Weekend Report

Last weekend of February!

Here is the summary of  happenings.

Friday:

• Bingo night at kids school. I took all 3 kids by myself because husband was away in another city for work (after being away in yet another city earlier that week). 
• Youngest had a meltdown because she didn't win anything.
• Middle child was grumpy because we left early. 
• Oldest child was thrilled to stay behind with a friend of his and to be dropped off at home later that night by the friend's parents. 
• I was reasonably grouchy because I had to "do it all" alone.
• Still, it was a fun night, we all enjoyed playing bingo and seeing some friends/acquaintances.

Saturday:

• I made oatmeal and did some yoga.
• J took older daughter to dance class and then out on a father-daughter date 
• In the meantime, the rest of us played frisbee outside, found flowers (snowdrops?) in the garden, and read some books. I also managed to call my parents, schedule a dinner date with them, and make lunch (tuna salad and lentil soup).
• E had a soccer game. It was entertaining enough that I didn't get as far in my book as I thought I would. 
• E and I had a date at the Veterans Museum. 
• I took my parents out to dinner at an Israeli restaurant they like, followed by tea and ice cream at their house. It was really nice to catch up. It felt really nice to be the center of attention.
• At home, we all watched Olympics for a bit and kids had their Movie Night.

Sunday:

• J took kids to Hebrew School and then went to my parents house to work on their faucet.
• I went to a Rosh Hodesh event. 
• H had a piano party.
• J fixed our shower (with much cursing, a trip to buy yet another tool, and a minor temper tantrum).
• I read for fun.
• I spent about 20 min going through the attic stuff (the goal is to clear up the attic room where I have my "study" and which currently doubles as the "junk room). Found a few things I've been missing, like the salad-serving spoons and egg holders (still packed from our move 4 years ago!
• We all watched the closing ceremony for a bit.
• J and I had a fight (because I've been feeling under-appreciated and he has more trips coming up and I'll have to scramble to juggle kid activities, dinner, work, etc., all alone - again! And he doesn't think about any of it or plan for contingencies at all).
• I felt better afterwords.

Morningitis: a Severe Debilitating Morning Condition

I suffer from a severe case of morning irritation. I feel grumpy, underappreciated, put-upon, irritable, and short-tempered. I snap at the kids. I grumble at the husband. I hiss at the cat.

I've tried:

• Exercise in the morning
• Read for fun in the morning
• Go to bed earlier the night before

None of those work on a consistent basis. Plus, I have 1001 excuses not to do the above (like, not waking up early enough).
And I haven't figured out if there is anything - anything at all - that can make me a happier and kinder person in the mornings. Maybe its a lost cause and I just have do endure being in a bad mood most mornings?

A number of years ago, my husband was responsible for getting our kids (there were only 2 at the time) up, fed, dressed and off to daycare. I got up extra-early to get my grumpy self to the lab. I was the only one at work at 7:30 in the morning, so no one suffered from my lack of good mood. By the time people rolled in (10-ish), I was back to my normal self.

Now, my husband and I do mornings together, eat breakfast more or less around the same time as our kids, and split the drop-off routine on most days. In some ways, it's working great - we both get to work at a reasonable time, and in theory, we spend some quality time together as a family first thing in the morning. Reality: I am not a good sport on most mornings... All I want to do is whine and pick fights with my family.

Potential solution:
I do feel that if I got up an hour earlier (6 am instead of closer to 7 am), I might feel better by the time kids get up around 7-7:15.

Hurdle to overcome:
I am really, really, really not a morning person. I love night-time: I function great at night and am in a fabulous mood. My most productive hours, when in college and grad school, were between 1 and 3 am. Now, even if I force myself into bed by 10:30, I have a hard time falling asleep (unless I've been sleep deprived for a few days, and then I collapse by 9:30). So, I am fighting my innate circadian preference, in addition to a multitude of other hurdles (stress, fatigue, emotional exhaustion). I am fighting years and years of ingrained grumpy-morning paradigm (since early childhood, I just don't feel happy the moment I wake up).

So how do I find my "happy" on most morning???  Any advice???

What do you do to feel happy first thing in the morning? Do you just wake up happy or is there a routine that you do to put yourself into a good mood?

Weekend Reports

I find it very interesting to read bloggers who like to come up with detailed schedules for their weekends and are super-organized (or at least come across that way in their writing). Reading their weekend updates, with multiple events that happen each day - on one hand, I'm a bit jealous (because I never get that much done) and on the other hand I feel exhausted just reading about it (because I never want to do that much).

I am not big into scheduling and I am really terrible at to-do lists.
However, as has been pointed out by these amazing super-organized bloggers, if you don't plan at all - everyone may end up doing nothing and moping around miserable all weekend. While occasional unplanned weekend is nice, I have to agree that not much gets done :)

It looks like the middle ground of some planning and lots of free time is working out well for the moment.

This weekend, planned:
* Friends birthday party on Saturday
* Food shopping on the way home from the birthday party
* Playdate on Sunday
* Piano and violin daily practice for big kids
* Watching Olympics for a few hours on Saturday and Sunday
* Crepes on Sunday morning
* Laundry
* Cooking (califlower soup, meat loaf for the week, acorn squash)


This weekend, unplanned:
*Walk with the youngest child on Saturday morning
*Making snowman outside on Sunday
*Banana bread muffins on Sunday
*Kids building forts
*Me reading my own book while semi-watching Olympics

Did not do as much as I hoped (or not at all):
* Reading to kids (because watching Olympics)
* Playing board games with kids

Memorable Books 2017

These are 5 authors that I discovered last year.
Their books provided escape from reality.* 

Michael David Lukas: The Oracle of Stamboul 

Jonathan Lethem: Motherless Brooklyn 


Tana French: Everything she has written so far 

Catrione McPherson: The Child Garden 

John Twelve Hawks: Spark 



*My reality is wonderful, but sometimes its nice to get away...