The Deal with Busyness

So what do you have to do today? Seriously. What do you really have to do today?

 

I have been thinking a lot about how "busy" I claim to be lately and how long my "to do" lists as a mama have gotten. I find myself getting so carried away with unrealistic deadlines for myself to meet and POOF!!! Before I know it the week has blown by and I am clinging on to bits and pieces of sporadic enjoyments that I "found time" for amongst laundry, dishes, errands, bills, patients, pointless worries and getting ready for the day ahead. I often feel accomplished for what I have done, not for what I have experienced and I strongly desire that to be the other way around. An article that a friend of mine shared recently really captured the essence of my ego's struggle for a perfectly checked off "to do" list, well perfectly. The author defined this as "busyness" and actually labeled it as a sickness. I absolutely agree. Read on.

 

"The American Psychological Association has published its Stress In America survey since 2007. They find that the majority of Americans recognize that their stress exceeds levels necessary to maintain good health. The most frequent reason they cite for not addressing the problem?

Being too busy.
It's a vicious cycle."

 

The author also shares a study in which people would rather deliver electric shocks to themselves verses being left alone to simply just be and think. This saddens me. We have become so reliant on external stimuli that the idea of meditation and relaxation are something that we avoid or simply cannot bring ourselves to find the time for. Meditation is only for yogis and hippies right? Imagine how the world might be if we all meditated for 15 minutes a day? What if this was normal? Like brushing our teeth? Or posting absolutely everything we did all day on Facebook?

 

After reading this article I set out to challenge myself. For the next 30 days (and hopefully longer), I would love to remove the words "I didn't have time" and "I don't have time" from my vocabulary. I would also like to stop creating my own deadlines (a.k.a Sheri stress) and invest more time in myself and loved ones. At my annual check-up I was so happy that my nurse midwife (I still go to a birth center for my primary care, they are the best!) spent majority of the visit discussing my role as a new mother with me and making sure that I took plenty of time to focus on myself. Right after that visit I spent the day leisurely looking around town and actually sitting down to savor lunch by myself.

 

The dirty dishes in the sink can wait. It is probably not vital that I check my email everyday. If I do not make it the store tomorrow we will survive. What cannot wait is snuggling with my son. Or making sure that my body is active or taking the time to meditate everyday for my mental well-being. Or getting beyond the small talk with my husband instead of saying I don't "have time" to chat. What is on his mind today?  Living my life CANNOT wait and this busyness thing has got to go!

With all of this said, I cannot argue with the fact that some things just gotta get done. I'm not interested in being a slob or giving up on my commitments, however I hope that I can learn to accomplish tasks that need my attention with mindfulness and with the permission to not be so darn attached to the results that I was expecting. I also hope that I can forgive myself for having an incomplete "to do" list at the end of the day.

"Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that's the stuff life is made of."

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, Poor Richard's Almanac

 

So, what do you think about this busyness thing?

Read the rest of the busyness article I referred to here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/scott-dannemiller/busy-is-a-sickness_b_6761264.html

Feeding Baby Series: Baby Food Selection

Before Jasper was born I was certain that I was going to make all sorts of elaborate, tasty baby food purees. In reality,  this did not happen for a few reasons. First of all, working full time and having a baby that does not like to nap leaves little room for fancy food preparation.  Secondly, my food processor pooped out shortly after Jasper was born. When I did have the time I blended up a few mixtures for Jasper in our Magic Bullet type blender and it was usually some sort of bean/ lentil/ chicken and vegetable combination with spices. Even so, I was still on the market for "baby food" to fill in the gaps between edibles that could not be mashed into a puree consistency.

 

The brands of baby food that our family decided we liked best were Sprout and Ella's Kitchen. I am not convinced they are the best options out there for everyone but we chose them for several reasons:

 

1) They are organic and I often found them on sale. Tip: try Target and Harris Teeter. If you can budget for it I do recommend offering your littlest tots organic fruits and veggies to reduce pesticide exposure (I also recommend this during pregnancy if you can afford it although I know it's not always realistic financially to achieve.).

 

2) The ingredient lists are super simple--just the basic ingredients, nothing else. Some brands may contain fillers (flour/starches) and/or lots of extra vitamins and minerals in them which I think is unnecessary for most babies if they are drinking formula or breastfed with Vitamin D supplementation. The one exception I found was that Earth's Best Spinach Lentil blend does have 30% of the daily value for iron, the most I had personally found in any other baby food blend, even those with naturally good sources of iron like beef. This was important to me to make sure Jasper got plenty of iron in a mostly vegetarian household. Once you get into the fancier baby food blends (those with sauces and cheese for example) I noticed these had a good amount of salt in them which is not necessary for baby either. I often dressed up the basic purees with other ingredients and spices we had on hand. 

 

3) I liked the variety of food combinations and Jasper (and I) found them very tasty!

 

In addition to the baby food we purchased, I had several "go to," or quick and easy foods, that I offered Jasper when he still ate puree consistency: 

• unsweetened applesauce sprinkled with ginger and cinnamon
• avocado mashed up and stirred until creamy--sometimes with a sprinkle of garlic powder mixed in
• mashed banana (or other very ripe fruit like papaya or plums)
• cooked oatmeal mixed with frozen and warmed berries (you could use cooked regular oats verses buying "baby oatmeal" but know it is not iron fortified. If your wee one is just starting on food, you may wish to grind oats up in a food processor first for a smoother texture)
• plain unsweetened yogurt (sometimes with applesauce or mashed fruit)
• roasted and mashed sweet potatoes or butternut squash (at first I would thin the mash out with some milk).
• hummus (if seed/nut allergies suspected you can wait until closer to one-year old)
• organic canned pumpkin puree (not pie filling!--used this in his oatmeal too!)
• mashed and stirred (until creamy) tofu (with added spices for zip!)
• homemade soup without chunks and without lots of added salt (carrot ginger etc.)

  Whether you are making your own baby purees or buying them, I encourage exposing your little one's pallet to a variety of flavors. Don't be afraid to add small amounts of milder spices and herbs to the mix and don't let your own food references get in the way. Just because you don't like broccoli doesn't mean your little one won't! Stay tuned for my post on great first foods for baby!