Moms of school-aged kids and tweenagers, Jan-Mar 2021

[Pratima]

Happy New Year's! What did everyone do to celebrate? We did stay up last night. The neighbor family we were supposed to spend Thanksgiving with (but didn't because the mom got COVID) came over and we had a firepit and fireworks in the driveway. They were legalized a few years ago, and the kids had fun running around and setting them off. We watched a movie after and didn't actually do anything when midnight hit!

Someone in my other check-in asked this and I'll post it here--2020 was rough, but was there something good from it you can share?

My response: My kids got to be really good swimmers and can cook and clean like champs! So they're relatively independent. And while I didn't leave my job at the time and in the way I'd wanted, I do think overall it's good I'm out. I was ready to leave for a while and the only thing I miss is all the vacation time I'd accrued!

This morning I got up at 7 and did my Body Beast workout. I went to our room to change for a planned hike and DH got called in to work but basically drove there, sat for 15 minutes, and was sent home. So I did go hiking. It was this odd thing where a new member of my MRTT chapter set it up but also posted it in apparently a ton of other groups. There were at least half a dozen women there. I'd ridden with a friend, and so she and I started out right on time since we both needed to get back.

The same friend and one other are coming over Sunday afternoon for sangria and snacks in the yard. My one friend does "driveway drinks" every now and then, to be distancing-ish and still see people.

I'll get to talk to people other than my family 3 times this week! I can't tell you how exciting that is.

Hope to see you all here!

[Nuggie's Auntie]

Two good things from 2020: DS2 has been seizure free since January when we started the ketogenic diet, and I got to meet Pratima!!!

Our household is total chaos so I can't stay long, but just checking in to say I've been doing a Cathe rotation since the beginning of the year. It's a combination of the low impact series and the newer Perfect 30 series. I need to take today off, though. I'm stiff and sore and I think I would benefit more from Melt rolling for a day.

We're strugging to get back to our virtual school routine! More later.

Happy New Year, friends!

[TonyaK]

Hello, friends!

Pratima, I hope you enjoyed seeing some people! It is so nice to talk to different people.

Stephanie, it is amazing that your DS is doing so well!!! Great job figuring that out - wow, I am so happy for your family!!

Yay for you two meeting up!

Yesterday I planned on doing Yoga With Adriene, but when I got to my workout space, I really wanted to lift weights. I started P90X I did Chest and Back plus as much as I could of Ab Ripper X. Today I got up at 5:00 and did PlyoX. I tried to do a short yoga afterward, but my abs were too sore to be doing planks. P90X and a little walk each day is plenty of exercise for me! I am thinking that on some days I might do halfsies, if I don't feel up to doing the whole thing. I also might do some substitutions, especially after the first month. Sometimes that 90-minute yoga is too much, and I get tired of doing the same Legs and Back workout for the whole time. I'm trying to start out without the all-or-nothing attitude that often ends with me quitting! I really want to work on consistency, so if I need to take it easy some days, I'd rather do that than skip the day.

[TonyaK]

I just looked back at the last thread and wanted to add a couple things

I canceled my subscriptions to Les Mills and Lindsay Brin. I liked them both for a while but I wasn't feeling drawn to them recently. Now that I started P90X, I know I won't use those for as long as I stick with P90X. I can imagine signing up again and using one or the other for a month or something in the future. I really like that you don't have any commitment!

I'm so glad you got to meet each other! Hopefully sometime soon we can all get together, without distancing.

Pratima, I remember enjoying Body Beast, even though the guy was sort of eye-rolly sometimes. That can actually make the workout more fun! Are you liking it?

[Pratima]

Hi TonyaK! Glad you made it to the thread. Were you paying month-by-month for Les Mills? I admit, I mostly use it for The Trip or short HIIT workouts. Which is weird because I mostly got it for BodyCombat! I say you should do whatever you can! Life is like that these days.

I like knowing what I'm doing each day and I can tell I'm getting stronger. Sagi is definitely full of eye-rolling comments! They don't bother me much though. Repetition might get to me. I'm in the last week of phase 1 and don't know if I can get through 5 weeks of phase 2! I think I'll adopt your outlook--do what I can and sub if I need to.

I rarely watch the news, but with everything happening at the Capitol last week I was glued to it for a couple of hours. I've had trouble sleeping since then. Such a feeling of unrest, knowing that people would do something like that.

I semi-impulsively bought a rower last week. I'd been researching them for a while because a couple of people on my other check-in had been talking about them. I got one from a local company that sells liquidation items like customer returns and close-outs. It seems new, and they delivered it for $50 already put together (the company is at least an hour's drive from me). I've tried it a couple of times and it really is a full-body workout. I've done it on resistance level 1 (out of 24) and gone pretty slow though, so not really a workout. Going to try ramping it up a bit this week.

Saturday was one of the best days I've had for a while. I had weird jealousy of a friend who's been out hiking on her own and with her DH and DS (who normally won't go) every weekend. I went alone and didn't like it right now. Going with friends is good if I can coordinate with the few people I see still. I convinced my family to go with me and meet up with my friend and her family. It went quite well! My friend actually ended up only doing a mile and then heading back with her 3 year old. The rest of us went the whole 1.5 miles up. I got DS some trail shoes and I think they gave him too much confidence! But I'm glad we got out.

Saturday night DH and I left them alone for the very first time and had dinner at a restaurant literally 5 miles away. The place was practically empty so felt very safe. They'd cut their menu WAY down which was a bummer, but it was SO nice to have just adult company for a while.

I'm slightly stressed right now because DS has a hemangioma on his jawline. DH took him to the ped Thursday and they just said to see a dermatologist. Last night it started bleeding and I can't get it to stop. He was in school today and I'm taking him tomorrow. All that blood is a little nerve-wracking! He gets tons of bloody noses though so it hasn't really phased him.

[TonyaK]

Hello!

I got up early and did P90X for 6 days in a row! Then yesterday afternoon I started to feel nauseated and had to lie down. I had a short-lived stomach virus, and I feel okay today, but I did sleep in. I hope I can do something today, whether it's the planned Kenpo or tomorrow's Stretch. It would be great to stay on schedule. I also need to get my 10,000 steps because I might actually win this week's Fitbit Workweek Hustle! The walkers in Switzerland must have gotten snowed in, or their kids are home from school, or something, because they are only getting normal amounts of steps this week.

I have been modifying P90X as needed and trying to eat as healthfully as I can. Lots of room to grow in both areas, but it's a 90-day program, so I've got some time My abs are still sore from Sunday, by the way! I couldn't do Ab Ripper again since then

Pratima, yes, I was just paying monthly for Les Mills and Lindsay. Both offered a free trial period and then I paid once for Les Mills and twice or three times for Lindsay. I think they are both a decent price if you use them!

I watched hours of CNN on 1/06, yelling at the tv. I hope they will be able to quash whatever is coming on 1/20! It is very unsettling.

My mom had a rowing machine when I was a kid, and I can remember waking up early in the morning to that shooshing sound! I think she really liked it. I hope you enjoy yours!

It's awesome that you could go out to eat with DH!! I think I've only been in a restaurant when we went to the mountains in September. We've gotten plenty of takeout, but not much dining in.

What is happening with DS?? How does he deal with the bleeding at school??

Stephanie, can we get a collarbone update? I hope you are feeling some more healing happening.