Skip to main content

On becoming anti-social

I am a pretty social person (at least I think so), I tend to make friends easily and keep them (mostly), but sometimes I wonder if being at home alone with the baby makes me want to be home alone even more. My neighbor keeps asking me about coming to the playgroups and the monthly meetings of the Mom's club that we both belong to, and my standard answer is "I'm not sure..I'll have to see". This, even though I know full well that I'm probably not going to go.

Having worked for so long, always having to be aware of the time and my numerous appointments, I guess being at home with no set schedule is absolutely divine! There is something about waking up in the morning without having anything I have to do (except get Lucas off to school on time or close to it). I am very reluctant to commit to appointments..and I can avoid them, so I do. Now how many people can say that about their lives?

A long time ago, I was telling a friend that I was stressed. He looked at me as if I had said something particularly stupid and said "Well, eliminate the source of stress in your life". Yes folks, simple yet profound. But what if people are causing me stress? Well, if there are people causing you stress, and you can't do anything about it then have them in your life less. Ahhhh. Not that I am avoiding people, but more stressful situations. So, the thought of packing up 2 kids, with snacks and watching what they're doing and eating for a 1/2 hour monthly meeting adds up to stress in my mind...so I avoid it. Avoiding stress is another reason I am a stay-at-home mom, but perhaps that is in the category of "stress-exchange" rather than straight "stress-reduction". No matter, it is working for me at this point, largely because of the points above.

But all is not lost, I am finding that I can be very social with limited stress in very small groups (and preferably without the children in tow). There may come a time yet when I actually make it to one of the monthly meetings.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Job Search2: Networking etiquette..

On which I have a few ideas.  As my husband keeps telling me, I won't get a job by spending hours in front of the computer submitting applications to online job postings.  The best use of any job-seeker's time is spent talking to friends and acquaintances and letting them know that you are looking for a job and what your skills and interests are. So here is what I found tricky about networking: How hard to push?  Working parents are busy, so if I asked a friend, who is a working parent, about a position I had seen at their company, do I ask a second time? How soon after? And what if there is another position - do I talk about that too?  If that friend is very enthusiastic about getting more information for me on a post then I hear nothing, what then?  Is it realistic to think they'll get back to me?  I find it difficult to broach the topic again.  I might ask a second time but for me there is no third time. What do I trade in return? In the net...

10 things I have learnt about my teen and language

I have just been thinking about how my son speaks and what he says. He is 13 now and here is what I have discovered: 1. He does know some curse words, although he does not use them (at least in my hearing). I know this because he knows to switch the YouTube video he is watching when he hears one. 2. His language is tempered by having a younger sibling around (and he knows he will be in big trouble if he forgets that). 3. He gets more animated when he is around his friends and especially when he is gaming with them, and he uses a different vocabulary than regular speech (see #5). 4. I should not be annoyed if I am speaking to him and he shouts back "What?!!" The decibel level gets really, really high when he has his headset on AND he is gaming. 5. I am grateful that he uses expressions like, "What the fudge?",  "Crap" and "YOLO". Usually these are followed by the terms "Die!" or "Hackers!" or "Destroy" , bec...

Fitness Photo Shoot

Fitness after stage III breast cancer Plank on ball in silhouette Why a fitness shoot? I am not a fitness model, nor am I ripped like one, but I wanted to do a fitness shoot for a few different reasons: 1. As a reminder of how far I have come At the 5-year anniversary of my diagnosis of stage III breast cancer, it seemed a good time to remind myself how far I have come since I went through the trauma of diagnosis and treatment. That no matter how low I felt at the time, I came through it. Not all my sisters made it and many are still struggling today (shout out to my IV-leagers - those living with stage IV,  EVERY DAY). 2. As a reminder of how much the body can do It is a moment for me to acknowledge that while there are things I still cannot do, there are things I could not do when I first started lifting weights, that I can do now and THAT is amazing to me. When I first started weight lifting maybe I could do shoulder presses with 7.5 lbs, now I can do more t...