Thursday, June 10, 2010

A New Kind of Challenge

Today started off horribly. Our new puppy kept me up all night whining to go outside. Once out there she would sit in the rain or try to play. By 4:00AM I was sitting next to her crate, to keep her from waking the entire house, reading a dog training book in the dim glow of a night light. The rational me knew there was no quick fix to training, but the exhausted me was desperate to find some command, trick, word to hypnotise, or even a puppy safe vulcan pinch. Anything to quiet Scout down and allow me my much needed sleep.

After my long night I awoke to the sounds of a tween meltdown as my son suddenly realized he had a project due TODAY and he wasn't finished. As I break the bad news (tough love) that I'm not letting him finish and then driving him in to school late my daughter enters the scene. She can not make her lunch, or even stand in the kitchen because all of the end of the school year excitement and changes are wreaking havoc on her nervous stomach. As if this is not enough, my oldest comes home from working all night and proceeds to play with the equally tired puppy. She gets over excited and begins biting EVERYONE, happily, because we are her walking chew toys. The sooner we accept this, the better it will be :) I swear that's what she says with her eyes every time I say no.

There is nothing like a morning like this to make you feel alive, get your blood pumping, and pretty much give you ulcers. Thankfully, I have a good support system. My husband, who looked a little too happy to skate off to work has been calling and making jokes, trying to gauge just how close to popping I really am, and I know I can always call my mother. But this morning I took my stress to twitter.

To anyone who says Twitter friends are not real I say you're very wrong. What is a friend, but someone you share commonalities with, laugh with, and cry with. My Twitter friends were quick to offer smiles and encouragement and it was just the pick me up I needed this morning.

In addition to a mood adjustment I also stumbled upon a very intriguing challenge on Twitter. It's called 21.5.800. Strange name, but amazing concept by Bindu Wiles. The 21 day personal challenge combines yoga (5 days a week) with writing (800 words a day). This is a great way to jump start both your exercise and writing routines, both of which have been pushed to the back burner in my life lately. Not to mention that both of these activities are very good good for the soul and stress reduction. After the morning I had it didn't take much convincing to say, "I'M IN!"

Are you? You can find more information about 21.5.800 on binduwiles.com You can also follow on Twitter @binduwiles . And don't forget to check out the hashtag to read updates and stories #215800

I'm always here if you need to vent and please let me know if you plan to join the 21.5.800 challenge.

Thanks,

Kristin : )

1 comment:

  1. Sorry your day started off on such an incredibly off note. And so glad twitter buds could help pull you through. :-)

    I'm sure you've probably read it already, but one trick for younger puppies at night is to wrap a ticking clock (like a wind-up analog one) in a towel to place in their crate. The rhythmic noise can be soothing to them. Even better is those "heartbeat" dolls they sell for babies, if you happen to have one lying around. I haven't personally tried this (last time I had a very young puppy I had him sleeping with me, so wasn't an issue), but I've heard positive results from more than one person who used that method. You could also move the crate into the bedroom so you can dangle your hand into it if need be.

    Yes, I realize the professionals say to let them cry it out, and that will work, but only if you don't have to get up and try to keep puppy from waking the house (ie, every time you get up and try to shush the dog, it undermines any progress made that night). You're not going to ruin the dog by doing what you need to in order to get some sleep & let your kids sleep. I promise. ;-)

    Can't join the challenge as I'm not writing to word count goals at the moment, but good luck! I'll be cheering you on... :-)

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