Idea Stealer

My friend Lauren of Keeping Up With the Joneses fame had a fabulous idea, which I am going to steal right now.  As she explains on her blog detailing the ongoings of her beautiful baby girl Micah and their family, Lauren and I used to teach together in Fallbrook, California for two years. We actually shared a classroom for my last year there, which I truly miss.  On Fridays, our group of teacher friends used to get together for lunch and share something inspirational that had happened to us that week: school-related, home-related, family-related, you get the idea.  We used it to keep ourselves from getting burnt out and to not always complain about our kids.  Yes, teachers do occassionally gripe about their kids, but our Inspirational Fridays ended our weeks on a positive note (although I did have to go teach Read180 after that).  So I will start posting my weekly inspiration every Friday that I remember and have the chance.

My inspiration for this week is that I have been able to get out of the house four times this week with my kid(s) in tow and maintain a semblance of the life we had pre-Em.  Monday I successfully got Jax and Em to the Base Lodge for breakfast (a weekly tradition that I have to keep going because Jax loves it and I love the pancakes) and then to the library for story hour.  Tuesday we stayed in for laundry day.  Wednesday Jax went with his Nana and Em and I went grocery shopping--a feat I would have never undertaken when Jax was four weeks old.  With Baby #2, it's no sweat (kind of--I'm trying to stay positive here).  Yesterday, as you can see with my last blog post, we went to the Montshire Museum and to Matt & Andrew's birthday party, and today J, E, and I met Jax's good friend Harper and her mommy for a date at the park and some lunch.  All of these events happen in the a.m. so that naps can be maintained, but somehow I still got all these things done!  Now, our house isn't exactly the cleanest and the laundry from Tuesday, though washed and folded, is not put away, but my kids have been outdoors in the sunshine with their friends, enjoying the weather, even though it isn't always the easiest.  I may have looked like I rolled out of bed on all of those occassions, but I'm still proud that we got there. 

Thanks to all my friends and family and dear husband for helping to make our social lives possible! It's helping maintain my sanity and keeping Ja from getting really bitter ;)  I'm inspired by how easily everyone just offers to help, jumps to my aid, or lets me sleep, simply because four and a half weeks ago I brought a little person into the world.  I know it's all for them and I really appreciate it :)