But I have to admit, there's also a pretty long list of things I really SHOULD do, that I don't. Because I'm too lazy. Or they're too inconvenient. (And I'm too lazy.) Some of them are a little appalling and some are really bad for my health. I figure if I write them down and post them publicly, perhaps I'll be shamed into action.
But I'm not holding my breath.
- Taking my evening pills. Oh, there are some I'm very good about--the birth control, for one. But I'm supposed to take a prenatal and DHA supplement (because I'm nursing) and a B12 vitamin (because I'm severely deficient) and an iron supplement (ditto). The problem is that three of them come in individual blister packs. And not the easy kind where you can just push the pill through from the foil backing. No, these require a nail cutter to slice open the blister pack, and then fingernails to peel it open and individually pop out each pill. Are you kidding me? By the time I'm getting ready for bed at 2 am, that's just too much work. I usually tell myself I'll do it tomorrow. Or that I'll sit down when I have a minute (ha) and get them all out ahead of time. Because I'm really good at taking them when they're in a pill case all ready to go. So, yeah, basically I'm too lazy. And it's not really cool because without those pills, I'm even more tired. And Milo is even less likely to get the iron he needs.
- Which brings me to one of my more appalling points: I'm too lazy to feed my baby solid foods, iron-fortified cereal in particular. The pediatrician says he should be getting two meals of baby cereal daily, for the iron content. There are two obstacles here. The first is that this requires milk. And that means finding time to pump. Which doesn't happen often enough (see point 3). So we never have enough and I'm always "saving" it for the nanny to use. So I don't want to warm up just a little bit to put in some cereal. The other problem is that it's a lot more convenient to nurse Milo than to feed him solids, especially if it's a day (like most) where I'm trying to fit in 30 to-do items and errands. I can nurse him anywhere. Feeding him solids at the post office? Really impractical. And we seem to be traveling a lot. So, yeah, basically this means I'm too lazy to feed my baby. #momoftheyear
- Pumping. Agh. I hate it. I've tried to see it in a positive light as some quiet time alone. Only it's not quiet (shhlllup....shhhlllup...shhhlluuup) and it's not comfortable and I never seem to be able to type or do work while I'm pumping like everyone else can. And finding the time to do it is hard. I need to pump once a day while the nanny is here, but that time is the only time I can be in work meetings, and I really need to complete 24 hours of work in the 18 hours a week I have the nanny. So. Then I try to pump at night, about 2 hours after Milo's last feeding. But that's my most productive time of the day so it often escapes my mind until I'm getting ready for bed sometime after midnight. At which point I'm too tired. Or worried that Milo is going to wake up starving soon and I won't have any milk left for him. Plus, we travel a lot and it's ridiculous to bring all of that equipment with you. Let me tell you, I give a WHOLE LOT of credit to moms that are exclusive pumpers. Whoa. That's devotion there.
- Giving Milo his D vitamins. The pediatrician told us way back in the beginning that Milo should be getting D vitamins, because he wouldn't spend much time outside, and we live in New England and yadda yadda yadda. I'll be honest with you--I don't remember what Vitamin D does. But I know it's important. Hold on, I'll go wikipedia it. Okay, apparently it supports bone health and guards against everything from Cancer to MS to death. Hmm. We've given it to him maybe 5 times in the last 7 months. The first time, he didn't like it and we didn't try again for a while. When we did, he took it fine but wanted to help and thus wound up needing a bath (after just finishing one). It's one of my resolutions, but I have to admit it's only worked 2-3 times. We're working on it.
- Giving Milo baths. Don't judge me. He doesn't get that dirty yet! For a while, I would just bring him in at the end of my bath or shower, which was working pretty well as long as Michael was home to make the transition. Then there was a pretty long period where he was only getting a bath about once a week. Possibly less during certain weeks. This was partially because we were trying really hard to stick with a 7:30 bedtime and Michael gets home from work around 6. So getting us all dinner and then a bath, pjs, book for Milo was nearly impossible, especially when we were on duty. We kept saying we'd do it the next day. But it's easy to lose track of the days and then all of a sudden you're sniffing your son to rate his spit-up smell and thinking that you can't really remember the last time he had a bath but maybe for now a quick wipe will do.
- Patching/taping/exercises. This is probably the worst one. Milo is supposed to wear an adhesive eye patch for 1-2 hours a day to make sure he is using his weaker eye and strengthening it. Another eye doctor suggested taping over the middle half of both eye glass lenses as often as possible to ensure Milo is using both eyes consistently. The same doctor gave us a book of physical exercises to do daily with Milo because apparently your eyes develop their ability to work together the way the left and right side of your body do. So we're supposed to do exercises that make sure he's using both sides of his body consistently. We are lacking in all three of these things. The nanny is pretty good about the patching, and he usually gets at least an hour on the days she is here. I'm good about it when we're not traveling...we've patched all but maybe 4 days since we started. But I've only done the taping and exercises once. I really want to get in a routine with it, but our schedule changes daily so that's really hard. The taping...well. I only want to do it if we're hanging around the house and not on duty. The glasses don't phase me but dealing with questions about patches and taped-over eye glasses? Well, let's just say it's easier not to. #momoftheyear
- Laundry. Don't tell our nanny, but she's pretty much the only one that does laundry in our house. It's awful. Sometimes she won't get a chance to fold it before she leaves on Thursday and it's usually still there waiting for her when she returns on Monday. I swear it's not on purpose...I just don't have the time.
- Eating/Cooking. Well, I do eat. Sort of. Sometimes. But not well. And sometimes not until about 2:00 pm. And then it might be Burger King or Little Schoolboy cookies. Which is bad for so many reasons, not the least of which is that I'm not taking my pills and Milo is supposed to be getting most of his nutrition from my breastmilk. And I'd much rather pop a "healthy" frozen meal in the microwave for 4 1/2 minutes than try to cook a meal. Or even pasta. A friend suggested that I make my own baby food, which she claimed was really easy. And I'm sure it is. For her. I can't even dig out my food processor in less than five minutes. Another friend suggested I use my crock pot to make easy meals, like just "throw a chicken in with some broth and vegetables." The thing is, you have to clean the chicken first and cut the vegetables and by that time I will have eaten my arm off or fallen asleep.
- Exercising. I seriously do not have time. Or energy. Or motivation. I guess it turns out I'm too lazy. I used to be really good about going with a friend a few mornings a week. But then I stopped getting any sleep and that just seems impossible now. I want to at least take walks with Milo but I rarely have time and it's super cold out now. I suggested we get a wii fit, but Michael says we don't have enough room in our apartment. Oh well.
- Filing. But, really, I'm too lazy to care. I put the papers on top of the files until the cabinet doors won't stay shut and then I sit down and do it all at once. This happens roughly every two years. But I don't really have a problem with that.
- Dry cleaning. When items REALLY need dry cleaning or mending, I stick them on a shelf in my closet "for the next time I go." This happens roughly every three years. At which point, the pants don't fit anymore anyway.
- Ironing. I've just committed to not buying clothes that require ironing.
- Changing my sheets. I don't even know how often normal people change their sheets. Weekly? Monthly? That's probably too long, right? Well I only have one set I really like and they were really expensive so that means I have to take them off, wash and dry them, and replace them in one day. Before I want to go to bed. I'm not going to put in print how many times a year this happens, but you can assume it's not weekly. Or monthly.
- Get blood tests. This is another appalling one. I have a thyroid condition that needs to be carefully monitored with a blood test every 6-8 weeks. It took months to diagnose because the main symptom was exhaustion. hahahaha. Which is a symptom of pretty much everything, including having two jobs. We had to be extra careful while I was pregnant and I was supposed to get a follow-up 6 weeks post partum. Milo is seven months old now and it has yet to happen. Because it needs to happen first thing in the morning before I do anything, including taking my thyroid pill. But that means getting up super early and getting Milo up super early and taking my baby with me to get my blood drawn. And there just never seems to be a good time for that.
- Recycling. This is really hard to put in print because I know it is so so lame. But I don't recycle in my home. I like the idea of recycling and if I'm on campus or out and about I'll always use the recycling bins I see. But at home, I have one trash can. Even that doesn't get emptied often enough. When I get packages, I open them in the mail room, where there's a recycling bin and then carry the items back to my apartment piecemeal. Because once that amazon box gets to my apartment, it takes so very long for it to get broken down and taken to the recycling. The soda bottles never make it. Forget about things like vegetable cans. My nanny recycles for me. Which makes me feel really good on the days she is here. Until it makes me feel really awful and guilty because I'm too lazy to do it myself even though I believe in it. I swear to god, if I had room for another trash can I would totally recycle. As it is, I have to go through the trash on the nights before the nanny comes to make sure there aren't any water bottles laying on top of the trash. Because she will totally dig them out and recycle them and then I am an even bigger ass.
But I'm going to work on these for 2012. Meanwhile, maybe you want to share something you know you should do but don't??
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