Weeks 40-44 of 2024 (Year in Review) – OCTOBER, Lately

When I tell you why I couldn’t manage a Week in Review post last month, please believe me when I tell you that the situation was as dire as they come — my dear two-year-old son decided to go on a nap-strike. After fourteen beautiful months of napping gloriously since he was an infant, those days are over. There has never been a bigger fuss at the merest idea of having quiet time or a nap. The kid has made his position completely clear and will only fall asleep in the day when completely bored or exhausted in the pram.

For anyone who doesn’t have kids, just imagine that for your entire waking existance during the day, you are chasing after a toddler and at his complete beck-and-call other than ninety precious minutes in the middle of the day in which you can sleep, eat, exercise, what you need to do. Now that time is gone and I have been shooketh. Toddler mom-ing without a break is something I would have liked to be warned about, I think! The advantage is earlier bedtimes and thusly longer me-time in the evenings, it’s true, but I’m not a night person. Most nights it’s just so damn tiring that more often than not, I’ll crawl into bed relatively early and feel every bone of my aching body just relax… finally… to a place where I am not needed until morning. It could be worse so I’m not complaining per se but it’s just a shock. We’re learning how to rearrange our lives around this new change and getting better at it since earlier last month. Through the moaning, I’m always grateful for this tiring but beautiful phase of life.

It’s precious. Our Mouse is more chatty than ever and still all about his books and being read to. He loves a good sunny day (“It’s a sunny day!”) to go outside and says yes to just about anything that comes at him. He’s very much concerned with the idea of happiness and it seems that his biggest wish is that everyone around him is happy at all times.

What’s grounded me in October…

Realizing I need to put more effort into nourishing myself. It is somewhat embarassing to admit but after not the easiest of pregnancy journeys, after I gave birth it was just relieving to not only have my body back but to know that I can eat what I want again… to an extent. Now over two years postpartum, I feel like I’ve sort of lost sight of putting my own health first, especially in terms of eating nourishing foods and taking the time to prepare them. I absolutely prioritize sleep, I even tried jogging a bit this summer when the weather was good but realizing that what my body’s needs are surrounding food and drink are probably different than many others and accepting this has been going a long way. I had also fallen off taking various herbal supplements to help with cold season and I think that may be why I’ve been sick so often this season vs. last year. The past week alone I’ve remembered to soak various beans for nourishing meals and made chaga tea so it’s locked and loaded for the upcoming workweek.

Reprioritizing yoga. I can’t believe I did only one hour’s worth of yoga practices for myself last month (compared to the very steady rhythm of three to four classes a week for the past ten years). I am blaming this on the nap-strike change and realizing I need to find a way to carve out some more time for this movement practice in November.

Taking time on Sundays to plan. Meal plan, write a shopping list, lesson plan, sitting down with my planner and making notes, have an idea of what activities we might be up to during the week… it makes such a massive difference heading into the new week.

Write everything down. When you only get so much free time, if I don’t have a list or at least notes of things I want to do that day, I wander around in circles trying to remember things when I do have a free moment.

Spending time offline. This one sort of came as a necessity as I truly just don’t have time to scroll, let alone draft a post. When I’m out and about I barely have the wherewithal to take nice photos and truly just forget about my phone. All these things are definitely why it’s been a little boring-looking on the grid lately but I pop in here and there as I have time. When spending time with others I try to be completely present and this includes time with my little one as well, most of the time.

These pumpkin muffins! The recipe is a bit “faffy” as there is the pumpkin bread recipe that you end up using for the muffins but when you make it enough times it gets really easy and quick and is so delicious – the cream cheese center is the best part! A great baking project even with little ones. I’m hoping to get a chance to make my pumpkin-spiced babka as well! So tasty.

Halloween, obviously. I’d been planning my Halloween costume for most of the past year after a tremendous fail last year and I was so pleased with the result. I went as the song “Bela Lugosi is Dead” by Bauhaus. I had so much fun stomping around and looking spooky and goshdarnit Halloween is my favorite (right next to Christmas). A holiday wherein the idea is to be as ridiculous as possible and everyone else just has to either accept it or join in brings me so much joy. I’m thinking maybe next year Mouse will be old enough to trick-or-treat so I think it’s just gonna get better and better.