Hello and welcome to an overcast Saturday here at the Wannaskan Almanac. Today is May 2nd, which means one-third of 2020 is OVER. Does anyone else feel like their lives are playing like a skipped record?
January and all its New Year's energy and resolutions kicked off the 2020 album with verve. February sang of conviction. Then March's pensive tune of promise skritched and skipped. April - *blip* *blip* - boom. And here we have May.
Two exciting things happened at our house this past week:
1. The Oldest committed to a college.
2. The Toddler pooped in the yard.
Unfortunately, I can't give you any more details than that because, first, the Oldest keeps me on a very short leash regarding what I may - and most importantly, MAY NOT - say regarding her future plans. And secondly, I missed the Toddler's latest adventure at the time of said incident, however, the reason I know about it is because when he came in for lunch, he said, "Mom, I have something awkward to tell you."
One of my kids is still sitting in a barrel of pickles as he spent the entire week making up late assignments. On Friday, he suffered through a "Lego Hangover" which is what you get when you stay up until 4 a.m. rebuilding Lego sets. One guess who it is. (Hint: He promised me a Mother's Day blog post for next Saturday.)
And I'm in a little bit of a pickle myself.
I have novel pages due to my writing partner. We've pushed this deadline out by two weeks now. As I, too, twist in my chair, trying to get over this plotting hump, I am empathetic towards my son because I know exactly who he inherited his habits from. (Hint: It's not his dad.)
Yes, our mood is definitely overcast here.
While other writers have acquired oodles of hours - time freed up - and the general wave of advice is to use this extra time to write more, I'm sitting over here with five kids wondering, "Who are these people and where are their kids?" Where is this free time of which they speak, because, let me tell you, at my house, it's all hands on deck and everyday I'm wishing I had a third hand. Or a fourth. Make it a fifth. Heck, clone me.
Six weeks of sequestering has underscored, emphasized, underlined, italicized, and bolded in all capital letters that my main job right now, and maybe forever, is MOTHERING.
This is a huge bonk on the head - an admission of epic proportions - because for eighteen years (for sure since we moved to the Wannaskan lands fourteen years ago) I have resisted, even fought against, being defined solely as a mother and wife. Since I was a child, I have wanted to make a Jane Goodall-like contribution to the world. To serve humanity on a grand scale.Yet when pressed to declare what I am the subject matter expert of - what can I say? Mothering.
When push comes to shove - as it very much has during the quarantine - I put my kids' homework first, whether they want me to be involved or not. If we're Facebook friends, you may recall this video I posted which pretty much sums up how we kicked off distance learning.
Everyday I make the rounds with each kid. How are you doing? What do you need to get done today? Who wants school lunch today? What should we have for dinner? Did you get outside today? Let's clean your room. How's the newest fort? And, again, is your homework done?
I even have a name for this kind of parenting - Embracing the Crazy - because standing like Elsa in the middle of the windy tornado, holding it all together with a mysterious magic, is the only way I know how to do it.
Which means work - and yes, I call writing work - has hit the bottom of the responsibilities pile. This wasn't a problem until the deadlines I had were suddenly standing like large granite boulders in my path.
The other kind of advice I hear is to be sure to take time for self care.
Self care? Time for myself? Are you kidding me?
I haven't showered in a week and when I finally do, hubby yells, "Save on water!"
When my kids look at my patchy legs, they ask, "Why is there hair on your ankles, but not on the rest of your legs?" I take this as an opportunity to teach science - a mom'ed up explanation of how my jeans somehow keep the follicles shorn. It may not be a technically satisfactory explanation but, if anything, I've conveyed my gratitude for this pants phenomenon as it means one less spot on my body I have to worry about. (And if I only get a shower once a week, let's not talk about how often I shave.)
Yes, self care is important, I absolutely agree. So how do I get it?
By redefining what it is.
It might not be in a bubble bath and a good book, but it is found in enjoying the moments with my children. By going for walks with them and listening to their stories (or rather casual confessions) when we gather around the kitchen table of pranks pulled on each other.
By marveling at worms stretched out across our neighborhood dirt road and asking whether a worm has a head and a tail, or two heads or two tails - then anticipating the Toddler's thoughtful answer.
In sitting with the Second Grader and asking, "Okay, how do we know the "a" here is long and not short?"
Or pondering the deeper meaning of George Orwell's 1984 with the Second Oldest and listening to his explanation of how he used a particularly tricky algorithm to solve his Rubik's cube.
In sitting through informational video after video about financial aid, campus life, and the changing landscape of college academics.
And, yes, even in sitting with the WAKWIR, both of us wriggling in our chairs, trying to squirm out of our procrastination strategies so we can finally get our work done.
I'm so lucky to have a flexible job; to be able to reshuffle my priorities daily around my family's needs. If my husband can't imagine how I hold the fort down while he goes to the office, I can't imagine how full-time parents are both going to the office and still getting all the homework done.
All I can tell you, peeps, is embrace the crazy.
Kim
January and all its New Year's energy and resolutions kicked off the 2020 album with verve. February sang of conviction. Then March's pensive tune of promise skritched and skipped. April - *blip* *blip* - boom. And here we have May.
Two exciting things happened at our house this past week:
1. The Oldest committed to a college.
2. The Toddler pooped in the yard.
Unfortunately, I can't give you any more details than that because, first, the Oldest keeps me on a very short leash regarding what I may - and most importantly, MAY NOT - say regarding her future plans. And secondly, I missed the Toddler's latest adventure at the time of said incident, however, the reason I know about it is because when he came in for lunch, he said, "Mom, I have something awkward to tell you."
One of my kids is still sitting in a barrel of pickles as he spent the entire week making up late assignments. On Friday, he suffered through a "Lego Hangover" which is what you get when you stay up until 4 a.m. rebuilding Lego sets. One guess who it is. (Hint: He promised me a Mother's Day blog post for next Saturday.)
And I'm in a little bit of a pickle myself.
I have novel pages due to my writing partner. We've pushed this deadline out by two weeks now. As I, too, twist in my chair, trying to get over this plotting hump, I am empathetic towards my son because I know exactly who he inherited his habits from. (Hint: It's not his dad.)
Yes, our mood is definitely overcast here.
While other writers have acquired oodles of hours - time freed up - and the general wave of advice is to use this extra time to write more, I'm sitting over here with five kids wondering, "Who are these people and where are their kids?" Where is this free time of which they speak, because, let me tell you, at my house, it's all hands on deck and everyday I'm wishing I had a third hand. Or a fourth. Make it a fifth. Heck, clone me.
Six weeks of sequestering has underscored, emphasized, underlined, italicized, and bolded in all capital letters that my main job right now, and maybe forever, is MOTHERING.
This is a huge bonk on the head - an admission of epic proportions - because for eighteen years (for sure since we moved to the Wannaskan lands fourteen years ago) I have resisted, even fought against, being defined solely as a mother and wife. Since I was a child, I have wanted to make a Jane Goodall-like contribution to the world. To serve humanity on a grand scale.Yet when pressed to declare what I am the subject matter expert of - what can I say? Mothering.
When push comes to shove - as it very much has during the quarantine - I put my kids' homework first, whether they want me to be involved or not. If we're Facebook friends, you may recall this video I posted which pretty much sums up how we kicked off distance learning.
Everyday I make the rounds with each kid. How are you doing? What do you need to get done today? Who wants school lunch today? What should we have for dinner? Did you get outside today? Let's clean your room. How's the newest fort? And, again, is your homework done?
I even have a name for this kind of parenting - Embracing the Crazy - because standing like Elsa in the middle of the windy tornado, holding it all together with a mysterious magic, is the only way I know how to do it.
Which means work - and yes, I call writing work - has hit the bottom of the responsibilities pile. This wasn't a problem until the deadlines I had were suddenly standing like large granite boulders in my path.
The other kind of advice I hear is to be sure to take time for self care.
Self care? Time for myself? Are you kidding me?
I haven't showered in a week and when I finally do, hubby yells, "Save on water!"
When my kids look at my patchy legs, they ask, "Why is there hair on your ankles, but not on the rest of your legs?" I take this as an opportunity to teach science - a mom'ed up explanation of how my jeans somehow keep the follicles shorn. It may not be a technically satisfactory explanation but, if anything, I've conveyed my gratitude for this pants phenomenon as it means one less spot on my body I have to worry about. (And if I only get a shower once a week, let's not talk about how often I shave.)
Yes, self care is important, I absolutely agree. So how do I get it?
By redefining what it is.
It might not be in a bubble bath and a good book, but it is found in enjoying the moments with my children. By going for walks with them and listening to their stories (or rather casual confessions) when we gather around the kitchen table of pranks pulled on each other.
By marveling at worms stretched out across our neighborhood dirt road and asking whether a worm has a head and a tail, or two heads or two tails - then anticipating the Toddler's thoughtful answer.
In sitting with the Second Grader and asking, "Okay, how do we know the "a" here is long and not short?"
Or pondering the deeper meaning of George Orwell's 1984 with the Second Oldest and listening to his explanation of how he used a particularly tricky algorithm to solve his Rubik's cube.
In sitting through informational video after video about financial aid, campus life, and the changing landscape of college academics.
And, yes, even in sitting with the WAKWIR, both of us wriggling in our chairs, trying to squirm out of our procrastination strategies so we can finally get our work done.
I'm so lucky to have a flexible job; to be able to reshuffle my priorities daily around my family's needs. If my husband can't imagine how I hold the fort down while he goes to the office, I can't imagine how full-time parents are both going to the office and still getting all the homework done.
All I can tell you, peeps, is embrace the crazy.
On This Day
Historic Highlights (credits)
2011 - Osama bin Laden is killed by a U.S. commando
Bin Laden was the founder of al-Qaeda, a militant group that claimed responsibility for a series of terrorist attacks on U.S. targets on September 11, 2001.
1997 - Tony Blair becomes British Prime Minister, ending 18 years of Conservative Party reign
Blair's Labor Party achieved a landslide victory in the general elections. Many of his early fans were bitterly disappointed when he supported the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003.
1989 The Iron Curtain begins to crumble as Hungary dismantles its border fence
By gradually opening its border to Austria, Hungary facilitated the escape of hundreds of East Germans in the months before the Berlin Wall fell.
1982 The British Royal Navy sinks the Argentinian cruiser General Belgrano
323 lives were lost in the attack, more than half of the total number of Argentinian casualties during the Falklands War.. The British Sun tabloid newspaper commented the controversial attack with one of its most notorious headlines: “Gotcha”.
1952 The jet age begins with the first scheduled flight of the De Havilland Comet 1
Precisely one year after the maiden flight from London to Johannesburg, a Comet 1 crashed due to structural problems, killing 43 people. A series of similar accidents soon led to the grounding of the entire Comet fleet.
Bin Laden was the founder of al-Qaeda, a militant group that claimed responsibility for a series of terrorist attacks on U.S. targets on September 11, 2001.
1997 - Tony Blair becomes British Prime Minister, ending 18 years of Conservative Party reign
Blair's Labor Party achieved a landslide victory in the general elections. Many of his early fans were bitterly disappointed when he supported the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003.
1989 The Iron Curtain begins to crumble as Hungary dismantles its border fence
By gradually opening its border to Austria, Hungary facilitated the escape of hundreds of East Germans in the months before the Berlin Wall fell.
1982 The British Royal Navy sinks the Argentinian cruiser General Belgrano
323 lives were lost in the attack, more than half of the total number of Argentinian casualties during the Falklands War.. The British Sun tabloid newspaper commented the controversial attack with one of its most notorious headlines: “Gotcha”.
1952 The jet age begins with the first scheduled flight of the De Havilland Comet 1
Precisely one year after the maiden flight from London to Johannesburg, a Comet 1 crashed due to structural problems, killing 43 people. A series of similar accidents soon led to the grounding of the entire Comet fleet.
Happy Birthday to You!🎶
1985 - Lily Allen, English singer-songwriter
1975 - David Beckham, English footballer, coach, model
1921 - Satyajit Ray, Indian director, producer, screenwriter
1808 - Emma Darwin, English wife of Charles Darwin
1729 - Catherine the Great, Russian wife of Peter III of Russia
1975 - David Beckham, English footballer, coach, model
1921 - Satyajit Ray, Indian director, producer, screenwriter
1808 - Emma Darwin, English wife of Charles Darwin
1729 - Catherine the Great, Russian wife of Peter III of Russia
Remembering You
1972 - J. Edgar Hoover, First Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
1864 - Giacomo Meyerbeer, German composer
1519 - Leonardo da Vinci, Italian painter, sculptor, architect
1864 - Giacomo Meyerbeer, German composer
1519 - Leonardo da Vinci, Italian painter, sculptor, architect
Love on your people, embrace the crazy, and make it a great Saturday!
Kim
ReplyDeleteMother: The oldest sculptures in all the world (not all that pretty) are of our earth mother. Hang in there Kim!
Thanks, Chairman! If our lives are anything like Disney, there's a happy ending for sure!
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