When I’m sick or tired, it bears remembering that there are things that make me feel better, but the more lethargic I feel, the harder it is to remember those things. I’ve noticed that the kids respond to this need too–in that the more down they are, the harder it is to just do the few things that will make them feel better now. There’s some brain research on choice exhaustion and how our brains get tired of exercising will power and making choices all day. I tell the kids, “Our job is to make sure you’re healthy and growing” so that they’ll eat or rest or do whatever it is that they are not doing.
For me:
- Yoga. If I go, I feel good.
- Sleep. I need to go to bed before 9 to ensure adequate sleep when Porter is still iffy.
- No more than 1-2 drinks before bed. Otherwise, I don’t sleep between 2-4 am.
- Sunshine. Mood elevator.
- Vegetables. Even as a vegetarian, I sometimes neglect my veggie intake. I feel better when I eat a lot of fresh food.
- Minimum tidying. The house makes me feel better when there’s not junk everywhere, but I don’t want to spend all my home time cleaning. Then I get resentful and angry. It’s a balance.
- Social interaction with friends (and their kids to a large extent).
- Unstructured time. But–balanced with structured time!
- Lots of family time.
For the kids:
- Sleep. They need rest to function. Seamus would still nap if Gilbert would.
- Good, fresh food. A treat is fine, here and there, but that’s all they think they want to eat. Luckily, fruit is still a treat. One we don’t mind them eating all the time.
- Exercise. Oh, this house when they haven’t had enough run it out time.
- Down time. Unstructured time with the family.
- Lots of family time.
It’s a good reminder for me when we fall into a rut of not doing these things that just one or two choices to move us back in this direction helps tremendously.
Academic Leigh Speaking 