...A world where there are Octobers

First things first: who can attribute that quote?

It has been a nice month so far. I like that the month is bookended by L's birthday near the beginning and Halloween at the end. And in between we have cool crisp mornings with warmer afternoons, and the last few weeks of daylight at dinner time. L's party was perfect. It was a bunch of kids running around at the park, eating pizza and cupcakes in between. Laid-back and easy. I could do this every year. If only I didn't have a winter birthday child!

Like most things, homework seems to have worked itself out. B is doing it in aftercare, with help from the staff. He's been so overzealous about doing it, though, that he skipped his favorite karate class yesterday evening to get it done. I told him it was OK to leave it for later.  On the one hand, I admire that work ethic, but I also know that he has a tendency to burn out.  I think its better to skip a few days of homework than to do every assignment for 2 months and then decide he "hates homework".

He really LOVES kindergarten and goes on and on about all the things he's learning. And then he has massive regressive meltdowns, like I haven't seen from him in 2 years. Maybe the stress of holding it together from 8:30 to 5ish every day? I couldn't even be angry at him last night, I could tell he just could not get himself together. It was over the silliest thing (chocolate graham cookies) and he was sobbing and kicking things for 20+ minutes. Later he apologized. We need to get him to bed earlier. On Sunday I put him to bed a full hour earlier, without L, and he fell asleep immediately. L, who's had a 2 hour nap, keeps him up at until after 9 with his shenanigans.

B got a haircut! After 15+ months. It had gotten long enough to put in a ponytail. Its "boy" short now. G & I were SO happy when he said he wanted a haircut that we scheduled it ASAP. The first cut, he refused to cut it too short so she left it on the sides and it was poofy and terrible, so we took him back for a touch-up and now he looks like 4 year old B. We were relieved because its easier and neater and you can see his eyes, but I hope he didn't decide to get it cut because other kids were teasing him about looking like a girl (they were, but he told me he didn't care and told the main teasing girl "well YOU look like a boy"; he may need to work on his insult skills).

I got a haircut too! After a full year! It was halfway down my back, the longest I've had it in years. I cut it right to my chin, with some shorter layers. It looks awesome so far, but that's because I haven't washed it, so it still has the original "styling". We'll see how it pans out...I've always found shorter hair harder to manage, you can just throw long hair back into a ponytail and go (which I did, and was getting sick of).

As for my mindfulness in October---I finally started using my meditation app. I am on 2/7 of the introduction to "Calm". My goal is to do this daily for the whole month. Its really hard to not think about things for even 10 minutes! That's the point though, right? If its hard for me, it means I really need to do it. Like planks. I should probably do planks everyday for a month, too. Maybe in November.

After a rocky start last week, I've gotten into a good rhythm with work. SO MANY Pomodoros! I've finally gotten into the "flow" state with this project and its amazing how much better I feel overall when I'm engaged and productive all day. Today is a bit slower, but ITS OK to have a slow day when the other days are good! What else did I say I would do? Oh, keep off my phone in the evenings and weekends. Yeah. Work in progress. I'll try again this weekend, last weekend was terrible. 

I've read a couple of posts recently about this idea, touted in the frugal-living world, that outsourcing can actually take more time than in-sourcing certain things. I call BS. Like haircuts---people claim they cut their own hair because it saves so much time. How often are you cutting your hair? Where are you going for a haircut? I cut my hair 1-2 times a year. I go somewhere in the neighborhood. I chat with the hairdresser. It gets washed, cut, and styled way better than I could ever do at home! Or worse---"it takes longer to get take out then it does to cook". What? Because you just sit around waiting in the 30 minutes before it shows up at your door? If you are not cooking, you can USE THAT TIME. To work, or play with your kids, or exercise, or rest your weary feet after hours standing on them, or take a shower, or....the possibilities are endless! Just say you don't want to spend the money and leave it at that. Stop trying to make it "not just about the money". IT IS JUST ABOUT THE MONEY*. Rant over.

Speaking of money, thanks for your suggestions/comments on the allowance thing. I have more to say about that topic but I'll save it for another day, I better finish up some work!

*another valid reason might be health---you want to eat healthier than most take-out options allow, or you have food allergies or a special diet. That's often my reason for saying no to take out (other than the $), when I feel like having something simple/healthy.