I'm Ruth, a travel lover, reader, project-doer, casual runner, aspiring yogi, wife, and mom to a curious little girl and energetic little boy. Around here we look for adventure in the everyday mundane tasks and in the once in a lifetime events.
Book.
Lap.
The request is immediately followed by vigorous head nodding, pointing toward the books, and possibly running to find today’s favorite.
In January 2020, before we knew anything of COVID-19, shelter-in-place, toilet paper shortages, social distancing and mask mandates, I was a really exhausted mom of two. My three and half year old slept like a champ all night, every night, and still napped happily during the day. But my sweet little nine-month old wanted nothing of it.
As I work to develop and maintain habits, it’s nice to step back from the day-to-day monotony and acknowledge the things that are working, that are making a positive impact on my physical and mental experience.
Christmas morning finally arrives. Louisa waits patiently in her room to be collected.
Sunday morning. It’s cloudy with the finest snow coming down outside amid the chilly winds.
I feel both a pull to comment on 2020 and a desire to leave it in the past now that the calendar has finally turned. While there were both highs and lows, as is always the case, the heartache and challenges do stand out a bit more boldly for 2020.
Why is it that meal planning seems to be the bane of so many adults' existence? Seriously. I've read articles and approaches, tried services, attempted things I haven't read about, and yet I'm still sitting here pulling my hair out.
Go outside. She says it as I barely crack open her door. It's 7 am.
Eat breakfast; go outside.
Yes, we'll go outside in a little while.
She smiles, nods. Go outside.
We have errands to run, but the snow is fresh outside. Wet, heavy, icy; beautiful and fresh to a toddler. She wears snow boots so she can walk from the car to the store. I try not to cringe thinking about how wet the backseat is going to be.
The temperature here is in the 50s today, there’s been great progress on the snow-melting front, and our yard is a huge puddle with chunks of ice barely hanging on.
It’s mid-February! I finally signed into this space again after months of hiatus, and realized I haven’t written anything since early October. So it goes when pregnancy is harder than anticipated, the two and a half year old has endless needs and questions, and good sleep is not guaranteed.
We're at another playground and I watch as my curious toddler wanders off into the nearby sandpit.
Last winter on Wednesdays we went to story time with Miss Jenny at the library.
We started going to this story time back in the fall at the invitation of some friends, and it was an immediate hit with my little book lover.
I've been known to coordinate grocery shopping with toddler snack time. Multiple times a week.
The stores of digital pictures went untouched in May, but I did get started with DuoLingo Spanish. This feels like accomplishment enough for a month that always ends up busier than I anticipate at the outset.
Episodes of pink eye, sinus colds all around, a broken wrist, a bruised foot, a mid-month blanket of heavy snow, April had plans other than my own.
As I fell into consistent habits with my sleep schedule and protected morning time as well as strict adherence to the Whole30 rules, I realized my energy levels were stabilizing and I felt really good, mentally and physically, throughout the day.
