STRESSED

I feel like I have a lot on my mind today. I tend to take on the worries in the lives of those that I love and make them my own. Worrying is a bit of an aerobic activity for me. So I'm doing that. Plus I always worry about money in January, it's an annual tradition. It's nothing dire, but all the same, we do live on a budget, and Christmas is a challenge each year. It's going to get a little easier coming up here (Mike has started teaching his spring courses, and I'm up for tenure), but in the mean time, I worry.

I've been praying my rosary more often, and you know, it really does help. I just feel calmer and more content when I do that. Last night when I got home from work, I had a *very* nice and stress free evening with Mike and the kids, which is exactly what I needed. It's not that my evenings are usually stress inducing, but Anne has been crank central lately and there's often lots of chaos in our evenings with Hank bouncing off the walls and the baby sobbing. Last night everything went extra smoothly.

Granted, we're not getting as much sleep as we need. I will say that with baby #2, (I had typed #3 and had to go back and correct, Freudian? :) ) Mike and I are both a LOT easier going with the sleep deprivation. When Anne inevitably wakes up just as we've fallen asleep, we just bring her in bed with us and go right back to sleep. If she refuses to go to sleep in the middle of the night, I just bring her down on the couch to cuddle and watch The Golden Girls until she's calmed down and dozing back off. Truly, it has to be grace. And parenting experience.