I call my new pet “Paste.”
Rushed morning? Husband headed out of town? One child who overslept, missed barn chores and got fines? Another who never wants to go to school, and a third poking the seats of the first two in the car? Yeah, I got all that.
But somehow, this morning, I let it wash over me. Made the iPad play through the car stereo (my phone won’t do that any more, thanks IOS update), sang along with the happier kids to the three songs that seemed to be downloaded onto it (Brave, Bye Bye and I forget what else). Let the grumpy kid slide, didn’t engage, just had the morning and drove to school and then pulled over to put on a podcast for the way home, thus avoiding half-a-dozen news stories about things I can’t change and can’t always be accepting about.
My podcast of choice was Gretchen Rubin’s “Happier.” (Tomorrow it will be “Note to Self.” The “try this now” segment suggested choosing a mantra of the day, and since I was feeling pretty solid on my feet, I chose “Rocking it,” which I later amended to “I got this.”
Truly, I don’t always feel like I got this. Not the kids, who have been struggling in various ways lately, and not work, where I frequently feel pulled in all directions, and any of the new projects I’m so excited about (one book, one fresh new weekly email about the adventure that is writing the book, and one TBA later). Sometimes I feel like all I “got” is the ability to churn time by via the faux-productivity that is email, social media and “research.”
But today I took that mantra and rode it through. Checked off much of the list, which included making a new, more solid list, lined up a bunch of interview ducks and mostly finished up the day feeling good. If only my children had school tomorrow, I’d be thinking I “got” this whole week. But that would be too easy. Can I line up all the interviews to get a column in by the middle of next week AND knock out the book tasks I’ve got set for tomorrow? Well, probably if I let them watch TV.
On a totally different note, spring makes me want a new pet, so I’m going with “Sourdough Starter: America’s Rising Pet.” I call him “Paste.” And just to mix it up, I added some half-boiled sap. Which may be a total disaster. Or it may be fantastic. But I guarantee it will be easier than the standard poodle puppy I was contemplating…