Happy Monday! I wasn't supposed to travel again until the 2nd week of May but I found out last week that I have to be in Chicago for a meeting on Tuesday. So I'm on the (dreaded) 7am flight to Chicago this morning so I can get into the office in time for the string of client calls I have today. I don’t love flying out at 7 as it makes for such a long day but it was the only option that got me into the office in time for the calls I have scheduled today. Luckily this is a short trip as I fly home tomorrow afternoon. I set a goal to travel 10 times in 2023 and this will be my 5th work trip of the year so I guess I will NOT have trouble hitting my goal... But at least Chicago is an easy, short trip for me. I come here so often so it's kind of like a "second home" for me.
But let's flash back to the weekend!
Highlights:
- Things have quieted down a bit at work so I was able to log off at 3:15 on Friday and go for a short, chilly walk. The geese in the neighborhood have different costumes!
- I went for 2 runs. The Saturday run was with my neighbor. It was not pleasant as it was damp, windy and around 32F. We cut it short since it was icky out. Sunday was chilly but sunny which makes a big difference. I ran 4 miles and felt really strong.
- After naps/quiet time on Saturday, I took the boys to a Lego lab event at our library. They do this every couple of months and we were finally able to go! We stayed for about an hour; we would have stayed longer if not for having a toddler along. I was envious of the parents sitting along the perimeter of the room. We are solidly in what I call the ‘active management’ stage of parenting. But I can see that in about 2 years things will get a little easier (on the physicality front; I know there will be new challenges).
- During my Sunday run, I listened to the Mom Hour podcast about spring and it put a bee in my bonnet to do some spring cleaning. I dropped off a car trunk full of clothes and kid stuff at Goodwill. There was a long car line at Goodwill so I guess a lot of people had the spring cleaning bug. The pile had been accumulating in our storage space - it felt so good to get rid of it. I also went through my closet and set aside some stuff to try to sell at the awesome consignment store that is less than a mile from our house. I sold some items there last summer and had a great experience. I packed up mostly pre-kids clothes to sell that I had been holding onto in the hopes I would fit into them again. Well, it’s been over 2 years since I finished having kids and they don’t fit and the sacrifices I’d have to make to fit into them are not worth it for me.
Lowlights:
- All the whining. I feel like Will is either whining or talking SO LOUDLY these days! Yes I mentioned whining as a low from last week so it’s not improving… It grates on me to hear frequent whining. I am sure the weather is not helping as we are cooped up more than we will be when it warms up. But gah, whining is so triggering for me.
- I got a steroid injection in my flare last Thursday but the pain lingered through the weekend and I’m still on oral prednisone which is not helping with my tolerance for whining! ;) My RA is just not behaving lately which is frustrating but my doctor said it sadly very common to have to change up your drug regimen. It’s an annoying process as it can take 8-12 weeks to see if a new dose is working. So I am going to stay on a low dose of prednisone to hopefully prevent more flares as we figure out my meds.
What were the highs and lows of your weekend?
14 comments:
Lisa, I have been thinking of you. Your job is so crazy right now, and probably, well, sucks. Hope your trip goes well, I'm sure these client calls are not fun at this time.
1) Those geese are cute!
2) Good for you for getting out and running! I imagine your weather is similar to ours, which isn't exactly balmy.
3) You WILL be soon one of those parents who can hang out and just watch the kids. You'll be there before you know it and then one day you will wake up on the cusp of an empty nest...wait, maybe that's just me. Anyway, there will be a time after the toddler stage! It's coming.
4) Yay for spring cleaning. We are listing the house THIS WEEKEND and the past month has been massive cleaning and decluttering for me. It feels good but also overwhelming.
5) Whining is the worst sound.
6) I'm sorry about your RA. That sucks, truly.
Oh man, what is going on with your weather this year huh? It seems like just when you catch a break and think things are headed in the right direction, it drops back to freezing or below freezing! I hope that soon you have sunny skies and warmer weather! I won't tell you what kind of weather we had this weekend, but let's just say that I spent a couple hours in the backyard gardening and reading and I got burnt!
Oh the whining! I get annoyed easily by that with the older girls. I will pick up L and we will go get strawberries together and we will eat them all in the car and then L will tell A that we had strawberries and A will whine, "that's not faiiiir" and I have to tell her to cool it because (a) NO WHINING and (b) I picked her up last week and we went for a treat without L so get over it! Haha. Of course, they are 12 and 9 so I can reason with them! There is no reasoning with a toddler sometimes.
So many highs and lows, my friend!
I'm glad that the trips to Chicago feel like second-nature at this point so you can kinda move through the experience on auto-pilot.
Love those geese!
Whining was a HUGE trigger for me when I was parenting toddlers, too. Not going to lie: my kids still whine plenty (especially in the way Kyria mentions with the "It's not faaiiiiirrrr") but it is more tolerable and easier to handle. Also, the physicality thing you mention is SO true. I remember when I still had toddlers - or really any stage where I was still picking them up each day - I would get so "touched" out. My body was sore and tired from the sheer physical nature of mothing - picking up a toddler to change a diaper is serious strength training. Pushing a stroller etc. But more than anything I just got so tired of someone being on or near my body at all times. Now I treasure the snuggles or if my son (8) comes and sits on my lap because it's pretty rare at this point. But I do not miss the constant physical interaction that comes with toddlers and you're 100% right that you will get through to the other side of this within the next year or two.
Ugh. So sorry to hear about your RA flare. I hope the way forward is clear and any drug changes help quickly.
And yay for the cathartic feeling of spring cleaning! You know I love a good tidying/decluttering session <3
Ooh, enjoy your trip! I know it's a short one. At least you'll be free from whining for two days, ha ha. Seriously, I wish I had some words of wisdom for that but I don't. It's just so annoying. Nowadays it's not whining, but complaining. My daughter will complain about everything, incessantly. If I try to offer up solutions, she rejects them all. She doesn't really want to solve any problems, she just wants to complain. UGH. THIS TOO SHALL PASS.
I'm always impressed that you do everything you do (stressful job with tow young children) while also managing a health condition like RA. i hope you get the meds straightened out soon and can start to feel better! Oh, and I'm glad you had that four mile run- that must have felt good.
I once had a co-worker who was a single mom. I went over to her house for a dinner and I was talking to her daughter, who was eight or nine. The daughter told me that her mom only had one rule in the house. The rule: no whining. I asked the daughter what happened if she whined and the daughter said, "she makes me go outside until I stop whining." I laughed, but the mom said it was true! So, basically, you're not alone. Kids whining is such a terrible thing!
Oh wow, Lisa! An impromptu trip! That sounds a little nerve-wracking, but I'm glad that Chicago is such a familiar location which at least takes some of the stress out of it.
So sorry to hear that the RA flare is ongoing. That sounds so frustrating. I hope you and your doctor find the right combination to address it so you have some relief!
You are In It right now with the parenting. Active Management is such an apt term for it. It does get better and easier, and you are doing such a great job during such a high energy, highly interactive stage of life.
The whining, too -- such a challenging phase. One way that I addressed it with my kiddo (and probably this is NOT how you are "supposed" to deal with it, but oh well, I am not particularly creative) was to say, "I hear you are trying to tell me something, but I cannot understand you when you whine." and then just refused to interact while she whined. I'm not saying I ignored her -- but I didn't engage with the whining. You did not ask for advice, so I'm not saying you should try this. I just remember the whining SO WELL. That gets better too. Hang in there!
I'm sorry you have to travel again but at least it's a short one. And your highs sound pretty good apart from the shot and the annoying whining. That's a toughie. Highs and lows of the weekend -- Rick's being away was both! The other high -- time to paint. The other low -- funky lab tests. I'm so tired of this.
I wonder if stress could be affecting your RA. It must be so frustrating to have to wait for so long to know if a new drug works or not. it reminds me my mom's high blood pressure meds, she had to switch few times to find the one that worked. hope you feel better soon. it must be also triggering you more the whining as you are also dealing with RA. Hang in there, it will eventually get better, either RA or Will. I also get triggered easily when girls fight with each other. I just tell them to stop talking/playing to each other so I get "peace", instead of the talking it out or letting them resolve it.
Ugh about all the travel and yuck about the 7 am flight!! Once you get to Chicago, how do you get to your office?
Just hang on a little bit longer... you're almost through the hardest part of the hands on parenting, I promise!! You're getting close..... soon you will be able to be an "on the side" parent at the library events. :) Gosh, it feels like a lifetime ago that I had to do all that stuff. I guess it kind of was- it's been 11 years since Asher was 2!
Sorry about the whining. That's a tough one because it's not an actively "bad behavior" that you can like, put them in time out for really or something. My boys were not terrible whiners or tantrum throwers, actually, but in our case it tended to be this sort of constant hyperactivity state where I remember constantly yelling "Settle down!" Settle down!", which then I figured they had no idea what I really meant...lol. (Well, E was our hyper one- Asher was chill, but he would follow brother's lead sometimes.) Ha.
The geese are super cute. Hi I'm Daria, been a reader for a while but first time commenting. I hope your trip went well and I look forward to reading more of your updates!
Minnie is not a whiner but she is SO LOUD MY GOODNESS SO LOUD. Harry was so loud at her age that we had his hearing tested-- ears were fine. He's still loud LOL LOL LOL.
Oh, the whining. I cannot STAND whining. It must be such a frustrating stage of parenting for you.
"Active management" is such an accurate term for the stage of parenting you're in with Will. I can't wait for things to start feeling easier for you. Parenting littles is not for the weak!
I hope you had a good, short trip to Chicago. I love that city so much, too!
Augh, whining and a short unexpected trip... that's challenging. Glad you had good moments in there, too. Bright spots, for sure. The RA flare sounds awful... I hope it calms down soon.
I am sorry about the whining (that would probably trigger me too) and about the RA flare ups - that must be so frustrating that you are looking for a new meds regiment. Why can't it just keep working it did before, right? I hope you'll figure it out rather sooner than later.
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