My ten dailies

I’ve got a lot of things I do each day, but I try to just seamlessly integrate them into my day, rather than put the on a checklist and pay too much attention to them. Here they are, the ones I enjoy at least (I’m not including basic clean up and diapers, obviously). 

• Drink coffee. I’ve tried to quit it to no avail, so I’ve come to grips that it’s a part of my daily routine. 
• Get fresh air. It doesn’t have to be hours worth, even 30 minutes will do the trick. Whether I’m taking the kids to the park or on a walk, or going for a run, I believe in the serene power of the outdoors. One day, when we move to Washington, I will take my kids on mountain hikes and to the beach and I hope they will fall in love with the outdoors too. 
• Sweat. Or bend. I like to do yoga, run, or walk each day. Endorphins and all that, you know. 
• Listen to music. It just puts me in a better mood. I never realized the power of music until I married Steve. Steve always has music on, he has a playlist for everything. I turn on kids music for the boys and I swear it improves their vocabulary. 
• Make my own food. I’m not talking about homemade bread or noodles from scratch (although I would like to start that, too someday), but at least a crockpot meal and blending my own smoothie, making pancakes (not the frozen kind); that sort of thing. I have found more joy in food when I am the one preparing it. 
• Read. I don’t read nearly as much as I’d like to, but every day, I read a bit. Not nearly enough. One day, when these kids are in school and Steve lets me still stay home (OK, I’m working on that one; it’s not confirmed), I will read for hours uninterrupted with my coffee on the end table and it will be glorious. 
• Write. Same as above. But I try to journal or blog or work on my novel or poetry when I’m not distracted by cleaning the house and watching TV and working out. 
• Buy something. I know, this is terrible, but I swear I really do buy something every day. It’s not usually always for me: my retail therapy is so advanced that it doesn’t need to be for me to excite me. I buy the boys a lot of toys and clothes and books. I buy sporadic gifts. And I am always buying from GAP. 
• Have a meaningful conversation with Steve. That means not relaying information about what we got in the mail, what is broken around the house, or what’s for dinner. It’s checking in with each other, seeing where we’re at, be there to be vented to or vice versa. Everyone wants to be listened to. 
• Read to my boys. Every night I read books to these little guys. I have a policy of “Never Say No” when a child asks to be read to. Well, except when you’ve already read ten books and Brandon is just pushing off bedtime. Then, I’m the boss, kid.