March: Reflection & Rejuvenation
March! Already?
You were good to me, February. Thank you.
We celebrated my birthday and Henry’s birthday and we received 750 applications for only 300 spots at the school I’m working to build.
On the downside, I was tired. all. the. time. Dear Tate has been struggling on the sleep front. We tried sleep training early on, but a series of colds (it has seriously been back-to-back-to-back-to-back) and teeth (already up to at least four–he doesn’t like when I look in his mouth) have hindered progress. I had the realization the other day that I have literally not slept more than five consecutive hours in eight months. Is that legal? I mean, it feels like I should have my drivers’ license revoked or something. My brain capacity has shrunk from 13% to 7% to 2% and right now it’s hovering around 0%.
But it’s temporary. And I’m basking in gratitude for my life. I feel so lucky every single day. I try not to take it for granted, although it happens from time to time.
As for my goals for this month! Here’s what I set out to accomplish:
- Run at least two times a week and do three sun salutations at least three times a week: I ran twice (the entire month) and did yoga 0 times. But! I have a plan for how to improve these stats in March.
- Drink at least 80 ounces of water a day: Wow. It’s disappointing that I have to make this a goal every month. It should just be automatic. It’s so important!
- Incorporate more practical life into our schedule: Yes!
- Add at least one new meal to our weekly rotation: Yes!
- Get our front and back landscaping completed: Kind of. I did bring the landscaper back out to our house to talk about the backyard. He’s in the process of planning it right now.
- Plan my presentation for the American Montessori Society conference: Not yet!
- Completely finish our white board: Getting close…
And as I move forward and set my goals for this month, first I need to revisit my yearly goals:
I want to strengthen my habits of health and wellness:
- run at least three times a week and go to yoga once
- drink at least 80 ounces of water a day
- add new meals to our weekly rotation
I want to continue to put down roots and connect with those around me:
- attend church potlucks
- sign up to support people by delivering meals, etc.
- regularly invite people over
- send birthday cards
- completely organize our house
- finish our front- and backyard landscaping
- do service learning with Henry
- start a garden
I want to create the kind of school I want to send my own children to.
Based on those yearly goals, what do I want to accomplish this month? (I’m also going to look back at the list of monthly goals I already started to create so that I’m planning things in advance throughout the year.)
- Run at least two times a week and stretch at least 3 times weekly. I’m going to run on Sunday mornings at the lake while Matt takes Tate and Henry to the dog park. I’m going to run once during the week while Matt watches the boys after school. And I will also try to run on Saturdays while Matt takes Tate running in the stroller. With yoga, I need to move my mat to my bedroom closet. Hopefully it will be as simple as that. There was a really stressful summer in my life (when I was a school director for a TFA summer institute), and I did a sun salutation every night before bed. That one stretch did so much to release tension and keep me flexible!
- Turn the bottom of our kitchen island into a chalkboard.
- Purchase dining chairs for our back deck.
- Finish our white board for real this time!
Truthfully, it’s already the middle of the month (I started this post a while ago, but it’s obviously taken me awhile to finish). I kind of think I need to stop here. There’s a lot going on with trying to enroll 300 families, preparing for the upcoming conference, finalizing the hiring of staff, etc.
7 Comments
Anonymous
don't worry, you can make it with little sleep! I haven't had more than 3 consecutive hours in almost a year and am used to it now 🙂 I try to go to bed early with baby when I can which helps a lot
CCL
I'm curious what kind of sleep training you tried. Did you sleep training Henry? I have a ten-week old baby and hope to try sleep training in a few months, when he is old enough. I know sleep training is so controversial, so it feels scary and would love to hear more of your thoughts on the subject (although not at the risk of you getting even less sleep!)
Shawn
I got a rebounder (mini-trampoline) and I love it! When getting out for a run wasn't happening for me, it turned out to be a great way to get a pretty decent aerobic workout in – plus it relieves stress and is gentle on the joints. It stores easily, so you can be at home in your living room watching tv, etc. Hope you have a great rest of the month. Congratulations on all of the school progress!!
lisa
I know you like water, however, the whole large quantities of water thing has no basis in fact. Drink to thirst. It's all you need.
Sara E. Cotner
Thanks for your comments, Everyone!
@CCL: We did sleep train Henry. You can try googling "feeding the soil sleeping and breast feeding" to find the posts. I wrote about it extensively. Our doctor said to do it between four and six months if we wanted to do it. We had a great experience with Henry, but Tate is still struggling.
@Lisa: I've always read that thirst is actually a sign of dehydration and that you should drink water regularly. Regardless, I just feel better when I drink a lot of water. If I don't drink enough, I get headaches and feel hungry.
beneg
Love these motivating posts Sara.
Agree with Lisa :). If you're not drinking as much as you'd like, it may be because you're not thirsty and therefore already drinking enough! Interesting article here too…
http://raypeat.com/articles/articles/water.shtml
Kelsey
Oh I know how hard the lack of sleep is, I'm so sorry! I hope that more restful nights are around the corner for you.