Since September is the other January, I am going to use the start of the school season to kickstart some healthy habits.
First up, DINNER. We are entering into a helluva busy season, friends. The extra curricular activities abound, and I know it is going to take a hot second to settle into new routines. I want to be gentle on myself in terms of expectations, but I also want to make sure we are avoiding drive thrus and microwave dinners. I am not sure what the solution is, but I think it’s going to involve a lot of prep work on mine and Ben’s part. Batch cooking/freezing? One meal that has lots of leftovers? A dinner template (Monday is soup, Tuesday is tacos, Wednesday is… you get it) each week? One tiny thing I can do is have Jack laminate a weekly menu grid that I can tape to the fridge and write on each week so no one has to ask me what’s for dinner. Hopefully they’ll also read it before they bulldoze a container of leftovers that I planned to serve again. A girl can dream, right?
Next, healthy habits. I am still plodding through my reset. I decided to give myself 2 weeks to adjust to better portion sizes because the first week was kind of hard. So, that means I haven’t made any real adjustments to my exercise levels yet, but that’s the next thing I’ll tackle.
Third, gratitude journaling! I bought this one, and I am going to write in it first thing. I am excited to see how this works for my overall mood and mindset.
Fourth: SHEET CHANGING. I need a schedule for this so it doesn’t just happen on a whim. Sometimes it really is the small things, friends.
Finally, date nights. We need to be better at making them happen, even if they are in-house date nights where we ditch the big kids and just hang out together. I want to try for twice a month, but we may do them more before the weather takes a nasty turn.
What about you? Any new practices you are itching to start in September?
I'm currently just feeling overwhelmed with everything I want to do/catch up on from the summer. I didn't realize how many things I let slide - like staying on top of bill organization and paperwork clutter. September and October (I work two part-time positions at a university) are my BUSIEST times of the year, so while my kids are now in school and I have 6 more quiet hours in the day, I also have a lot more work. Go figure.
ReplyDeleteSo I'm trying to be patient with myself as I make the switch from no routine and feeling chaotic, to lots of routine and feeling overwhelmed with everything I want to fit in to the spaces.
And I ONLY HAVE TWO KIDS AND ONLY WORK PART-TIME. I honestly do not know how you do it with your lovely brood and much more intense work. Gold stars!