I’ve been missing the opportunity to come here and just blab on a little about random topics/ updates!
As much as I absolutely LOVE writing travel recaps (well, they are a lot of work to put together- but I love reading them when I’m done, and I strongly believe my future self will love them even more), they can dominate my blogging time after a trip. And unless you want to read two posts from me in a day (it’s okay, I know you don’t), I end up pausing on other blog topics.
Then add in the death of Mr. Hamster…..(sob)….. and this week on the blog has been very “topic” oriented.
So, here are a few misc. updates:
🔷Something I did with Ethan:
The other day Ethan woke up early and Asher was still sleeping. Ivan and I were heading out for an early-ish walk, so I asked Ethan to join us. It was a very pretty morning, and it was fun to have some 1:1 time with just him. When I told him our route would take ~20 minutes, he said, “Oh, that’s far- let me grab my scooter.” (EYE ROLL). Kids these days. Ha.
🔷A meme I saw and liked:
This made me chuckle. Isn’t it true?? We all “had it all figured out” before actually having kids. I don’t think I’m alone in feeling like certain things are definitely more complicated/ unexpected than I anticipated. Before having kids, it’s so easy to think that you “would never do this” or “my kids won’t do that”…. but oddly, it’s just not that cut and dry. Unfortunately (or fortunately, really), you can’t just control another person 100%, even if they are a small person. How we think they will or should respond, act or feel is not necessarily reality.
🔷 A reading moment:
Asher had swim practice all week (Mon-Thurs) at a different pool, 20 minutes away (our pool was down for scheduled maintenance). It was from 5:45-7 pm. 3 out of the 4 days I opted to stay out there. On Thursday, I puttered on my laptop a bit, and then read for a little while. Have not been reading much lately at all, due to life/ busy times, I guess. But I read a couple chapters of Tribe of Mentors.
I liked the interview with Tim Urban, founder of the (enormously popular and successful) Wait But Why blog. He talked about the importance, when starting out in writing, of writing for yourself.
I can’t say I’m personally aspiring to be a professional writer or anything, but as an amateur blogger, I still think this is good advice. He goes on to say how the world is full of millions of people, and how everyone has different styles and preferences. If you try to write just to “please” certain people, or fit yourself into the “right sized peg”, it’s a losing battle.
He suggests writing for yourself- in the style that you like, that feels good to you, etc. Then, he says, with time, the people that also like your style (and he assures the reader, they are out there- again, the world is a vast place; there are bound to be people that like your style, somewhere), will find you. This ensures that “you’ll end up creating the best and most original work, and that the one-in-a-thousand person who happens to love it will end up finding their way to you.”
I love this thought! Even as a very small potatoes blogger, I occasionally find myself worrying (wondering?) if my content isn’t right, if I should change anything, if this all dumb, if no one even reads it, if everyone hates it, etc. Ha. So this was a nice reminder to just keep doing what I enjoy, for myself.
🔷Something I’m kind of excited about….
Asher’s swim season comes to an end this weekend. He is competing at the Wisconsin Long Course State Championships in Milwaukee. Then, he’s done! Until September 6th. August is the one big break his swim team takes each year.
I feel like this season kind of flew by, actually. He started up again at the end of March, so I guess it hasn’t even been 4 months, but it seemed to whiz past.
I always get a little…funny feeling when swim ends?? (just because swim is such a part of our life, it feels odd when there is no swim practice to drive to!) but also HAPPY, because there is no swim practice to drive to!!!
The breaks are good. Keeps things fresh and lets their young bodies rest and recover. He is going up north with a friend next week and then has a week at camp after that, so he will stay occupied. 🙂
Some pics from Friday, Day 1:
🔷Post- swim meet dinner:
We decided to drive back and forth this time from home, instead of staying at my parents’ house in Milwaukee area. I have just been gone TOO MUCH and frankly, I didn’t want to be away all weekend again.
Yes, it will mean a little extra gas $…. driving back and forth Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Not great, and we usually try to stay closer, but I just really didn’t want to this time.
Asher and I stopped for Chipotle after the meet, on our way home (his request):
And I got a burrito bowl:
We have to leave by 10:40 this morning to be back for Day 2. We will all go this time, and Ivan’s mom will come along, too! She goes home (to Mexico) I think sometime next week? She’ll be glad to see Asher swim.
Daily Gratitude:
I am grateful for sitting on my deck writing this post. I feel like I have NOT been sitting outside, just enjoying the summer weather nearly as much as I normally do. 😦 “too busy” I guess….(ughhhh I hate that excuse! Sounds so lame.)
GRATEFUL KAE 
Hey! I read your post about losing Mr Hamster but didn’t get chance to reply. I’m so sorry. And for what it’s worth, if getting a new pet that day felt right to you guys, that’s all that matters! I can totally see how that would bring some comfort to you all. xx
LikeLike
Thank you!! ❤️
LikeLiked by 1 person
My daughter swims too and we live in the Milwaukee area! She’s not competing this weekend though but maybe our paths will cross at some. point! I hope Asher’s meet went well!
LikeLike
No way!! That’s so ironic! Well, I hope we do cross paths- that would be awesome! 🙂
LikeLike
I used to worry about my blogging content when I started over a decade ago.. I used to care how many comments I get… well… like many things as I get older… I stopped caring. mostly because I know my why better. I don’t blog to please others… I blog to pour out my thoughts… to record, to reflect. 🙂 I know you do that too.
I miss chipotle!!!! I will definitely get one when I go to US next time.
I admire you to be there for Asher’s meet up. I’m so lazy to be there for Sofia’s soccer practice. maybe I’ll be there today. 🙂
LikeLike
I think most of us write for ourselves, or at least those of us who are small potatoes! I used to get way more comments and it bothered me for awhile but I let it go and feel how Coco does. It’s a space for me to share what is happening and so go back and read posts from the past, especially travel ones! We are close to booking our Mexico trip so I went back and read about our time there in 2017 because I didn’t remember a whole lot!
The summer has felt busy! Ours is a different kind of busy. And in some ways it’s easier because there are more ways to entertain the boys v the winter when the weather really limits us. But I do feel like we have to do as much fun stuff as possible!!
LikeLike
In your case, I’m so jealous of you having a whole blog documenting your kids’ baby years!! That will be priceless one day, no matter who else ever reads it or not. Excited to hear about your Mexico trip! Yay! That will be awesome!
LikeLike
Such a great post and it basically all resonates with me (except the swim team; for us it has been soccer which takes 3 nights/week).
1. No one ever told me you never get a day off from being a parent. We’ve taken a few solo trips without the kids but even then there is some management that has to happen from afar. Parenting is so much more intense than I ever imagined. Maybe because I remember how I was parented and things are just…different. The world IS different. My parents couldn’t Google every symptom and didn’t have to think about when to let us have cell phones. I honestly do think it was an easier generation to parent AND in which to grow up. I have such idyllic memories of my childhood and so desperately want to give the same experience to my kids, but sometimes the weight of parenting does feel overwhelming. It’s a 24/7/365 job.
2. This summer has just felt weird. I usually love summer more than I have this year but like you, I feel too busy/stretched. Time seems to be stuck in some weird matrix. The days are filled, but I’m not feeling overly productive. We also took the kids out of school early for our trip and it really has made everything feel off-kilter + renovations mean our house has been a work zone. I feel SO guilty about saying it, but I would actually pay money to snap my fingers and have it be September. I know, I know – summer is so wonderful. But this year it has just felt kinda tough. And I’m trying to just be okay with those feelings, suck all the marrow out of the fun when I can, and then other times admit that I’m not enjoying some of the unstructured/nebulous (i.e. when our renovations will be done and my kitchen will stop holding piles of building materials and all our footwear) components of this particular summer.
LikeLike
YUP! I totally agree parenting seems way different nowadays. I’m sure there were different challenges that we don’t know about, but life in general seems so amped up these days. And I do not blame you one bit for wishing for September. You guys have seemed BUSY this summer, between various trips, and then lots of local/weekend adventures as well! I think you and I are pretty in the same boat right now. 🙂 I keep forgetting though that you have renovations on top of it all….ughhhhh that is the worst.
LikeLike
I definitely write for myself. I really don’t think most people care what I think about romance and fantasy novels, but I love having a record for myself! And if people don’t want to see photos of my cat and dog, they’re free to move on!
LikeLike
hahahaha, love it!!! I can see how having a dedicated space to track your reading life must be SO enjoyable to you, as such an avid reader. What an awesome thing for you to look back on. That’s the nice thing about blogging, I’m finding…it’s your own little world, where you can do what you please, yet that connection piece is there, if others happen to be interested. If not, they are certainly free to move on. 🙂
LikeLike
Unrelated to this post: thank you so much for Rise recommendation! Watched it yesterday with our youngest and it was lovely. Can totally relate to the swim life-our long course in Oregon was this past weekend so we were busy Thurs-Sun. Sat we left at 6:30am and got home at 8:15pm. Thank goodness for the ability to nap in minivans between prelims and finals! Enjoy your non-swim drop off time!
LikeLike
Glad you liked it too!! I really enjoyed it. And I’m excited to hear from some other swim moms on here! It’s kind of a different beast of a sport that not everyone really understands, unless you have a swimmer. 🙂
LikeLike
This quote about writing is so true… for professionals, but maybe even more so for us small potato bloggers 😉 because the nice thing is that there ARE people out there who like what you write about and they DO find each other and become a great little community and isn’t this the best of it all?
So glad I found you 🙂
LikeLike
You are amazing- I can’t believe you sat and read a whole month’s worth of my posts- and added thoughtful comments to each!! Thank you!!
LikeLike