Thanksgiving

     So I really don't have a lot of time to post this because I'm supposed to be putting things together for Thanksgiving, but I wanted to remind everyone that this is a time to be thankful and not political.

     I was playing a game of free Bingo on Facebook yesterday where others were also playing and talking about the snow. I told everyone how magical I thought it would be if it snowed the night of the American Thanksgiving (Some people were from Canada and other countries) to welcome the Christmas holidays and also magical on Christmas Eve and morn. Well, because people are people and some like conflict, one of them says, "Not me, I'm Indian." At the time, the comment flew over my head and was thinking he was referencing the snow. Now that I've had a day to ponder over his comment I realized that he was either trying to be funny or he was legitimately offended by the Thanksgiving holiday because of his race.

     There is a lot to be angry about, and years ago the white people and other races of people came to America and little by little shoved the Native American race to a small corner/area of the United States. Yes, I agree that it was horrible. Thanksgiving may not have happened the way that we were taught in school, where we, the white people, were so glad to have the Native Americans (Indians) teach us how to survive our first few years in a land that we took over. The truth may suck, but you know, I don't think about Thanksgiving that way, anymore.

     I'm not one of those people who helped to push those over long ago. I'm not a slave driver, nor will I ever be. I'm just a woman who is thankful that she can prepare a large meal for her family. I'm grateful that my husband is able to provide for us so we can eat more than any human being needs to eat in a day. I'm glad that my husband has this day off so that we can spend time with him. I'm thankful that I have friends that I can welcome into my home because I have a roof over my head.

     Can't we just all agree that today is a special day to be thankful? "Well we can show that we are thankful everyday to the ones we love." Yes we can and we should! But really, just as we are thankful, aren't we glad that we are eating these special dishes that we only make like maybe once or twice a year? Proclaiming this day as a day of thanks gives us an excuse to indulge- and trust me, as a  dieter half of the year, it's nice to have an excuse and not feel guilty about eating four slices of pie because you must sample them all.

What They Didn't Tell You About Pregnancy- Sleep

      A couple of weeks ago, I posted a blog about how to prepare for motherhood. Jokingly, I said that there really isn't a way to be totally prepared, but it you bought a cat, you might get a small taste of what it was like as far as lack of sleep was concerned. I thought it was funny, I hope you did too.

What They Didn't Tell You About Pregnancy- Hair

When you see a pregnant woman walking down the street, you'll most likely spot her with her hand over her round belly, protecting and comforting the life that is growing inside of her. If she's very far along, she may even be supporting her back with her other hand as she also waddles along the sidewalk. Her hair is long and gorgeous and she's glowing.

What They Didn't Tell You About Pregnancy- Foot Size

When we think of pregnancy symptoms, we always think about the pregnancy glow, morning sickness, and heartburn, but there are some side effects that some women don't know about and they wonder, "What on earth?"

We've already talked about how pregnancy can change your hair, the way you sleep, and even your eyes, but there are still more symptoms that no one talks to you about. The symptom/side effect that we'll talk about today is foot size!

What They Didn't Tell You About Pregnancy- Eyes

 So, you're pregnant, or you're thinking about becoming a new mommy or you know someone who's pregnant. In order to educate yourself, you probably typed, "pregnancy symptoms" or something similar.

There are some symptoms that have made women question whether or not they were pregnant, achy breasts, heartburn (I couldn't complain of heartburn without being asked if I was pregnant), mood swings, and so much more.

How to Prepare for Motherhood- Get a Cat

 

The thought of having children used to make me cringe.

I wasn't good with babies or little kids, but I was pretty good at working with teenagers. I used to joke that if I were to become a parent someday, I was just going to adopt teenagers. Who knows, maybe some day, I will.

Fighting the Winter Blues

     I don't know if it has just hit me earlier this year or if it's because my circumstances have been unusual, but I've been really bluesy, already, this year.

     I love the fall! I usually love the colors, the crisp air, the decorations, and costumes. I love taking my kids trick-or-treating. I usually become blue after Thanksgiving. But I've been bad at decorating the house. We just did our pumpkins, usually it's done sooner. I haven't been super excited like I normally am. Maybe it's because I've only watched Hocus Pocus once this year? *gasp!* yes, just once.

     For those of you who have never heard of the winter blues, it happens to people in the winter. We're not quite depressed, but more like melancholy. The days are shorter, exercise has dwindled, and the supply of vitamin D that you get from the sun has lost its source. I didn't realize that this was something that I experienced every year until I noticed a pattern. I began to see my doctor during the winter months because I lost motivation to do anything. I was tired all of the time and my temper was short. I had gone in believing that maybe I was having a thyroid problem, but it happened every single winter since my kids were born and nothing was every diagnosed. It might have happened sooner than that, but I was a hyperactive teenager, so maybe I didn't notice it as much.

    What I usually do when I begin to feel bluesy is take some vitamin D. That usually helps, but so does ice cream. And well, when you eat ice cream, weight creeps on and then I'm 500 lbs (a bit of an over exaggeration) and then I feel even worse than I did before.

     I need a hobby. I'm at home with the baby (ok, so he's 3, but he'll always be my baby- shadadoop awwwah, shadadoop da doop da dawww *insert Mariah Carey high note*) all day long. We do things together, but most of it is what he wants to do. "But you're the mom. Make him do what you want to do." *Mothers UNITE!* I do, sometimes, or sometimes I come to this computer and I type a blog that may or may not get read. However, when you get bluesy and you have anxiety, sometimes you just can't do something. Anxiety is weird. You want to do something, but your brains says, "No. Just stay right where you are. Worry about getting your house clean, but stay here and just look at it. Don't do a thing. Feel overwhelmed and panic when someone is about to come over. Everything will not be ok, but it's ok to just sit and worry."

     Nothing gets done!!! Then, at some moment, you are able to push through that fog and you say "Enough!" and you bring out the broom and sweep everything to the middle of the floor and you sweep things long forgotten out from under the couch then add it to that pile. You look at that pile and feel overwhelmed again. You sit down. You know that it has to get cleaned. After you put on an episode of Grey's Anatomy (because it will calm you down) you slowly pick up that pile. On occasion, you have turrets and yell at the dogs because when you went and picked the kids up from school, they got into the garbage can and pulled out paper plates and other trash items and chewed on them under the dining room table. You notice the pile when you're on the floor cleaning up the other pile so you sweep it into the pile that just began to look like something was being done, only to have it grow again. You feel defeated, but hey, you can do this! Just as you're almost done, the kids come home and dump their things everywhere. The baby is so excited, he grabs the nearest toy bin and dumps it. You let out an inhuman strangled cry. You apologize to the kids because they thought you were dying and you say, "It's ok. Mommy is just a little exasperated. Can you help?" The sensitive 5 year old will rub your back saying, "It's ok, Mama". She's trying to comfort you, so you try not to glare at her through the slits of your eyes because the mess you asked them to help with is still where it was left.

Not my house, but it may be if I don't get my butt into gear. (compliments of Hoarders)

     I'm not depressed, though. I'm bluesy. They house doesn't always look the way it does. I'm not always anxiety ridden and useless. It's cold outside. It's not like the normal hoody weather for this time of year. We have had to pull out our coats and we would have our mittens if we could find them. (Add buy gloves to the list of things we need.) The kids are restless, the dogs feel duped because I don't want to take them for a walk when it's 40* and dark outside. The dogs get into things. The kids play inside all day instead of outside. Things pile up and we're all just stir-crazy. I think that's enough to make any mommy a little crazy, if not just bluesy.

     Do you get the winter blues? Have you gotten them already?