I love this picture. My Dad got it during his birthday party back in August.
The boy loves to make goofy faces. The best part of a goofy face is that it always cracks him up and the whole thing dissolves in giggles.
This is one of the very fabulous side benefits of having kids. It may rain for five days straight and you may be preparing to travel (by plane) when you would much rather just stay at home and you might have plowed through most of a tube of Gingerbread cookie dough without once turning on your oven, but how can you let any of that get to you when you get to hang out with this guy all day?
You can't. It's just impossible.
But.... of course he does go to bed and the whirlwind playing/diapering/clothing/feeding/cooking/errand-running/dog-wrangling/dish-washing ceases for another day. And when that happens there's always the chance that the funk can creep in and nobody wants the funk.
Unfortunately, hanging around with a really cute baby isn't the kind of funk-fighting strategy that you can use forever. He will of course grow up and then there's also the fact that bolstering my mental health is hardly his responsibility. So, what to do? Many of the strategies I've always relied on (pretending nothing is wrong, drinking lots of wine, watching WAY too much television) are just no good. Although I was pretty successful with telling myself that these things were no big deal in my 20's, they are seeming like a bigger deal now. I mean, I should be learning and growing, right? and I do need to be a role model.
So.... it's November, it's pitch black at 5 o'clock in the afternoon and the funk is knocking on my front door. Any tips? What works (or doesn't work - that's useful too) for you? And don't tell me that you haven't dealt with the funk. It is (of course) perfectly fine (and great for you) if you haven't, but just don't tell me about it. Maybe later, just not now. ;)
3 comments:
The funk definitely knocks at our door this time of year. I've been making myself take walks with my kid at 7pm, using it as a little wind-down before bath time. It's been really nice, actually, to look up at the stars together, observe different night sounds, and get fresh air. I'm def. interested in other people's strategies!
I second the walking. though I can't say i follow my own advice regularly, when I DO take walks after RR is down, I feel a thousand times better. I put it off with the whole dark/cold/wet/snow thing, but it makes a difference.
Nutella fights off the funk by baking, sewing projects, puzzles and exercise. She's better at it than me. I usually just read/watch tv and end up feeling quite restless. The best way to handle those feelings, we've found, is to have friends over or get a sitter and go out.
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