What are you doing about it?

One of you lovely people sent me a link to Jen Hatmaker's latest blog post after I mentioned her in the previous post. It was all about getting "out of the doldrums" and an action plan to do so. For her. Not an action plan for anyone who ever finds themselves in a grump ever! It reminded me that a few of you have asked what I have been trying to do and change as a bit of self help in all this so I thought I'd write you a little list...(I loves a list!)

• Date nights. A and I sort of gave up on quality time together for quite a long time. We would go out when his parents came to stay and were happy babysitters or that sort of thing but there was no regular pattern to actually spending time together. We now have an evening a week when we eat after the kids are in bed, have a glass of wine and a big old chin wag. Sometimes we end up doing organising-y jobs but only the fun ones, like booking a holiday. Quality time is definitely good. :)
• I'm writing down about one sentence a day about G and about E, my favourite memory of them for the day. Yes, it will be a lovely thing to have in the future but that isn't the point, the point is, I go to bed thinking about the lovely cuddle, the new word, the funny story,the amazing bit of sharing. Not the tantrum, the spilt food, the toilet disaster, the loss of temper...
• I'm reading more. This is indicative of a bigger shift - when G was born, I gave up too much "me". First, I was just so tired I couldn't do anything other than look after him. Then, it just became habit. And it felt like I should prioritise all kinds of things above me. And I don't mean above having quality alone time or anything massively self indulgent, I mean doing the things that make me me and reading has always been one of those things. The more I read, the more me I become again. It is one of those things that, for me, indicates overall health. My spiritual life is healthier because I read a novel. Truly. And my mental/emotional life can hardly get over the difference a good book makes!
• Exercise I've already mentioned. It fallen by the wayside a bit with the ill health the past few weeks but the idea is there.

That is probably the lot for now. I am still toying with bigger actions like going to the GP to talk about a bit of cognitive behaviour therapy (my hands may not take much more washing...) or going to see a counsellor. But I am not there yet. Plus, you know, it would eat into my novel reading time...!