Category: Uncategorized (Page 99 of 188)

Before KLR got married, a friend gave her a bit of advice. “Never do anything in the first year that you don’t want to be doing in 10 years from now.” 

(Full disclosure: this may not be the exact quote. The friend may have used different time frames. This is just what I recall the advice being. I know, a real writer would verify with the source. This, my friends, is the beauty of blogging). 

Now, I’m all for going “above and beyond” – both at work and to make Husband happy. I’m glad to do those little things that make a difference. But there’s something to be said for knowing when to give it full-throttle vs. having to live full throttle. Very few teams can full-court press for an entire game, let alone can a player do it solo. 

Something in our culture is robbing us from the enjoyment of a strong, simple pace. Doing good, reliable work on a consistent basis. We’re encouraged to sprint the entire race, even if we’re participating in a marathon (let’s see… can I fit another sports analogy into this post?). We have to be superstars in every facet of life, satisfied with nothing but the absolute best. Always.  

Even the word mediocrity holds a negative undertone. I half-joke when I use it with friends at work because  the point isn’t how little work can I get away with? but rather, what pace and expectation do I want to set? I think we can do a superb job living up to the expectations and requirements of our roles of employee, wife, mother, sister, daughter and friend when the goal isn’t perfection but consistency. I think those who depend on us, deep down don’t expect perfection but our own obsession with it keeps us from appreciating the honest efforts and the steady results. 

I’d much rather have a simple meal from the grill 6 nights a week than a gourmet production once a month (look! Food, not sports this time!). So, perhaps we ought to start giving ourselves the freedom to sit down and enjoy the fruits of our  simple, consistent, albeit imperfect at times, efforts.  

This year I feel like the “holiday” has exploded. Maybe it’s where I find myself – Babble comes up in my FB feed, which gears itself to moms of all types, and I’m friends with many mothers, so now it’s a part of conversation. Or maybe we Americans just know how to commercialize anything.
Nonetheless, a day usually composed of flowers, luncheons and I Love You’s has been elongated into a week’s worth of preparation and festivities. But that hasn’t helped me celebrate the day any better, no matter what the Today Show suggests.  

My mothers day perspective has changed over the years, largely in part to new perspective: I have friends who feel like perhaps they have less of a reason to celebrate the second Sunday in May. Those that have lost their mothers. Those whose mothers chose to walk away. Those who anticipate with great hopefulness being a mother and struggle each month with the disappointment that it will be that much longer (and sometimes this is true even after they’ve been a mother once – and the disappointment is still there, and still valid). There are those who “would’ve been” mothers and they count back the years to the difficult decision they made. All of these things remind me that motherhood – and mother-having – is not a right or a guarantee, but a gift. There is no Motherhood Patrol to police the world and make sure all is fair; so those that are blessed must uphold the right place of gratefulness for all that has been donned our way in terms of motherhood.
I’m grateful for a time each year that I can be appreciative of the wonderful woman in my life who has loved and cared for me, answered my calls at the least convenient moment and set a wonderful example of the way I hope to be present in the lives of my children. I’m grateful for the woman she is and the time I continue to have with her.  I’m not sure I’d be so introspective of my appreciation if I didn’t realize just how hard the day could be, and continues to be for many women. I hope that a luncheon and a pot of flowers (though thoughtfully selected) will make the message known: I have an idea of what my world would be like without, and I don’t like it. I don’t just need, but I want the continuing presence in my life. We don’t always get what we want; but today, I realize that I do.
I love you, mom!

I think my husband, or someone else who thinks s/he is funny did the email version to me. 

Every week I get an email reminder from BabyCenter telling me how many weeks along I am in the pregnancy (because I can’t seem to remember and this time I didn’t mark it in my planner). I’m pretty sure that someone is logging into my account each week and changing the due date so that I am always 30 weeks. I was at 29 weeks for nearly 4 months. I’m sure of it. There for a while, I think I was actually going in reverse each week. 

Plus I’m up to 25 pounds, so I’m big enough to be due any day, right? All of this together means that maybe I don’t have that long to go. 

But then that means we’ll have a third baby. We don’t have any clothes down/washed, Miss M is still in the nursery, H boy not yet in the bigger bed (just the toddler bed version of the crib), and all the baby stuff is down in the basement. We do, however, have the infant car seat ready to go, but that’s just because we finally got Miss M’s convertible seat installed yesterday and haven’t done anything with the infant carrier that she was in until yesterday. 

I feel like I should kick it into gear on this baby prep. I’m not sure if it’s nesting or just a general awareness of what a slacker I’ve been this time around.