Getting Motivated

I must admit that about a month ago I was in a funk.

I felt kind of lost as a part-time professor and a full-time mom. After working for 5 hours each morning I would pick Lydia up from the sitter's house and we would come back home. I would fix us some lunch and spend a few precious moments with my girl, but then she would be ready for her afternoon nap. The dreaded afternoon nap...

I know that most people look forward to this, but once I laid Lydia down and left the nursery I didn't know what to do. I wanted to rest from working, but I also wanted to get out. Each day I felt stuck; on the days when I did chores I was exhausted by the time Lydia woke up, and on the days when I rested (aka watched Gossip Girl or caught up on blogs) I felt grouchy and restless by the time David got home.

The solution to my problem came with Best Body Bootcamp. I wrote a little bit about it when I first started, and I plan to give a progress report once it is over, but today I just want to write about how this small thing made such a big change in my day. Once I paid (a very small amount of) money to sign up for these workout routines, I became motivated to do them. Because I am very, very frugal. So slowly but surely as January wore on I formed a habit. During Lydia's afternoon nap I took some time for myself - I got up off the couch, focused on strengthening my body, and got my endorphins pumping. At first I felt guilty because taking this time for me meant doing laundry and dishes while Lydia was awake. However, I soon came to realize that a 14 month old loves to do dishes and laundry too! Once I started to involve Lydia in my daily chores and took some time to do something that was good for me each day we hit a wonderful stride.

Every day is not perfect. Sometimes I still eat M&M's and watch house hunters as Lydia snoozes. Somedays Lydia is grumpy so I don't have the chance to vacuum. But in general taking this small step towards getting motivated while I am at home has done wonders. I know I am an achiever; that I like to feel like I have accomplished something in a day. And I also know that I should never feel like a failure when I don't accomplish my goals for the day. My value runs deeper than these small things, but small things can make a difference too.

Since learning to workout at home and how to involve my toddler in things around the house our days are so much more enjoyable together! Just thought I would share a bit about our rhythms lately. What kind of rhythm do you have at home? Has anything motivated you lately?