My FlyLady efforts have been flagging over the last few days. The next couple of BabySteps called for adding a 5-minute room rescue (clearing a path in your worst room) and 15 minutes of daily decluttering (sifting stuff to get rid of some or all of it) to my routines. I just didn't make the time for it. Yesterday, as I was helping DD get down to sleep, I thought about why, and listened to the messages coming from my body. I was starting to feel a little depressed and short on motivation for anything. I'd kept my basic routines as established going, but adding anything seemed like too much. Why?
"It's the Sleep, Stupid."
My body made itself clear in its own Clintonesque fashion.
Yep, this pregnant body needs more sleep. Something like 9 hours per night plus a short nap seems ideal, but how often do I get that? Probably one day in ten at best. That's not depression I'm feeling, it's fatigue. So I've cut myself a couple of days' slack and decided to take a later BabyStep as my current mission: Establish a regular bedtime and stick to it. I've tried this before, and it's very challenging for this night-owl mom who cherishes her after-DD's-in-bed time alone and with DH, another night owl. But when I've succeeded, life has been pretty beautiful. Getting DH on my side always helps. In one stretch a couple of years ago, we had a deal that I would not scratch his head (which he loves, as it helps him relax and fall asleep) unless he was in bed by 10:30 p.m. That upped our on-time percentage a lot! He would even nudge me gently toward bedtime -- there's nothing like some loving nudges to get me headed to bed a little sooner, especially if they come with help on the night's last chores. We have to become co-conspirators against our behavior patterns that keep us up later than we should be. And 10:30, I'm sorry to say, is probably about right. Wish us luck.
Knitting in Public
I've knitted through a couple of meetings since my last post, and I have turned the heel and started up the leg on the second Simple Stripes sock. Here is the pair:
Alas, for my next two meetings I'm serving as facilitator, so I probably won't get in any knitting there. But there's always church tomorrow. I'll just have to watch whom I sit next to. Last week, when I pulled out my knitting, the person next to me made it clear (very politely) that she wouldn't want to sit next to me if I were knitting through the service. She was there first, so I moved. I can imagine a few reasons she might have that preference, but in retrospect, I wish I'd asked her why, so I could stop the guessing game. In years of knitting in church, I've had that reaction perhaps once before.
So, in my meeting today, I tried a new tactic. I asked before we got started whether anyone would mind if I knit, explaining that it takes only a tiny fraction of my attention, and it tends to filter my contributions a bit, thereby keeping me from butting in as much as I might do otherwise. That was apparently the right thing to say -- I got a wholehearted, "Please do!" from everyone present. Nothing like the right framing, eh?
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