Good morning from snowy Chicago! And, hey, we made it out of the apartment SEVERAL times this weekend so I’m gonna go ahead and call it a win.

But, also, I kind of owe it to stumbling upon this quote last week.

“Encouraging a child to go outside in all weather builds resilience, but more importantly it saves them from spending their life merely tolerating the “bad” days in favor of a handful of “good” ones – a life of endless expectations and conditions where happiness hinges on sunshine.” — Nicolette Sowder

This is SO TRUE. In many more ways beyond the weather.

Yes, I grew up in California so my mentality is well, we just gotta get THROUGH this shitty part of the year and then we’ll get back to the SUNSHINE!

I’ve always been that way.

But I also think, beyond the weather, I am the kind of person that waits for optimal circumstances before I jump in. Everything has to be just right. I can’t get a workout in because I only have 20 minutes before my next meeting. Never mind the fact that I can get a great sweat session in in 15 minutes. But, if everything doesn’t align, I’m like “eh, why bother?!”

So, yeah. The quote hit home. And it made me realize that that’s not the kind of model I wanna be for Ishu.

So, we bundled up and adventured around this weekend. Let’s dive in.

Friday

Once Ishu woke up, I hurried to get him ready and then we went to the ER for his 4th (and second-to-last) rabies vaccine/injection.

This time, the nurse offered him an orange popsicle once it was over. So, yeah, there were tears and screams and everyone peeked in wondering who the heck had this great set of lungs. But, we had an orange popsicle for breakfast so eventually things settled down.

Once we got home, Auntie Bella came over and they hung out together for most of the day while I took care of some work stuff. Things have ramped up recently. Now that we’re trying to make up for missed evals (because of flooding and snow days and school closures), a lot of things are piling up. So I’m trying to be as efficient as I can when I can get time away from Ishu!

After Auntie Bella left, I sat down to eat lunch and actually OPENED UP NETFLIX after SO LONG. So many of the shows I watched while nursing (Working Moms, Atypical, Emily in Paris, After Life, Sweet Magnolias, etc.) now have another season so I need to play catch up!

Once Ishu woke up, we got dressed to go to the pool. It was just us two in the pool and it feels like such a PROJECT to suit up and go. But he loves it so much and he’s honestly the happiest little bub when in the water that it just makes sense to have that be one of our winter activities. Since we’re fortunate enough to have an indoor pool in this complex.

We did our typical Five Squared Pizza for dinner that night. And I ended up falling asleep right after Ishu. Poor Ankur. He gets excited for Friday evenings to wind down and I just go faceplant into the bed. Life after child, my friends.

Saturday

Since I fell asleep so early, I got up with Ishu in the morning and we let Ankur sleep in a little bit. The picture I snapped would have you think that I spent hours with Ishu, reading our respective books.

But, no. This was 10 minutes of our few hours together. The bulk of them were spent watching Curious George.

Eventually the screen guilt ate at me, so I got us dressed and we went to the museum for a little bit.

But once we got home, we wanted to do something with Ishu’s cousins. So we did another group watch/Zoom and watched Encanto together.

We spent more of our awake time watching screens vs. not watching screens. But so be it. Some days just need to be that way. Ankur and I also partook in some screen time ourselves while Ishu napped. We’re making our way through Hawkeye and I love Halee Steinfeld so much in it!

Sunday

Yesterday morning, I finally broke out the freaking Instant Pot that my Masi got me when she visited in the summer. I’ve been so hesitant to pull it out because there are so many BUTTONS. I always felt like slow cookers seemed so much easier. And everyone and their mother has tried to convince me that I just need to give it a go. But it stayed in my cabinet, collecting dust.

Until I picked up some lentils from the grocery store and then I was determined to make some kichadi for Ishu. AND MY GOODNESS, AM I SO HAPPY I DID.

He just shoveled it all in his mouth, nodding his head back and forth, exclaiming, “Nummy nummy!” I now understand that feeling deep within the heart of a mother that feels at ease when they watch their child enjoy a home-cooked meal.

It’s hard to even consider this home-cooked considering it was so easy to throw together in the Instant Pot. But I’m gonna go ahead and give myself a pat on the back because it was DELICIOUS. Ultimate comfort food.

Recipe: 1 cup lentils, 1 cup rice, two tablespoons ghee, 2 cups water, a dash of turmeric and salt. 12 minutes on high pressure.

You are welcome.

After breakfast, the three of us went out to play in the snow! Ishu’s first official snow day. The first time he wore his snow boots outside. They’ve gotten a lot of wear INSIDE the house, but it was the first time they got to see the snow!

It was also the first time he got to wear this snowsuit gifted to him by my sister’s mom-in-law for his first birthday. He is definitely more prepared for the Chicago winter than we are.

We walked to the park. Before leaving, I asked Ankur, “Should we take the stroller or no?” Ankur responded, “No. How are we going to fit THAT in the stroller?” pointing at Ishu’s puffiness. Touché.

Ishu stopped several (read: a zillion) times on our way to the park. So much to see, so much snow to jump in.

And then when we got to the park, he got knee deep in the snow, faceplanted into it (unclear whether that was an intentional move or not) and then stuck out his tongue and slowly inched toward the snow ’til he got a nice taste of it. (Mama made sure it was a place where dogs weren’t allowed and it was a fresh patch of snow! No yellow snow for Ishu!).

He was already tired when we got home (and it was only 10am!). We tried to keep him up ’til his normal nap time but he passed out by 11:15ish. I continued with the whole comfort food theme and prepped some brownies (and now I’m making Ankur take them all to work because it’s dangerous to leave them here while I’m working from home and stressed at that).

While Ishu napped, I finished a report for a meeting I have today. And Ankur and I made homemade sammies while watching an episode of Hawkeye.

In the evening, we had a Zoom call with Mama and Papa Mathur (Senior!) and Nikku. Ishu kept them entertained by showing all of us how he can clap behind his back (not really), put on his snow boots by himself, and shoot all the baskets into the basketball hoop!

Once we hung up, we heated up some leftover Five Squared for dinner. And then I got to work mapping out my week and writing this blog post.

Now begins another week and, I know this is gonna sound like, “no shit, duh” advice. But giving yourself the time on Sunday to map out your week truly makes you walk into a week feeling a little better and more clear about how to get things done.

I know, I know.

NOT NOVEL ADVICE.

But sometimes I forget and tell myself, “eh, I’ll wing it.” But, no. I think I really, really, REALLY thrive when I can have a general outline of what I need to get done and when I plan on tackling each thing. I’ve always been that way. But it feels even more important now with a kid. I gotta be efficient when I can!

Now, I’m off to begin the work day. Hope you all have a great Monday!

Questions of the Day:

Are you a “wing it” person or do you need to have a plan going into the week?

What was a highlight from your weekend?