Image courtesy the Nikki McClure calendar
Phew! I somehow managed to make it through August. Well, it wasn’t so bad. It was just a lot of work to make it not bad.
The month started with a trip to Las Vegas for a national conference. I spent a lot of time in July preparing for the conference. We took at side trip to Zion National Park in Utah, and I had to make sure that I didn’t overexert my pregnant self while hiking. It was also challenging to continue to eat healthy food and to stay hydrated.
Then I was thrust into getting ready for school. It would have been so easy for me to spend all day and night getting stuff ready because I enjoy doing it, but I had to remind myself to make time for rest and rejuvenation. I also had to make time for exercise (despite the sweltering Houston heat!) and cooking meals and keeping up with my chores (which I neglected to do for three whole weeks!). I’ve also been trying to make time for naps.
Overall, I’ve been doing a really good job with balancing everything; it’s just taken a lot of metacognition and willpower and coaching and cajoling. I really want to honor the work that my body is doing to create a new life. I also want to make time for the rest of me to come to terms with what it means to be a parent and to fully embrace the ways in which our life is about to change.
Here were the intentions I set out for myself at the beginning of the month:
- Enjoy a mini-vacation with Matt as we trek to Las Vegas for a conference and spend a few extra days at Zion National Park. Yes!
- Have fun participating in my Purposeful Conception course. Yes!
- Accomplish my massive to-do list before school starts. Get to a place where I can actually sit and meditate in my classroom before school starts. I accomplished many, many, many of the things on my list. And I did have time to sit on the floor and meditate (for about 1 minute) before the kids came in on the first day!
- Prepare to present a workshop at a conference in September. Yes! I have the PowerPoint done and the handout ready. It will require probably another 1-2 hours of tweaking before the conference.
- Organize our office. I did this on the last day of the month! It was a huge undertaking. I went through our craft boxes and files to purge, purge, purge. My plan is to tackle one room a month, leading up to the baby’s arrival in February. I scheduled the hardest room first.
- Spanish, Spanish, Spanish. Enough said. No, no, no. Aack!
- Finish learning all I can about pregnancy. I’m getting tired of reading about pregnancy. So much of what I read creates a culture of fear. “This could be happening–look for these symptoms!” I think stress is one of the worst things during pregnancy. I’m trying to stay as relaxed as possible. I’ve been moving on to books about parenting, instead.
- Relax and rest! I’ve been trying my very best…
My intentions for the month of September:
- Work on Halloween costume
- Organize the bedroom
- Learn about taking care of an infant (breastfeeding, sleeping, bathing)
- Attend a conference for public Montessori teachers
- Travel to Indiana for an awesome wedding
- Work on birth announcements
- Relax and rest
I’m looking forward to it!
Image courtesy the Nikki McClure calendar
4 Comments
Ms Bear Cub
Sara, have you found the book, "the idle parent" yet? I'd describe it as part montessori (let the child be/follow the child), part how to stay sane/yourself with kids. It's one of the best BOOKS I've read yet! (not just parenting books – most of those are too overwhelming/condescending I find.)
Laura
It's really easy to set aside studying a language other than English.
I always struggle to make time to practice French. Even though wife is a French teacher. Even though we're determined that any potential offspring will be raised in a bilingual home. Even though I need an edge over job applicants who have a Canadian education.
I think that I should make working through my French textbook a goal for this month…
Jennie
For learning another language… consider trying just 10-20 minutes a day on livemocha.com
It helps me to know I can improve my French without making a big commitment to hours of studying!
Chica de mente ocurrente
sara:
muchas felicidades por todos los logros de este mes, ya veras que el proximo mes tambien lo lograras y te irá mejor!!
me encanta tu blog y me encantan tus ideas del compañero de vida.. espero yo pronto encontrar el mio
muchos besos y abrazos
(my way to help yo tu improve your spanish jeje!)