Happy 2013. We’ve been at it for a full week now and I hope it’s treatin’ ya well. So far it’s been good at the Smith home—unless my resolution had been to change outta my pajamas and brush my hair every day, in which case this year would already be an epic fail. I would not have even scored a 50%. Welcome to winter break. It’s delightful.
The children have been to daycare only once since December 21. We cook, clean, craft, read, play and watch Yo Gabba Gabba. Not to say they never stress me out. They do. But I like that in a way. It means we are together.
So about the New Year. Resolutions are ridiculous. I guess I thought they were a punch line, not so much a real thing at this stage in life. I mean if I were going to drop 40 lbs. and be thin and glamorous, it probably would have happened by now. But the whole concept got me thinking about me, where I wanna be and how I wanna be. I considered those primary portions of myself—the Mrs., the mama and just Elle.
As for me as a Mrs. Let’s be clear, I may not discuss my marriage on here a lot, but that’s to keep from jinxing a good thing. My marriage is rockin’. My husband –though not perfect—is kind, sexy, hard-working, responsible, empowering, loving and fun, and takes all my thoughts, dreams and desires into consideration in all things. So I resolve not to fuck up a good thing. Also I resolve to thank him for being so good and wonderful by acknowledging that it’s time for the ugly, pregnancy “granny-panties” to go. It’s been long enough. At some point I realized I put significantly more consideration into my undergarments as a high school virgin than I do now as a woman married to a total hottie. Time’s up. I fully resolve to part ways with the embarrassingly unattractive underwear I have been wearing. Not to say it will be lacy black thongs on a daily basis. But decent, cute, hand-selected panties (the opposite of Fruit of the Loom clearance packs)—that’s not exactly shooting for the moon. I forgot, but it’s actually rather fun to buy pretty under things. And conveniently enough, Victoria’s Secret just kicked off their semi-annual sale.
Panty Upgrade Resolution
As for me as a mama. As humans, I prefer that we all be ever-adapting, shifting and bettering ourselves. This is never truer than in the parenting arena. You have to be quick on your feet and ready to handle whatever is thrown at you—even if it’s a full cup of grape juice. So I could resolve to be a better mother. But frankly that should’ve been my resolution by at least Valentine’s Day 2010—the day I first became a mother. So as always, I want to continue learning and striving to be the best mama I can. My tiny little resolution in this aspect is to commit to “activities” outside the norm, at least weekly. This is part of a desire to establish and maintain an interactive relationship but it will also develop certain skills in my babes. This week S and I made a magic wand. She did so well with the wand she wanted more to paint. I gave her one of my wooden bangles and she painted it for me. It looks really cool and I love it. During this time, G also did some “craft work” and we let him loose with paper and markers and he rather got a kick out of the whole process.
Elle. Me. I want to write. Writing, like any art or skill, takes practice and consideration. So I resolved to read or write every single day this year. Lecture notes and textbooks do not count. This week has been phenomenal. It had been far too long since I’d read anything that wasn’t assigned in school. In the first few days of the year I read The Hunger Games Trilogy. Oh it was so delicious to just get lost in some exciting books! Since then I began Eat, Pray, Love. It’s not so action-packed addictive (obviously), but it’s good. Really good. I find myself even reading with a purpose—highlighting, underlining meaningful or well-written lines. I love reading. Maybe that’s why I have not written in this past week or so even though I had the time. I spent that time reading instead.
My resolutions feel selfish. There is no resolve to starve or deprive myself in anyway. I am not forcing myself to do anything I do not want to do. I have resolved to be ok with that. Each resolution, while pleasurable for me, will benefit my family and/or future in some way. That’s a good thing and makes for resolutions I can keep.
Life Styled by Elle 