrup, (2) drinking more water, and (3) trying to have more sex. Yes, really. I'm sure J would like it if I added that last one to the list, but for now it's a much lower priority. Although, what does that say about the state of our marriage? I'll have to think about that. Anyway...

There are so many things I think I want to tackle, and then I get overwhelmed at the enormity of it all and accomplish nothing. So I'm trying to make these goals do-able to have a taste of success (I hope) and then add in additional goals in the NEXT 60 days (or whenever).

1. Start T-Tapp and do it regularly. I think that means a 4 day bootcamp and then every other day, but since I haven't started yet I'm not sure what schedule will end up working. But STARTING is the big thing.

2. Be more present with my kids more often. It's so easy for me to get caught up on the computer and just watch over them, rather than sitting down and being fully present. They're at a fabulous age and I don't want to miss it.

3. Get to bed earlier. Work on this bit by bit - I don't think we'll be able to change the habits we've slipped into overnight (ha ha), but bit by bit, work back to getting to bed by 10:30.

For future (so I don't forget):
- more veggies. Husband and kids are not so keen on them, so it's easy to let it slip by.
- focus on dissertation writing. Advisor is somewhat too relaxed, so motivation must all come from self. Motivation seems to have disappeared with arrival (19 months ago) of babies.
- reclaim my office. Which might help with the dissertation writing.
- get off the computer. Hey, wait, I think I'll try that now.

I feel kinda dumb now

I can't believe I'm admitting this so publicly, but here it is.

In my defense, I did pass the AP Biology exam in high school. And Calculus. Which might be the last time I studied math or science, since having passed the exams exempted me from any such classes in college.

But what am I going to do when my kids start taking science classes? Sure, J is probably better at these subjects than I am, but still. I really don't want to be the dumb parent.

Hip(py) enough?

I tried to join the local Natural Families yahoo group/email list (membership is pending “approval”) and all I could think about was Stacie’s post about proving your credentials. I had to submit an introduction to the moderator, and I couldn’t tell for sure but felt like what I needed to do was prove that I was AP/granola/crunchy/alterna enough to join the group. I mentioned our cloth diapering, cosleeping, and breastfeeding, because I felt like I should, but really, those things have very little to do with our parenting philosophy. The CDing is a cost and environment thing, mostly. We’re currently cosleeping out of convenience (we started on a trip - the kids didn’t much like the hotel cribs so both eventually ended up in bed with us and it was pretty cozy - and they’ve been sick so we’ve just found it easier) and while I haven’t tried to stop BFing, neither have I tried to continue. Mostly it’s just laziness - the kids like it so much that I can’t see what it would take to stop right now. Point being, it all feels pretty circumstantial. And yet, I felt like I had to trot out my AP credentials to get in the door. What I’m hoping to get out of the group, besides the possibility of meeting other families, are things like recommendations for local services (a homeopath, maybe?) -- which seems more intentional than the others, but wasn’t what I felt I was supposed to say.