DYNAMIC WORK

Monday, March 14, 2016

Good Luck Box Review

It's less than a month until the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run! I'm getting so excited, but something arrived in the mail the other day that ratcheted my excitement up to the next level. I received my first Good Luck Box!

If you read my blog you know I love receiving gift boxes in the mail and I love running. This is the perfect combination of both.

Check it out...

Good Luck Box was created by fellow runners who even ran on the day of their wedding! I met the creators when I started volunteering with the Cherry Blossom team several years ago and I'm delighted to be one of the recipients of this amazing box.

I think they have thought of everything. First, the tissue was tied with shoelaces and had four safety pins attached! Perfect! And do you see all those little cherry blossoms scattered around? I can't even… WAIT FOR THOSE BLOSSOMS!

Inside the box were tasty sweet treats like Honey Stinger waffles and and a new bar called Picky Bars. There's a tea bag for post race relaxing, there are wipes for when I can't shower right after a run (many times) and a pack of sports detergent from Sweat X. There's a new pair of balega socks, a Tiger Tail foam roller, and the ever useful Body Glide for all those tricky areas. I can't wait to try the Good Luck Kale Pesto Pasta recipe and use the drink kuzy thing.

This box is perfect for runners. If you know anyone who is running the Cherry Blossom or any upcoming race, this would be a perfect gift. I cannot believe how much perfect running gear they packed into this box.

But one of the things I love the most could be this little card with a lucky penny attached. When I'm out running, I always pick up lucky pennies that I find (as long as they are heads-up, right?). I carry them in that little key pocket inside my shorts or in the zip pockets of my winter running jackets. This card was the absolute best final touch! I am running the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run with this penny in my pocket. Thank you Good Luck Box!! See you race day.

(Want to hear more about the Cherry Blossom? Check out our blog!)

Friday, March 11, 2016

Good Mood Food

I admitted this on Twitter a few days ago: Pessimism scares me.

I don't like the idea of pessimism, an ingrained behavior and belief that things will always go wrong, the worst will always happen, and that things will not get better.

If I had to rank depression versus pessimism, I think I'd pick depression, because I think there are ways to handle depression. I'm not sure how to handle pessimism. (This is an uninformed opinion that I'm just putting out here. I'm willing to hear opposing viewpoints and discuss them.)

think I do get depressed, actually, but I think I would describe myself as an occasionally depressed optimist. Even when I'm having my low periods where I'm not productive and carrying that weight of anxiety and there are holes in my energy buckets, I still remember the times where I feel well and whole and happy. I look forward to those times and I know I will feel better. This is just my particular situation. A friend once suggested I might be described as having hypomania, and it could be true, but I'm not particularly worried about figuring out if I fit that label.

I would be worried if I were ever labelled a pessimist.

But I do get down.

Sometimes when I'm wallowing in those low spots, I look for the right food to eat. So I sat down and did a little googling for "good mood food." I love the way that sounds. And this result from From Prevention magazine online about food and mood freaked me out!

When high-carbohydrate food isn't bogged down by the presence of protein or fat, they allow an amino acid called tryptophan to flood your brain, where it morphs into serotonin, a neurotransmitter that boosts mood and curbs food cravings (such as your chocolate yearnings). As a bonus, it helps you tolerate pain and can even help you sleep like a baby. And all that happens in just half an hour.

You could also have a piece of whole wheat bread with some honey or a bowl of air-popped popcorn, suggests Elizabeth Somer, RD, author of Food & Mood. But skip the protein foods such as cheese, chicken, or turkey. "They suppress serotonin," she says, "because all the other amino acids in them compete with tryptophan, so it can't get into your brain." If you really need chocolate, avoid the usually creamy, fatty kind (sorry), and drizzle fat-free chocolate syrup over cut-up fruit or an English muffin for a do-it-yourself pain au chocolat.

Did you read what I read? (No, not the part where 'food' is singular but then the writer uses the plural pronoun 'they' later in the sentence and it reads so awkwardly.) The part "whole wheat bread with honey!" YUM! I could pass on the popcorn. Chocolate syrup on fruit sounds good, too!! YUM!! (but fat-free chocolate syrup does not sound good.)

Most of the time, exercise is enough to boost my mood. Also, productive work on a fun piece of writing can boost my mood, too.

This article has a lot of interesting tips. I learned that SAD sufferers can benefit from high-carb diets, which frankly, is how my diet rolls during the winter. I usually have no trouble eating a high protein, high vegetable content diet during the summer but in the winter I turn into this carb monster. I used to feel guilty about it, but I think I'm going to let that go.

I should also try to eat more fish, like shrimp, sardines and salmon. Apparently that helps when people are feeling dull and listless, too!

The hard part about eating all of this food is getting the energy to dig it out of my fridge and pantry and actually cook it. It's so much easier when I'm feeling this blah to just microwave a Hot Pocket.

Monday, March 7, 2016

How to Help a (Bright) Third Grader with Horrible Handwriting

My poor third grader has some horrible handwriting, and I want to help him make it better.

I don't have perfect handwriting, but I do pride myself on my handwriting. And even though I'm typing this blog post (and type all of my stories and emails), I still think handwriting is an essential skill.

My oldest has decent handwriting and my youngest is showing signs of very nice handwriting. But my middle guy, my lefty, has terrible handwriting. And it drives me nuts. Let's take a look at some examples:

1. My handwriting sample. It's not perfect, but it's decent.

2. A example of my oldest's handwriting. He's also a handy speller, another quality I adore!

3. The youngest has decent handwriting and we're working on the spelling.

But now we get to the handwriting of the middle guy.

Here's the thing, he's not short on ideas. And he knows how to write complete sentences, most of the time. He does often forget to use capital letters and punctuation, though. I chalk that up to him rushing to get his ideas out of his brain so fast that his handwriting can't keep up. I know the struggle he's facing, believe me.

So, there you have some examples of his handwriting. My question is what to do about it? I did some reading and I'm going to check on a few physical things, first. I'm going to check how he holds his pencil and how he holds the paper down. Another idea I read was to see if the pencil was too thin for him to hold properly.

Way back when he was three, I used to worry this guy had dyslexia because he always wrote his lowercase d and b backwards. I know he doesn't have dyslexia now, because he's a prolific reader and in many ways, a prolific writer. He doesn't have trouble decoding words.

His main troubles are keeping his letters the same size, keeping them within the lines, writing evenly, and writing legibly. As I read further, I learned that there is a condition calleddysgraphia, where kids are not able to write properly. There are tons of symptoms of dysgraphia, and when I read them I found a lot of them described my son but not all of them. It's too hard to know, and I'm not an expert by any means.

I'm not sure what the answer is to fixing his handwriting, but I know if he doesn't fix it he's going to face trouble in school. Teachers aren't going to know what he's writing, they will think he's spelled words wrong if he forms the letters wrong, and they will think he doesn't understand the material if he can't write out his ideas clearly and legibly.

So what does he need to do? Hand-loosening exercises? Write 15 minutes a day? Trace letters on a sheet? The coping strategies on this website seem to focus on reducing the opportunities for a child to practice writing. That feels so counterintuitive but again, I don't know what to do. So how do you help a (bright) third graders with horrible handwriting?

Monday, February 29, 2016

Things I Don't Know How to Do

I am pretty good at some things but there are plenty of things I don't know how to do. A recent escapade trying to replace a broken refrigerator revealed how many things there really are that I don't know how to do.

In the interests of being honest with my readers I'm going to reveal a good list of things I don't know how to do. Some are key life skills I really feel bad for not knowing. Others are just sort of observations I've made. Feel free to suggest other things I don't know.

Pick out a refrigerator that fits in my kitchen. Apparently one must measure the space before selecting the fridge.
Hang shelves. I tried once.
Mix drinks. I can drink them, though! And I did recently get a nice lesson on how not to let ice fly all over the kitchen during the shaking bit.
Change the oil in any vehicle. But I can find the dealership that changes oil.
Gut a fish. I can catch a fish. And I know a bit about putting worms on hooks.
Change a tire. Probably not know this is more of a problem than the oil-changing skill.
Computer stuff. I know some "computer stuff." I don't know why my start-up disk is almost full OR what to do about it.
Cut hair. Sometimes I cut my bangs with trepidation.
Keepy-uppies. I know the process and the theory. I just can't get past two.
Bunny hop on a bike.
Make a cheesecake. I know how to find the information and that one needs a springform pan, I think. But there are probably essential baking skills I don't possess.
How to fly a plane.
Paint with oils or effectively use pastels. But I'm a fair doodler.
Play an instrument with any skill. I can pick out songs on the recorder and maybe a few notes on the piano.
Sing. I mean, I know the words but I can't really sing on my own. Not with actual notes or keys or things like that.
Prune a tree. I think I killed one, actually, cutting it back at the wrong time.
Gamble effectively in a casino.
Tap dance.
How to eat a lobster. I'm honestly not sure. I can clean a crab. But what's the process with the lobster?
Install the little brick patio I want to put in my front garden.
How to crochet.
Do any kind of cool hair design.

Monday, February 22, 2016

Screentime Playdates?

Fun at their Fingertips?

Do you set screen time limits for your kids? There's a lot of evidence out there that argues kids are spending too much time on screen-based activities like computers, iPads, tablets, phones, and video games and television watching. There's also evidence out there that parents spend too much time on these activities as well. But there's also conflicting evidence that says screen time isn't inherently bad and that it's possible to have quality screen time.

Don't google this question. You won't know the right answer. I don't think anyone does.

Look, I'm no screen time saint myself. I can't get a lot of work done without quality screen time in front of my laptop. But I sure do waste a lot of time binge watching shows while I'm doing random chores at home. Then again, I worked out for 90 minutes while watching a show the other day and I really appreciated that device.

Sure, sometimes I realize I've left my kids alone with a device too long and I have to perform an emergency ipadectomy. But generally we have a good balance of screen and non-screen time.

Now I'm facing a new challenge now: friends bringing iPads over during play dates. My kids do not own their tablets, but lots of my friends' kids own tablets. And when these kids arrive for play dates instead of running outside or playing a board game or pretend or imaginative play they are sit on couches playing on screens.

I asked my husband what he thought about this, and he said he didn't mind that much because it was still cooperative play.

It's winter right now and they can't go outside as much.

When they play together on screen, the normal things still happen: fights, laughter, cooperation, creativity, hurt feelings, and shared experiences.

And I grew up playing video games with my friends. But not only video games.

All of these things make it seem "not that bad."

So why I am still worried that this is wrong? They are still sitting there just tapping buttons. I worry they should be doing things they can ONLY do with friends, like reenacting favorite movies (that they watched on screens). Or playing board games (some of which are available on devices). Or do art projects! (there are some cool drawing apps on the iPad). They should play with each other. They can do screens when they are alone!

The really tough part is when I feel that my kids and visiting kids have been on their devices long enough and I ask them to do something else. Quite often, all of the kids get very frustrated. Some have even tried to hide in rooms and sneak more device time. I get frustrated. I don't want to deal with kids who won't listen.

And here's another thing. Parents don't even ask if it's ok to send their kids over our house with devices.

My kids don't own devices. They borrow ours. So at least when they are using them, it is in our house and we can monitor it. (This sounds like a weird analogy to parents letting underage kids to drink at home, but I'm telling you right now we are not doing this. Ever.)

I'm thinking of saying, "sorry, no devices at play dates."

But I'd like your advice first. Are you pro or con screens during playdates?

Sunday, February 14, 2016

Language of Love

My friend was going through her daughter's backpack the other day and pulled out a piece of paper with a lizard drawn on it. My friend said, "This is a nice lizard," and then her little girl burst into tears.

No, my friend hadn't misidentified a self-portrait as a lizard. It turns out my friend had accidentally discovered a Valentine's card her daughter had made for her as a surprise.

"The thing is," my friend said, "It's not even a real Valentine's Day card. It's just a lizard. It doesn't even say I love you or Happy Valentine's Day."

After we wiped away our tears of laughter, I thought about the different ways people like to let other knows they are loved and to be told or shown that they are loved.

Have you ever taken one of those quizzes online that attempt to figure out your preferred language of love? According to one site, there are five love languages. When I re-took the quiz recently and saw my result, my recent summer idea made a lot of sense to me.

This past summer, I re-branded "chores" as "show the love" activities. While they still groaned at being asked to do tasks, it's not like I work them to the bone. I wanted them to realize that taking time to keep the house clean and help with the daily tasks showed they cared about our home and taking care of our family. It also showed that they loved me and their dad and wanted to spend fun time with us, instead of making us do all the work around the house.

My kids aren't the best at helping around the house, but they do prefer to use the phrase "show the love." They are getting better, though. So after understanding my language of love, I grew curious about my kids' preferred language of love.

When I had a quick moment with each kid, I asked them how they liked to let someone know they loved them, and how they liked to know someone loved them. I suggested words, actions like hugs, gifts, spending time, and helping them.

My oldest said he likes a simple hug and kiss, and likes to give a hug and kiss. Straightforward!

The youngest wants all of the above. He is not picky and just loves to be smothered in love.

The middle one had a lot of trouble deciding how he liked to show love, but he knew right away what he wanted from people who loved him. He wanted RESPECT. From everyone.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Monday, February 8, 2016

Celtic Solstice 5 Mile

In December, my husband and I ran the Celtic Solstice 5 mile and while the course was wonderful and the weather was wonderful and even my time was wonderful, what was really wonderful was the incredible COOKIE TABLE.

I know you probably want a race review, but you have to hear about the cookie table. It was huge. Easily the length of the giant outdoor event tent. It went up and down two sides of the tables, it was a double row of cookies. We went up both sides. You don't get a bag or a cup or anything, so we just piled them into our pockets and hands. (For professional advice on how to approach the cookie table challenge, contact Coach Anne-Marie Alderson.)

There was also delicious soup and mulled wine and hot coffee and a sweet Irish band and lots of cool gear for sale, but my favorite part of the race was the cookie table.

The race was at Druid Hill Park, the site of my first triathlon in 13 years. I felt like I had a good vibe on the course because at that triathlon, I actually won the Novice Females group. Won it. Overall. That was a pretty amazing feeling. It was about as amazing as enjoying that cookie table.

I knew I'd have a decent flat section as we circumnavigated the reservoir. But the reservoir was only part of the course. The rest was supposedly up and down hills. My coach prepared me for this event with some serious hill workouts and they paid off because I honestly felt like I was flying up every hill. The race starts with a short but serious hill. Of course you can cruise down that hill to the finish. Luckily, right after you finish you can head to the tent with the cookie table.

While I was sad that two close friends from college weren't able to join me for the race I did see people I knew. As I did some warm-up strides before the race on the first hill I ran into a old college running friend. And after the race, I found a high school running friend! Fun times.We chatted together as we ate cookies from the cookie table.

Personally, I worried I was a little over-dressed in my cold-killer pants and jacket. I tossed my ear warmer and gloves as we passed my mini-van. But in the long run I'm glad I wore my jacket because I had pockets for keeping my cookies from the cookie table.

There were tons of people running in kilts. I did love the guy running in Druidic horns, just like Cernunnos (that prehistoric deity in my short story). Wish I had snapped a photo. Good thing I got a photo of the cookies from the cookie table.

From the photos I've seen, this course is often covered in snow. Frankly, we had gorgeous weather and I would definitely do it again. Here's a cool short overview video. And not just for the cookie table although let's be honest, the cookie table is a really, really good reason to run.