MamaManagement

This is not a To Do List. This is a Cosmic Book of Hopes and Dreams and Deeper Whys. (Sculpture by David Kracov) I've spent the last week or so in a heightened state of anxiety. It has not been fun. I tried blaming in on the move and all the extra stuff there is to do with the house and the life. I've spent more than four hours at the DMV in the last week and I still have to go back one more time. That's reason enough for anxiety, right? But then, last night, (after having a mini anxiety attack) I remembered what my last therapist said to me around this same time last year. Amy, this is your stress time. Every year, the activities and responsibilities ramp up in October, hit a frenzied peak in mid December, and then slowly descend back to normal by New Years. And every year your anxiety follows the same path. This happens every year for me since I had kids. Every. Damn. Year. And every year I am surprised by it (Every. Damn. Year.) and try to shove it down and p...

This post is as much for me as it is for you. I am just beginning my journey into the land of Body Positivity and #BellyLove is my next big step. As many of you saw in my last post about diet culture, I've recently been inspired by a #BodyPositivity movement that came to my attention through Instagram. This movement is all about loving our bodies just as they are, in whatever shape they are in. It's about ditching the pervasive diet culture and body shaming, and seeing the beauty in every body...especially our own. This Body Positivity movement is connected to another movement called # HealthatEverySize . Which focuses on being healthy and doing the best for your body regardless of what size you are. Not worrying about what the scale says or whether of not you have washboard abs and a thigh gap, and instead focusing on eating foods that make your body feel good and doing movement that promotes good mental and physical health AND feels good...without caring at all abo...

I have subscribed to the pervasive diet culture that exists in the United States for my entire adolescent and adult life. As a one hundred and fifteen pound teenager, I believed myself fat. My body, though I see now in the rearview mirror of age, was beautiful even by society's standards, became a loathsome enemy very early on. I compared myself to magazines and movies and friends. Everyone was always thinner and more beautiful. Everyone had clearer skin and a skinnier waist and thinner thighs. I was an attractive enough girl...and then woman. I wasn't "ugly" per se, but I was less than. Within each decade of my life, there seemed to be some magical (and unattainable) number on the scale that held the holy grail of "enough". If I could just get to that number...120, 125, 130, 135...then everything would be great. I'd be thin enough, pretty enough, fashionable enough... I'd be enough. As I got older, especially once I had kids, that "...

From an art class I took last summer. This ended up being the background for all the mini-paintings I did this fall. Today I'm here to urge you to take a class . I know you're super busy. I know there are already too many things crammed into your day. I know you've got work and home and kids and spouse and workouts and family and friends and general life stuff all vying for your attention and time. And the last thing you want to do is add something else into the mix. But I don't care. I still think you should take a class. I don't really care what kind of class you take. It can be one that gets you further in your career. It can be one that introduces you to a new hobby. It can be one that you've always wanted to take. It can help you learn a new sport. (Tennis, anyone?) It can be online. It can be through your community rec center. It can be at a local college. What and where it is doesn't really matter all that much, as long as it's somet...

I always spend time at the beginning of each year thinking about the year ahead of me. I have this notebook in which I've been writing thoughts and dreams and goals and ideas for years. I pull this notebook out and I look at it. I flip through the pages and soak in all of the aspiration and energy that radiates off the paper. It's like taking a bath in optimist soup! Then I focus in on what I wrote last year. What was I brainstorming about? What was I trying to do? And what of that did I accomplish? When I've done all of that, I usually start brainstorming around the new year. In the past I've even come up with a theme for the new year and centered my goals around that theme. But this year was a little different. First of all, now that writing has become more of a job than a hobby for me, I create two separate lists: one of writing goals and one of life goals. Like anyone with a career, you're likely to have work goals and personal goals. For me, those ...

When things get crazy in your life and you just can't do it all, what are the first things you drop off your to-do list? I can tell you, without the least bit of hesitation, the first things to fall off mine: Exercise Meditation Healthy eating Downtime Hobbytime Sleep Which means that when I'm stressed out, the first things I stop doing are the things that help me manage stress. Brilliant, I know. Am I only one who does this? I have to believe I'm not. Nowadays, the month of May and first half of June are almost as crazy as the back half of November and the month of December. Of course, in all the wisdom of my pre-kid-self, I conveniently gave birth to my children in December and May. (Who knew?!?) So in addition to all the other craziness that we all have in those months, I also have kid birthdays. Which basically means I'm insane in May and December. It also means that I am stressed out, more likely to have anxiety attacks (a new-this-year added bo...

What I want life to feel like much of the time... Hello, dear friends! In this week's post, I'm giving you homework...but don't be frightened off by that. Because this is the kind of homework that could change your life. No, really. Ready yourself. Okay, so here's where you're about to see evidence of my former life in the corporate world. If you have ever worked in the land of corporations or business consulting, then you are likely super familiar with the terms Mission, Vision, and Values when it comes to businesses (usually all lumped together like it's one word: missionvisionvalues ). Most companies and brands and nonprofits have mission, vision, and values statements. For some organizations, these truly drive the business decisions and the corporate cultures...for others, they're more window-dressing and lip-service. But when they're used properly, they can be an excellent tool for drawing the map and driving the bus, for organizing ideas, an...

As I sit down at a table in my favorite coffee shop today, the moment of peace in an otherwise rather loud and chaotic day, I have so many thoughts swirling in my head that I am not sure where to focus. So, we're gonna say this post is about patience. But it's really about so much more. ...................... I'm reading a book about letting go of our constant connectedness to the less-meaningful world in our computers and smartphones and focusing on the real world (and people) right in front of us. I am also part of one online discussion group on living simply and another on banning busy. My brain is knee-deep in this subject-matter right now. And then I found out that our neighbor's little girl was just diagnosed with leukemia. It's like being hit over the head with a rock. ("Pay Attention!!" It screams, right in my ear. "This Is Important!") And it's not even my child. And they are not even close friends. We just moved her...

I am grateful for wonderful books and cool bookstores and delicious cappuccino. The greatest part of our happiness depends on our dispositions, not our circumstances. -Martha Washington Last week's top ten list was all about gratitude. ( Top Ten Things I'm Grateful For Today ) I shared a list of things I was feeling grateful for that day and a few brief thoughts on gratitude. But, after that post, I got to thinking more about gratitude; about what it really means to feel grateful; to feel that opening of your heart to others, to yourself, to the universe. And the more I thought about it, the more I began to believe that gratitude may very well be a key ingredient in making The (big) World, and our (personal) worlds, a better place. If everyone could move through their day from a place of gratitude, I think just about everything would be better. Imagine how the small things would improve... It's hard to have road range when you're feeling grateful for the beauti...

On yet another snowy day, another day of school delays and messed up schedules, another day of indoor play, another day of February blues…I find myself sitting in my office looking out on the tremendous piles of snow and trying to remember the feeling of summer. You remember summer, right? The time of long days and warm nights. The time of playing outside until darkness begins to fall. The time of sitting on the back porch after the kids are in bed enjoying a glass of wine, some adult conversation and the chirp of the crickets. The time of long walks through the neighborhood. The time of grubby hands and dirty feet. The time of lax schedules and impromptu…whatever! Ahhh, summer. And all that thinking of summer reminded me of this poem. So I thought I'd share it with you, in hopes that maybe you could close your eyes and remember the feeling of summer on yet another cold February day. It will be here be before we know it. Or at least that's what I keep telling myself...

Happy Valentine's Day Friends! I was reminded by someone this morning that Valentine's Day is a romantic day for couples to celebrate their love. I've been so focused on Valentine's with my kids, that I forgot that lots of people think of it that way. I guess I thought of it that way before I had kids. Especially during the years I was single. But now I think of it as a day to show love to everybody. I am focused on showing love to my kids and my husband and whoever I come into contact with. That means starting the day with chocolate chip Valentine pancakes and mystery Valentines for the kids, and extra treats for the dog too! It's also a great day to remember to show a little love to ourselves too (like a yummy cup of coffee and an hour at the coffeshop for me!). And I'm focused on teaching my kids to show their love to others. (We've been in crazy crafting mode for the last two weeks to show our love to others…for some reason Valentine's Day reall...

So, folks, I have a confession. I have been nitpicking my reflection in the bathroom mirror to a much greater degree lately than ever before. To my eyes...I look older. I look tired. I look fatter. I look paler. I have more wrinkles. My skin isn't as bright or as even as it used to be. My hair is duller and frizzier…the list goes on and on. Nothing seems up to snuff lately. Maybe it's the approaching 4…gulp…0. Maybe it's the recent move craziness. Maybe it's the last 5 years since kids entered the picture and I stopped focusing on myself. Whatever it is, I feel decidedly un -attractive. Decidedly un -sexy. And I've been wallowing, on the inside, in these feelings for quite a while. I look at pictures from my wedding and honeymoon just 6 short years ago and think, "What happened?" "I used to be so pretty." "Look how rested I look, how radiant." "Look at my skin! My hair!" Me, pre-wedding, no make-up, no hair did: lovel...