SOL #5 One Day

Last week I was having one of those “I REALLY wish I woke up with pink eye so I can call into work sick” days. 

I hadn’t been sleeping well, was doing a lot of work at home lately and just hadn’t been spending good quality time with my daughter. I missed her.

Just as I was about to get ready to leave for work, my daughter woke up. Yes! I can get a little squeeze and a few extra kisses in before heading out. This moment curbed my pink eye yearnings. 

I start the leaving process now and have my coat on. Not three seconds later my daughter comes running to me, “Mama nooo! Coat, off,” as she is physically trying to remove my jacket. Guess she was missing me, too. 

So what do I do? Go to work just like every other working parent out there, who have been in this situation far too many times. And try to find a balance between being committed to your profession and the desire to never have to work again. Maybe one day. Until then, perhaps pink eye will hit me. 

SOL19 #4

Parent/toddler gymnastics classes are amazing and yet super awkward at times. Seeing my daughter run around freely, exploring her physical capabilities with climbing, jumping, running and even interacting with other kids is really quite something. She has a huge smile on her face from start to finish and it never fails to lead into a really great, long nap. 

It’s also a time when you become super aware of other people’s silent judgements. Apparently there was a rule that I didn't know about in our gymnastics class - until today. My husband usually takes my daughter but with it being a holiday, I got to go. So it’s not surprising I wasn’t aware that the kids weren’t supposed to run down the (what seems like) mile long trampoline, let alone at full speed. They can hop down it at full speed, but not run. 

Well here comes my daughter, doing just that.  And she was having so much fun. But the two moms at the end of the trampoline didn’t think it was as fun and every time she reached the end, they avoided eye contact, pursed their lips and moved their kids. At this point I am still unaware of the rule and thought they were just being total sticks in the mud (TO PUT IT NICELY). The last time she ran down they made sure to turn and say to their own kids right,  “No, no little Johnnie. We don’t run down the trampoline.” And then finally made eye contact with me.

Uhh....your kid wasn’t running. Mine was. And instead of being passive aggressive how about you just clue me in to the rule? Help a fellow toddler mom out. I mean it’s clear that I am not a regular attending class parent and these two are. 

Thankfully, my daughter moved on to the next thing and as she is doing so I walk up to my friend that’s in this class to tell her about the trampoline situation. She starts laughing and then *gasp* tells me the rule. We laugh together. Imagine that. 

The two moms are still, in my eyes, sticks in the mud. 

Clarity: SOL19 #2

Had a meeting yesterday and part of it involved planning an event our district is hosting. A coworker and I will be presenting a breakout session together and we had to come up with a two sentence blurb describing what participants will be learning about. 

I have to be honest when I say that I initially teamed up with her because it made my life slightly easier as she already had a completed presentation for this particular topic. But to my credit- I was 100% honest and vocal with her about my motives for teaming up, she didn’t object and we actually laughed about it. Obviously we will work together to enhance it and I will be the one to do the legwork from this point on for anything that needs to be revised- which brings me back to the two sentence blurb. It was my job to write them. 

Two sentences. That’s all I had to write. 

But I stared at the little box it was supposed to fit in, stumped. Stall tactics were being used and I was spewing out random thoughts in 2-3 word clusters, trying to convey what we want to teach others. I would type a few things, erase, add some more, erase again. 

It’s not that I don’t know how to write a sentence or don't know how to knowledgeably sum up our session or am not very confident in my abilities to provide PD for others. It’s just that when it comes to writing, I freeze. And it takes me FOREVER.

Meanwhile, my coworker’s natural ability to craft these two sentences within seconds of thinking about it made my own insecurities about writing come rushing through my head. My professionalism allowed me to quiet these thoughts, and even though it took me longer than everyone else, I wrote the two sentence blurb. 

Driving home I’m thinking about this and it dawns on me. That’s what I’m striving for by pushing myself to do this SOL challenge. Learn how to get my thoughts to flow as freely and seamlessly together as my coworkers all while conquering some writing fears and learning new techniques for writing. 

My coworker has no idea how this little interaction gave me clarity and helped me see my end game. So, thank you. 

What I'm Loving SOL19 #3

A clean house and this quiet Sunday night. My husband is working and my daughter has been asleep for almost two and a half hours - I can finally catch up on my DVR. 

The show Million Little Pieces. 

That I started the decorating for our St. Patrick’s Day parade party. Shamrocks are in the window and rooms are starting to get “company cleaned.” 

This mom/daughter day I had today. It’s been a while since it was just us and it is something I treasure every time it happens. Bonus was meeting up with Grandma for lunch!

Casimir Pulaski Day- happy to celebrate a birthday for the “father of the American Calvary.” I can now take my daughter to a parent/tot gym class that I usually have to miss because of work. 

My friend that gave me some suggestions for topics to write about when I'm struggling with an idea for a post. She’s been nothing but supportive of and helpful to me with blogging. Thanks friend. ❤️❤️

The feeling of accomplishment I have right now as today was a very productive day.

Here’s to a great week.