On resolutions:
1. Stop buying bread and breakfast cereal. I made my own bread last week and it was so delicious. The girls and I ate half a loaf by noon. One recipe equals two loaves which is plenty for one week. I neat thing I found out is that I don’t have to bake both loaves at once. I can refrigerator one loaf before the second rising and pull it out when I am ready to bake it. It rises best in the oven with a pan of hot water, perhaps because it take a while to warm up after being chilled? I don’t know, but I do know that I like smelling and tasting fresh bread twice in one week instead of just once. Plus, I only have one bread loaf pan and I don’t want any extra stuff in my kitchen. As far as breakfast cereal goes, it’s just too damned expensive for such an inferior product. I finally managed to put together an oatmeal recipe that we all love. I am naming it apple pie oatmeal because that is exactly what it tastes like. And no, it is not loaded with sugar! Just 2 tbsps of sugar for 3-4 cups of cooked oatmeal. I think it could have less, too, and still be yummy.
2. Yoga at least 3 times a week. Everyday is just not realistic for me. I don’t need to lose weight and I don’t really care about getting “fit”- I just like yoga and want to do it more.
3. Once Helena is sleeping a little better and not so dependent on the boob, I am totally committed to once a month date nights with John. Yes, once a month. I know lots of moms do the once a week thing. That would never work for us. Too much routine makes it lose all appeal. Once a month is just enough to keep it exciting and something to look forward to instead of a chore.
4. Read more. I only read 32 books last year! That sucks! I am already on my 2nd and 3rd book of 2009, so far so good, but I need to keep it up or I’ll never get through my GoodReads to-read list! Speaking of books, I was able to download lots of books on podcast through Zune and I am really looking forward to listening to that in the car this spring when we drive to Texas. Alice in Wonderland (which I have read 3 times, but hey, the girls love it), Aesop’s Fables, The Wind in the WIllows, Anne of Green Gables (also read many times), & Harry Potter.
On the future:
For those of you who read my last blog, you know all about my internal crisis regarding my future career. The path is pretty much wide open. My BA is useless for the most part, so no matter what I do I’ll need to start over. Either go back to school, or start in a very entry level position and work my way up. Here’s the thing though: at what point do I admit to myself and others that I don’t really want to do anything? Because that’s the truth. I like being home with kids. I like having the time to knit things and bake and garden. I don’t want to choose between Ava’s holiday concert and a meeting. I don’t want to eat out more because I am too tired to cook. I don’t want to worry about having enough vacation time to take my kids to their grandparents for a good chunk of the summer. I just want to be a gardener and a knitter and mom to my kids and a wife to John and random volunteer when I have the time and it suits me. My kids are still little and I am in the thick of mothering. Perhaps this will change when my kids don’t need me as much. I certainly need to maintain an identity outside of my family because there will be day when my kids don’t depend on me. But for now, I don’t want to worry about a career. I am not failing feminism by doing this, either, and I am done feeling guilty about it.
Punkin Dunk 
January 12, 2009 at 9:17 pm
With that last resolution I can identify. I’m not sure I’d want to be at home full-time long term, but I’m not in a rush to find my next job either. In the end, no matter what you think would be ideal (for me, both parents working part-time is better than both parents choosing home or work) you have to live in the world as it is. As it is, good part-time jobs can be hard to come by.
I like to think that conservatives don’t have a monopoly on stepping back from paid work, on valuing unpaid “women’s work”, or volunteering in the community. I really don’t think anyone is failing feminism by raising their children. Perhaps some of that volunteer energy could be directed at expanding the choices of future mothers, so that they can choose “some of each” instead of work or family. There are lots of family friendly workplace policies in Europe & Scandanavia, and a few in Australia, and from what I read, the U.S. could do with someone to research & promote them!
January 13, 2009 at 7:51 am
It is okay. Enjoy your life. And besides, you are young; there is plenty of time for a career (if you want one) even if you wait and start when all the girls are out of the house! Teaching is exhausting emotionally, too, which is why I went part-time.
January 13, 2009 at 9:35 am
Seriously, this whole pressure to not ‘fail feminism’ is such a bitch. I mean, you’re my favorite feminist!
I totally could have written all of these resolutions. Especially the last. I talk all the time about getting my BA and choosing a career path but I’m not sure I want a career. I’ll have to get a job eventually but I don’t think there’s anything I’d rather do than be home with the kids and little side jobs and the like.
January 13, 2009 at 11:59 am
PS
I am all about being honest with oneself. That is actually my new year’s resolution–to live honestly with myself and quit comparing myself/life to others.
You really should read The Ten Year Nap by Meg Wolitzer.
January 13, 2009 at 1:26 pm
* sniff sniff * I knew you guys would make me feel better!
Kate, we have always talked about fostering and I really think of that as a job. There is a real need for fostering teen moms and their babies… I would love to help empower young women in that way.
MT, When I take a job, I give it my all. I know I would love teaching and I know that I would not be good at balancing that with my family life and everyone would suffer. And thanks for adding to my to-read list. It will never end!!! 😉
Jen, I knew you felt the same way that I do. 🙂
I would still love to be a midwife but one thing that really appeals to me about it is that I can take as many or as few clients as I want, depending on what is going on in my life at that time. Plus, it’s a birth thing and I love all things birth-related. It’s just not an option for me right now, maybe not ever. I don’t know. I am thinking about getting my doula certification, though. It’s not expensive so if I don’t like it (and I might not, if I attend mostly hospital births, but who knows?) I am not obligated.
* sigh *
January 13, 2009 at 1:45 pm
who are these parents who manage to date (let alone pay a sitter) once a week? we have the same once a month goal for the year. we shall see… happy new year!
January 13, 2009 at 1:52 pm
Oh, for sure! I was thinking after I posted “I should have mentioned that even if I wanted to go out once a week, I could never afford it!!!”
January 13, 2009 at 3:38 pm
Isn’t feminism about getting to choose? Rock on with your bad self, and I’ll scowl ferociously at anyone who gives you guff about it.
January 13, 2009 at 3:52 pm
Yes, it is about choice. My issue with that argument is that not everyone has that choice. Actually, I don’t even have that choice. I couldn’t day care even if I wanted to go back to work tomorrow. I happen to like being home, but it wouldn’t matter if I hated it- I would still be here. And there are women (and men) who want to stay home but can’t afford to… We still have a ways to go on making the choice accessible. I did choose to have kids, but I hate that angle. Having kids shouldn’t be a bourgeois thing and you shouldn’t have to be middle and upper class to have kids without going totally broke. Anyway, that’s a rant for another day. Thanks for having my back, though!!! 🙂
January 13, 2009 at 10:09 pm
Never doubt your feminism…just doubt the system. But really don’t fret about either, instead enjoy your bread and your monthly dates. Both sound good to me. Stop by my blog and pick up an award while you’re at it.
January 14, 2009 at 11:14 am
Aww, thanks, Brigindo! I should add “keep up with my blogs” to my resolutions list. I did finally put you all into a google reader so fingers crossed… you will see more of my comments around the ‘sphere.
January 16, 2009 at 4:08 am
I don’t want another career when/if our current business ends (be that in flames or sold to some multinational for $50 million *snort*).
I may always have to work, but I don’t want another career – a job that pays the rent will do. One I don’t have to be invested in. I have enough to be invested in with family, friends and other things I’d love to have time to do and don’t.
And I think the idea that choosing to play to your strengths and desires could possibly be failing feminism says something about feminism that may explain why some don’t want to identify with it. Not sure what exactly it says – perhaps just that there is a vocal minority that want to paint a picture of a feminist that meets their own prejudice.
Good on you for finding your own path!
January 16, 2009 at 9:14 am
Yes, my biggest beef with feminism is that it doesn’t try hard enough to change the system… only to get womens slice of the patriarchal pie. Let’s rethink the importance of career and money and consumerism (and who we hurt when we climb the ladder and make and spend more money). I don’t think capitalism and feminism can EVER co-exist if feminism actually has equality as its goal.
June 4, 2013 at 3:39 pm
WOW just what I was looking for. Came here by searching for gatwick airport parking rs09 co
uk