Pinky Ba-oon

Arya is now 2.5 years old and lately her behaviour has been…difficult, and you might say that potty training is ‘in the toilet’.

We have felt like we are almost out of ideas when she wets her undies multiple times a day after being almost fully toilet trained a few months ago.  Other days she can throw a tantrum for up to 3 hours long! I mean, who even has the energy for that?

After several deep and meaningful conversations with Google, the source of all earthly wisdom and knowledge and some long conversations, we came to the conclusion that it may be a very real reaction to some big changes in our lives.  The downhill slide in toilet training started right around the time we moved house, plus I have taken on more work, but I also had an intense prac situation at the end of last year and we hardly got to spend any quality time together.  Then shortly afterwards I met Kalon *insert romantic sigh*, and I am so grateful for the time we have spent together, but it is a massive change for both Ary and myself and she no longer has 100% of my time and attention.  A happy change, and he is investing time with both of us, but it’s not the same as having your mum all to yourself.

Who knows? We may be taking a stab in the dark, but we decided that Ary and I needed to spend some dedicated time together.  Cue, mummy-daughter date!

2:30 the next afternoon rolled around and I pulled up to daycare, excited and nervous.  It truly felt like a date!  I couldn’t wait to take her out, but with a 2 year old, the potential for tantrums in public always abounds.

We had a slight delay after getting to the shops due to a very broken phone that had to get fixed, but Ary waited as patiently as a 2 year old can and then we were off!  First to Target, our fashion stop for the day where we were able to pick up 2 t-shirts for daycare for about $4 each.  BUT there were about 6 different sparkly princess tutus that were begged for and denied one by one.

Next stop was ice cream, which I had promised thinking we could try a frozen yoghurt place that I’m sure exists, but I couldn’t find.  I found solace in the fact that I at least got some pre-snack exercise walking up and down the wings of the shopping centre.  We settled on Baskin Robbins where you can get a soft serve ice cream with a flake for about $1.50 so Ary got ice cream with sprinkles and I had mint choc chip (the best one).

Then we were off to BigW and their party shop where I not-so-patiently attempted to get some customer service.  Eventually, a lovely lady came and helped us out and it turns out that you can buy a single helium balloon with a ribbon for $1.50!!!  Naturally Arya chose pink, which is not my colour, but whatever floats your boat.  She thought it was awesome until I said she had to wear it on her wrist instead of holding it in her hand (in an attempt to prevent it from floating away).

*insert tantrum here*

Thankfully, it was mild and she kind of understood in the end and was able to play with her balloon until she somehow got it off her wrist as I was picking up my newly fixed phone an hour later.  It found a new home on the ceiling of the shopping centre and we were discussing the loss of ‘pinky ba-oon’ for the rest of the evening.

With half an hour before we had to get groceries and head home I decided we had time to hit the small playground where Ary played hard and tried to claim a little car as her own from all the other kids while I watched and attempted to make sure things didn’t get violent… You never know with toddlers! (It didn’t of course!)

In the end we got to spend a couple of hours together and we didn’t do anything too crazy or exciting, but it was so good to hang out and be together.  I spent just over $10 (not including the ridiculous amount to get the phone fixed) between the both of us, which was far more affordable than going to a play centre and getting snacks.  Ary had fun though, and that was the best part.  I had considered Chipmunks or getting our nails done together, or something equally fun, but we didn’t need to do anything dramatic or expensive to connect and enjoy each other’s company.

The afternoon didn’t fix her behaviour and it didn’t fix her toilet training, but it did remind me to take dedicated time to engage with her outside of all our other activities, that was the valuable part for me.  I’m just glad that somehow in the screaming tantrums I actually heard her and I will continue to choose to spend time with Ary each week and grow together.

How could you NOT want to spend time with this cutie bum?!

 

Accomplish small tasks to achieve BIG goals.

I’m simultaneously super excited, and incredibly frustrated at the moment.  I’m on the edge of great things, but they are still in the development and birthing process.  There is so much on my list of goals that it is almost overwhelming and I don’t know which end of the list I should start with.  I have goals for personal, professional, and family life that are filling me with fire and ideas feel like they are stirring my soul, but my day to day life seems to be filled with chaos and frustration.  I feel like I’m doing sled pushes uphill!  I know that will pay dividends (hello glute muscles!), but it’s tough going in the meantime.

I’ve been mulling these ideas over for a a few weeks, and my normal response would be to just give up, or make great aspirations, tell everyone, and then have it last a few weeks before life was again filled with the busyness of daily humdrum that absorbs each day.  I’ve been frustrated with settling for less than what I know I am capable of being and accomplishing, so I needed an action plan for permanent change.  To do that I knew I needed to create new habits for the small stuff.  This would free up the time and attention that I need to accomplish the big stuff.  Instead of drawing up a list of habits that I knew wouldn’t stick longer than a few weeks, I decided to focus on just 2 things.  I decided that to maximise my time each day I needed to wake up at 5am each morning and to clear some of the clutter in my mind and the house I decided to make my bed each day.  This meant I would be utilising ‘extra’ hours in the day, and the 1 minute that it takes to make my bed each day makes my room look cleaner and less cluttered, and it is one step towards a clearer house.  My room can become a refuge and when nothing else in the house is clean, but I don’t have to time to deal with it, I can retreat to a clear space in my room and have the focus I need.

Then I thought, what if I can’t even stick to those 2 things long enough for them to become a habit?! So I did what I also do in training when the session seems like too much.  I break it down to bite size chunks, and tick off each little section.  Instead of a month of bed making at 5am I decided to do it for one week.  I can do that.  I mean, if I can’t make my bed for a week in a row then I’m going the wrong way about being an adult!

So here I am, writing to you, 3 days in to my little goals. So far I’ve done okay.  I’ve had to stretch out my wake-up time to 5.20, because I haven’t quite been getting to bed early enough, but I am still getting so much more done in the day.  My chores in the house are done early enough to allow for extra paid work to happen, and I’ve been early to daycare drop off every single day (which if you know me, you know that’s a BIG deal).  My bed has also been made every day, although sometimes I have forgotten until a little later on in the morning, but the great thing is that it’s encouraging me to take an extra minute or two to clear the little things that mess up my room each day.  It makes for a less stressed Bek!

Last year was a year of preparation, and I used the mantra “Discomfort is the catalyst for change” for all the tough stuff, and it really worked.  This year however, big changes are happening and the phrase, “Accomplish small tasks to achieve big goals” is starting to shape my thinking.  This year is a year of action and discovery.  I’m taking small steps at a time to action change and I know that when I look back at the end of the year, life will look nothing like where I started.

A bend in the road

I’ve spoken before about how much of a bookworm I was growing up.  One of the series I loved was the Anne of Green Gables books.  In fact, for a longer period of my life than I am willing to admit, I crushed hard on Gilbert Blythe, her childhood nemesis turned handsome doctor and husband (didn’t we all?).* I loved Anne-with-an-e’s unchecked imagination, and she often reminded me of myself with my head in the clouds and an imagination that lead to some ridiculous moments.  Over the years, there was one idea that Anne held on to that stood out to me.  She loved the unknown bends in the road, not knowing what lay ahead, but moving toward it with such hope.

“My future seemed to stretch out before me like a straight road. I thought I could see along it for many a milestone. Now there is a bend in it. I don’t know what lies around the bend, but I’m going to believe that the best does.”
― L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables    

I am not like this! No, I am the person who is trying to guess the plot of every movie and figure out who dies and who survives.  My friends have patiently ignored me while I bugged them for spoilers, and in the same way, I don’t like not knowing what will happen in my life.  What I have learned over the last few years, is that my road has had many bends, and it’s rarely been fun moving through them.  It’s a stretching, aching, groaning processes, that sometimes feels like it’s hammering me into change as opposed to fine tuning, but it is always worth it.

At the moment I’m terrified (okay slightly dramatic… I’m apprehensive), because I’m staring down to a curve with some big changes.  To make it through I know I’m going to have to adjust habits that have helped define my phlegmatic self for years.  My forgetful, disorganised, she’ll-be-right nature that I have tried to curb will not get me through.  This time at least I know there are basic goals that I am working towards, for these I am pumped!  But I don’t know exactly how the final product will look both personally and for my goals, just that the process will be hard work.

I don’t shy away from hard work.  You can’t complete a 70.3 distance triathlon, or live with a toddler without expecting to sweat, and possibly swear.  In that regard I am really looking forward to the next few months of training and learning! Personal changes however,  seem to be much harder to instil.

The mantra I kept repeating to myself during the hard training sessions leading into the Sunshine Coast race is that discomfort is the catalyst for change.  Over and again I would repeat this to myself, and it’s so true.  The body is all about efficiency, it won’t change unless it is required.  I train to stress my body, and it adjust to accommodate to the new normal.  However, if I don’t increase or change the stimulus, I plateau.

I have felt for the last few months that I was in a preparation phase.  I wasn’t sure what for, but I knew I had to get ready. I really think I did prepare by applying some minimalist principles, getting rid of a lot of things, losing more weight, and spending what time I could with my girl and my family.  Now I’m entering the build.  We’re moving house into a much smaller space, and I have begun my first prac this week.  I also have really exciting things happening on the work front which I will hopefully be able to expand on soon.  But all of this combined with training and being a mum is going to be a juggle that will test me.  I’m unsure what the end result will look like, and that scares me in both a good and bad way, but I’m leaning into it.  I’m repeating the same mantra again, because to achieve (nay survive) change has to occur.  Above all though, I am excited, because like Anne, I believe that the best will be around the bend.

 

*Relationship Opening: Tall, dark and handsome doctors please apply in the comments.  Extra points if your name is Gilbert.

Welcome back to my adventure!

Hi! It’s been a while.  Did you miss me?  I’m guessing probably not, because let’s face it, the internet is full of interesting and hilarious things, but I’m back now and looking forward to adding my voice and sharing in a little corner of the world wide web.

It’s probably been nearly 2 years since I last published a blog post, and so much has happened that I don’t think I could ever catch you up, but here’s the gist of it:

1. Arya is now 2!
2. I’m studying Exercise Physiology (STILL)
3. I’m working as a trainer at the Morton Bay Lions AFL Club and thoroughly enjoying it.
4. I have dived head first into the world of triathlon, and have gone from a first timer’s event just over a year and a half ago, to completing my first 70.3 distance race at the Sunshine coast last weekend.
5. I have discovered a life outdoors! I am now hiking, kayaking, camping, and of course swimming, cycling, and running.  Yes, for once in her life, this bookworm has a tan.

Of course, there have been many ups and downs that have taken me through the above 5 points and I have some goals to cover over the next 2 years that will take some grit to accomplish (graduating university), but I feel like I’m stepping into the next phase of life/fitness/motherhood and I’m looking forward to sharing the fun.

Stay posted for a Sunshine Coast 70.3 race report and if you would like to see all the fun my instagram handle is @runtored

Braingasm

Welcome!

Well, with that one word I have said all that I intended with this post, but a single word does not a blogpost make.  So instead I would like to share with you two things. 1: The braingasm that was induced by learning about the human body.  2: My fricking amazing breakfast!

I have recently started training with Muscle Synergy and it is already one of the most exciting things I have ever been a part of.  Each day of training allows me to learn new things that should have been obvious in my studies up until now.  After having recently studied functional anatomy I’ve gained a whole new perspective on the way the body works, but after working with Dion Argent it’s like my whole viewpoint has been broadened.  I have to admit I was seeing stars (and only in a good way) when he demonstrated the way the various muscles across the body move together and function not as many individual parts, but as extensions of each other.  The degree to which this happens blows my mind. I am so excited at this opportunity for learning.  I am even lucky enough to be working side by side with my brother, himself a fitness freak, which is an ‘interesting’ experience, but I can see him coming into his own and his eagerness to learn is inspiring.

The second thing I wanted to share with the world is my breakfast… Sounds odd right?  Well in my family breakfast is serious business, especially when it comes to pancakes.  My dad and brother have a constant rivalry as to whose pancakes are better (Dad’s), but today I truly believe that my pancakes could have taken the blue!  Picture this, a short stack of two ingredient pancakes (okay four…1 1/2 bananas, 2 eggs, and a hint of cinnamon and nutmeg) with a thin layer of Philadelphia cream cheese between each layer and topped with stewed apple and strawberry and finished with crushed walnuts.  So.Freaking.Good! A quote an old friend and I used to say to each other about amazing food was ‘Words cannot explain what is happening in my mouth right now,’ and that would certainly be appropriate in this case!

Well I have successfully exceeded my one word status at the beginning of this post and so am willing for it to draw to a close.  I look forward to sharing more about my experiences with fitness, anatomy, glorious food, and family!