Happy Thursday! Does your area observe the time change? Like most parents of young kids, I find this to be a struggle, but we are enjoying more time outside after dinner. How’d it go for you?
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1. The kids have been home from school a lot this week with an in-service day for one kid, and a kid at home sick one day. Given that I volunteer at school during the preschool slot on Fridays and we had visitors last week, my introverted self is definitely craving more alone time. Parenting can make it really hard to be alone enough to feel my best, but I’ve been trying to find ways to recharge even when the kids are around. While a lot of times this is really not possible, (hello toddler meltdowns), there are definitely times where the kids are playing together independently. Using that time to sit and read a book for 5 minutes helps a bit. A and I picked up a puzzle when we went to the bookstore on her day off, and it was so fun to work on it together. We brought it to the library to the puzzle exchange and picked up a new one. It’s been fun to take little breaks in the day to add to the puzzle.
2. I made 2 new dinners this week that were hits! One was this broccoli and bacon salad with homemade croutons, and one was sweet potatoes with chickpeas and a cilantro sauce. The kids loved the sweet potatoes and added chicken instead of chickpeas. I also enjoyed the Lazy Genius’s episode this week about feeding your people, and am trying to update lists of meals we enjoy to make meal planning easier.
3. March’s reading is going much better, and I am out of my reading slump. I’m currently reading and loving The Incandescent, which is a super fun and engrossing fantasy novel set at a school from the perspective of one of its lead teachers. So far, I definitely recommend it, especially for fans of fantasy books and teachers. I also finished Inhale, Exhale this week by Nicole (!) which was excellent. I was completely absorbed in Michelle’s life, and found it to be a really poignant read. I especially enjoyed the window into parenting teens and adults. Other recent books I enjoyed were: The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Volume 1 and The Collected Regrets of Clover (at Stephany’s recommendation).
Fellow introverts, what do you do to recharge when it feels like there is not quite enough time alone? I’d also love to hear about your recent meals and reads in the comments.
Sam, I'm so happy you enjoyed Inhale Exhale! Thank you! And yes, the little kid years are so busy and hands-on. Things definitely shift in the teen years!
ReplyDeleteIn terms of meals, it's kind of a regular week around here BUT I have some avocados that are juuuuuust getting ripe, so tomorrow I'm making guacamole. We have friends coming over for drinks in the evening so guac sounds kind of perfect.
Guac is always a good idea!
DeleteI'm a fellow introvert that gets very peopled out. The young kid ages are tough since it's such an active stage of parenting. My husband and I do a lot of handing off of kids to give the other person a break. So I am the morning parent but then I get a break after lunch. I never used to nap but since having kids, it's become something I really rely on to recharge.
ReplyDeleteThe time change has been a little rough. I did great the first day but have been so tired this week and the boys have been way moodier.
For meals this week, we grilled burgers one night and I made an instant pot lentil + chicken dish that we served over rice. I'm planning to make ground turkey tacos this weekend. We had planned to have them last night but my parents came to our house earlier than expected to avoid a snow/ice storm so we got take out as I didn't have the kind of shells they prefer for tacos.
Moodier is a good way to describe kid vibes this week for sure! I haven't done tacos in a while--that's a good idea!
DeleteI'm an introvert and it's one of the reasons I've decided not to have children. I *really* need that alone time and I just don't feel like giving it up! Maybe a selfish decision, but oh well. It must be so hard to need that recharge time, but not be able to get it!
ReplyDeleteI'm reading Inhale Exhale right now! And I just finished Vera Wong's Guide to Snooping on audio. So good!
I don't think that's selfish at all--it's such an individual choice. I read the first Vera Wong, but I haven't gotten to the 2nd one. Maybe I'll try audio!
DeleteThe puzzle exchange at the library - what a great idea. My kids are older and I loved the toddler baby years, oh - so fun and adventurous . . . but when the kids got older and their personalities developed and they had things to say and they make me laugh all the time. That's a great time as a parent, but it is true bigger kids, bigger problems. We've had our fair share of challenges and heart aches. I am not an introvert, so I can't help there - but I think I used nap time or quiet time to regroup, etc.
ReplyDeleteI listened to Culpability and I liked it. I liked the story part of it, but some of the 'papers' written by the mom that were inserted here and there at the end of a chapter sort of irritated me. I'm almost done with The Book of Lost Names. I really like it.
I was thinking about this comment today as my younger daughter was very scared of a mask. I can snuggle her and solve most of her problems at this age.
DeleteCulpability was good! I think the papers bugged me less because I could skim them :) I'll have to check out The Book of Lost Names.