NaBloPoMo Check-In, Part 1
I’ve decided to revisit my NaBloPoMo theme in parts rather than all at once, because let’s be honest- there are a LOT of blog posts to read every day, and no one needs to be reading a 1000 word post from me about how my month is going. And I’m also baking butterscotch brownies tonight- more on that later! My theme for NaBloPoMo is “Every Day Counts,” and I identified three ways I’ve been known to waste my days, rather than enjoying each one: Comparing what I’m doing to something “better”; letting other people’s negativity bring me down; and setting myself up for future failure by not taking care of myself (i.e. sleeping and eating well.) Let’s take a look at that second one. I’m usually pretty good at not taking things personally. Years of difficult relationships have taught me a few things, and one is, everyone is truly doing the best they can. Of course there are plenty of situations where we certainly wish someone’s best were, ahem, a little bit better, but the truth is, everyone really is doing the best they can with what they have to work with in this moment. So, I’ve been doing well with not letting other people affect my mood, but I did have an interesting situation this week. The day after my daughter found out she made the all-state band on flute, some pretty snarky talk started going around the flute section at school. A “frenemy” informed her that one girl was criticizing her playing (saying she has an “airy” sound) and another girl was saying my daughter was disrespectful to the older students by thinking she was better than them. Why are girls so mean to each other??? Anyway, my daughter was taken aback by this and a little confused about how to proceed. We talked about it a little but didn’t reach any amazing conclusions, and the next day at work I ruminated about the situation for the entire day. I kept thinking about what she should say to these girls, and what I could say to her, and wondering how she was doing at school. Finally I caught myself- HEY! I said I wasn’t going to do this! Right??? That was a great way to waste a day. The comments weren’t even directed at me; I didn’t know the full story; and my daughter was at school handling it in her own way. The truth is she has a pretty thick skin, and probably forgot all about it a lot sooner than I did. Tomorrow the flute section is having a “Friendsgiving.” Oh BOY- that should be fun! My daughter is bringing a poison apple pie— JUST KIDDING, of course. Actually she’s bringing butterscotch brownies. I would have gone with something more seasonal, but it was her request. It’s an old favorite of hers- I just use a blondie recipe and add butterscotch chips. How is your November going so far? Any special challenges this month?