The Anti-Routine Thing

Ugh. That is all I have to say.

The doldrums of winter have worn me down. I'm exhausted. Snow I can handle, non-stop Arctic temperatures are something else entirely.

As winter approached, I told myself that I would love and embrace winter this year, since I didn't have to leave the house. Well, leaving my feelings about winter aside, let's just say I don't think winter loved me back. At all.

I am still following my normal routine for the most part, but I have been seriously slacking in others. Instead of getting up with the alarm, I'm snoozing and getting up at the last minute. Who can possibly be chipper about facing a gray-blue day when the high temp isn't even in the double digits? (And no, negative double digits don't count.)

My children are feeling it to. They're going bonkers in the house, they're not doing the greatest job listening, and most days my littlest one refuses to get out of his jammies. Who can blame him?

My rationalization is that, hopefully, we will be thawed out and experiencing temperatures of at least 40 degress by mid-April, so until then, I've made an addendum to my normal routine. Call it my winter survival guide.

Alarming
I'm sleeping in. I feel better when I work out in the mornings, true, but I've felt just as good lately swapping my early-morning exercise for late-night movies and sleeping past my alarm.

Take In
Trying to keep the kids entertained when you can't send them outside due to record-setting Arctic temperatures is a challenge to say the least. A few days a week, we throw a blanket down in the living room and eat out there, picnic style. It's free, low maintenance, and they get a huge kick out of it.

Electronic Addiction
It's easy in these hibernation months to ease up on the rules, like the one I have about the tablets in our house. I normally stash them away Monday through Friday so the boys focus on learning and play. I have been slack in that area too, but make sure we still do schoolwork several times a week, I introduce some arts and craft activities, and we recently purchased a couple new board games for the kids to try.

Caffeine Addiction
One of the single, greatest purchases we have made to date is our new Espresso maker. A birthday gift for my hubby, this baby makes great lattes or cappuccinos right here at home. It's not huge, but a little pick-me-up mid morning almost warms you up. Almost.

Indoor Fun
We have set up a thousand tents, forts, and other fun activities in the play room. We have colored, watched movies, played, and my four-year-old even helps me clean, just to keep ourselves moving around the house. If your kids like to swim as much as mine, check out local community centers or colleges to see if they offer open swim sessions. We are even looking into a weekend getaway to do just that. Go out to eat, swim, and hang out somewhere, ANYWHERE, else for a little bit.

Ok, so maybe I had a little more to say than "Ugh."

I know, I know, in a couple months I'll be saying "Rain, Rain, Go Away," and complaining about feeling like a fish. In all seriousness, I remember every winter growing up would have a thaw - a couple days or a week of temps in the 40s or even 50s. And in March, we would usually see a couple days of spring-like weather, but the last few winters there has been none of that. When you have to go this long without venturing outside for fear of freezing your face off, you start to understand species that hibernate a whole lot better.

'Till Spring!

Half of 70

It is an age/number that confounded my little mind at the tender age of seven. To be thirty-five. (I'm typing it out rather than writing it numerically as it seems less harsh that way.)

I could not even fathom what or who I would be at thirty-five. It was just too damn far away and time back then moved like molasses.

I used to work with a couple of women in their forties who claimed they loved being older. They didn't put up with as much crap, life was easier to navigate due to experience, I was reassured I was heading towards greatness and told to embrace my impending birthdays. With gusto.

I do feel I have come a long way with who I am. I had some detours in my twenties, and as painful as they were, those moments are behind me. I have found strength in saying no. I have discovered the joy and beauty of creating a new family. Those detours in my twenties, if faced with them today, would not get a second glance. I am not a different person - I was a different person when being detoured - I am myself, a stronger version of myself in my youth. Except where I was uncertain, or too afraid, now I am not.

It is a good place to be.

However, I have noticed some aspects, like generational differences, I never thought would bother me.  I was convinced I could remain up to date with most trends and would never utter phrases like, "These kids today," and yet, I do. I find a deep divide between my Gen-X culture and that of the Millennials. The technology they have grown up with was introduced to my generation much later in life. We knew of peace and quiet. We knew of phone calls on landlines and missing your favorite TV show if you couldn't get your VCR to work. I made mix tapes, and then CDs.

While I've welcomed most technology, I try to keep a balance. When I go out, you know, into the world? Like a restaurant, or movie theater, my cell phone is in my purse and that's where it stays. At the doctor's office, I either read a book I've brought or flip through a magazine. And even though I own an e-reader, I still own books, because, well, there are times when I feel like a nut, and times I don't.

My husband constantly teases me for using my iPod. But wait, I'm talking one of the first iPods, not a touch screen, it has the little wheel that you have to circle around to get through your music collection. I bought it in 2007, it was top of the line at the time, lots of capacity for my large music collection AND it played movies. Now, it's viewed as obsolete.

I worry less now about any kind of social life, and more about society. What kind of world are we living in? How can we make sure the generations that follow us will be ok? As a PR/Marketing professional I really have to be up to date on the news and world events, but find I can't watch the stories of loss, destruction and conflict over and over and over again. I worry about my children. All. The. Time. I want their lives to be full, happy - I want them to be their best selves.

As for me, I want to check some items off my list. I want to be a published author. I want to run another Boilermaker. I want to see Alaska, Hawaii, Northern California and the lush Northwest. I want to be here for my kids to get them on and off the school bus. I want summers in the pool, falls full of leaves and apple cider, winters full of... ok, mostly I want winters to be over with, and springs full of flowers and that unbeatable earthy smell that I can't stop breathing in.

Basically, I just want to keep having birthdays, and endlessly celebrating life in between.

Parental Superiority

I want to clear something up. I am not on here to say that I'm the world's greatest mother or that I am some sort of parenting expert. I am simply trying to remember each passing second of my boys' cuteness and thought that blogging would be a great keepsake one day. You know, when I'm old and not needed.

Blogging about parenting does not make me superior, and I'm in no way trying to put down anyone else's parenting methods. I created this blog because I made a decision to be a stay-at-home parent, and I'm not condemning anyone else for being a go-to-work parent. I am not better, or worse, just different. We all are.

I aspire to have the kind of blog that makes other parents laugh, to maybe inspire a parent who is tired and overwhelmed that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and lastly, for me to have an outlet for my writing. 

I like humorous blog posts about raising boys, (And we all have different ideas about humor, am I right? Just sit my husband and me in front of a Seth Rogan/James Franco movie. He laughs. I do not.) and if I find a blog post about parenting that isn't my cup of tea, I keep surfing. Want to be a peaceful parent? Ok! A fan of structure? Cool! Work 80 hours a week? Zero? Whatever makes you happy. 

I understand that somehow we have developed into a society that has myriad parenting styles, as demonstrated by the Similac commercial, but here's what I don't get:

The Knee-Jerk Let's-Be-Offended Reaction

I don't get why there is so much opinionated backlash to every confounded idea. I thought the Similac ad went on a little too long, but other than that, it was hyperbole. The stereotypical parental types were exaggerated on purpose, which is why I was scratching my head over Mayim Bialik's blog post. Of course the nursing babies were covered up, because, last I checked, Janet Jackson has been the only female who has gotten away with exposing her breasts during the Super Bowl. And that? Was very much frowned on. The nursing babies were covered up because I guess there are still some standards on television, and to make sure the audience understood there were nursing babies under there. It's the Super Bowl, not Jeopardy, implied characterizations must be super obvious for this crowd.

The Negative Comments

There are a lot of negative comments on parenting blogs, which I also don't understand. If you don't like it, don't read it. 

Ripping a parent/blogger apart for expressing an idea would be like me going to a restaurant and getting offended by the dessert tray. Sure, I love cannolis, but how dare you present me with peanut butter pie! I hate peanut butter pie. What if I was allergic to peanuts? Do you know the chemicals used on peanut... trees? Oh, whatever, you get my drift. Rather than bashing the peanut butter pie or the person who presents it, I would simply say no thank you and move on. But first: leave the cannoli.

This Mama Knows Best, No This Mama Knows Best!
There used to be three basic kinds of parenting styles, now it seems there are about 300. For those of us who are simply trying to put ourselves out there, who have a little self doubt a few times a day, and who ultimately want the best for themselves and their children, we need to be cut a little slack. It's become a judgmental world where individuals can safely hide behind their computer screens or smartphones while typing in some pretty hurtful remarks. If you're mature enough to read someone else's opinion, even though you disagree, without commenting what a stupid expletive the person is, then great. Pat yourself on the back.

If you can't? Maybe it's better to just leave some things unsaid. After all, I didn't rip Mayim apart for her blog or leave a scathing review. We can agree to disagree with out being so rude, mean or condescending. Can't we?