Resolved: I will NOT be this guy
Resolution time. And I loooooove resolutions. But this year, I am making very concrete resolutions
Resolution the first: Avoid eating crap. More veggies. Fewer “chicken doughnuts” and catsup.
This is not a diet really. No lofty goals. I’m just feeling bad about how often a banana stands in for “produce” lately. I grew up loving green things, but despite my best efforts. between school visits and editor-deadlines and furious emailing, I end up relying on junk a lot more than I want to. I hate how many processed foods enter Mose and Lew’s little bodies. I know that the more I feed them salty/sweet/packaged foods, the less they’ll learn to appreciate the flavor of a really fresh squash. The first snap peas of the year. Berries should be a good dessert, you know? So we’re killing the goldfish crackers and the cookies and the pizzas and making a lot of soup.
Resolution the second: Turn off the computer after 8 pm, and when I’m alone with the boys.
Again, this seems like low hanging fruit. But it feels really important. I need to do a better job of dividing “work” from “home.” One of the big challenges of being an author and working at home is that I NEVER leave work. I can always just jump online and check email once more, tinker with the book, etc. I LOVE the time I spend offline, and I need to get better about making sure it happens. So that’s the new rule. 9-8 is online time, and then only when the boys are asleep or Chris or a sitter is here with them.
Resolution the third:Â Have fun.
This sounds like a no-brainer, but it isn’t something I’m good at right now. I work too hard. My husband works too hard. When there is something that needs to be done, we never ever let it slide. We are efficient. We are organized. We are ambitious and driven and reliable and we are never ever late for things. So, since life is about balance, I need to learn how to say, “We’ll get to that tomorrow” and go build a pillow-fort. I need to put writing on hold sometimes so I can watch a dumb movie with my husband. I need to stop feeling stressed whenever I’m having “fun” and let go of the list in my head.
THIS is the hard resolution for me. But I think it is the most important. I think I can get better, although I’ll always be me.
Funny, that in past years I’ve made “big” resolutions, and this year they’re all kind of little. But I have these kids in the house, and suddenly the idea of pattern-setting feels critical. The things we do over the next few years will become “the way we operate” and I sooooooo want to be a pillow-fort-building, husband-dating, easygoing kind of a mom and wife.
One who eats veggie-ful soup, stays offline on the weekends, and knows how to breathe.
December 31st, 2008 at 10:03 am
My only resolution is to write and write. I should have others, but nothing’s been on my mind but writing. And writing. And more writing. Which for me, is actually a HUGE resolution.
December 31st, 2008 at 2:09 pm
My only resolution is to write. I’ll break everything else. Happy New Year, Laurel. We still need to do lunch or dinner soon. Maybe that should be our resolution.
May 21st, 2009 at 9:15 am
Ha!
You would think that they world have OK’d it at the beginning instead of allowing it to go so long without saying a thing and then bringing it back up when it was too late. I don’t understand it at all. Vivaxa