It's Tuesday, so it must be wrestling

This afternoon is the first middle school wrestling dual. The kids were instructed to dress up for school today. In so many ways, wrestling is as old school as it gets. We went shopping on Sunday for some new clothes, and C-man decided he wanted to wear a bow tie. Although he's too embarrassed to wear it to school, he still wanted it on for the way to the dual. (I hate that we're at the embarrassed about looking different stage. I'll be really glad when we've moved on from it.) I am really excited for him to be making his 110 lb debut today, though. Because while it isn't my favorite sport, it definitely is his.

A good weekend

Saturday was a good day on the mat. He managed his nerves, ate food, moved on his feet, and aggressively (but smartly) took shots. One major decision at 9-0 and 3 pins. He had 2 points scored against him, and they were penalty points he incurred on himself. A good day with good feels and even some lessons learned. Good stuff.

And the only videos from the day that are short enough to upload here:

TGIF

We've made it. All the way to Friday. The day of the week when I wake up, get ready for work, and walk immediately to our cafeteria to order egg in a hole and a super giant coffee with real cream. And even though my hair color appointment got cancelled due to a stylist's illness, I was able to immediately reschedule with someone else. Because this is Friday. And it's got no room for illness or gray hairs. Whew.

How is this not Friday yet

• This week is the longest. Ever.
• C-man made varsity for his middle school wrestling team.
• My dining room has a chin up bar and elliptical machine in it. Just what I always wanted.
• I'm on drugs for a sinus infection. It's helping my headaches, but hurting my gut. Sigh.
• My pants are all salty from the kick-back on the walk into work. I'm ready for Spring.
• At least they're not super tight like they were a few weeks ago. The weight isn't coming off quite as quickly as I'd like, but it's slowly going down. Then again, when I informed C-man how much I weigh (because weight is a regular topic, especially when the scale is in your dining room), he started telling me which high school wrestlers I could match up against.
• My pink yarn has shipped for my pussy hat. I don't know if I'll ever wear it, but feel like I should have one.
• I'm getting my hair cut tonight. I love that.

Monday. Bleh.

• I've had a headache and blurry vision for days. So naturally, I'm googling brain tumors.
• I have a giant zit on my forehead. It's like I'm 14.
• I printed out a pattern to make my own pussy hat. It appears to be pretty quick and easy.
• We went to see Rogue One last night. Meh. I'm not a huge Star Wars fan, but I'm pretty sure I could have fallen asleep and told you the plot line when I'd woken up.
• Beasley got in trouble at the park this weekend while being pushy and rude. Now Beerman's threatening not to take him again. This dog needs some manners training.
• I mentioned wanting to go to a resort somewhere warm and just sleeping on the beach. Beerman said that'd be dumb. And C-man declared that was the worst idea ever, because why would we go to another country and not get all that culture and stuff? I think he just meant wine. But whatever, it's clear I created this problem.
• Is it Friday yet?

Making our way

This child. The one who laughs so often and worries so much. Yesterday, he went 1-3 at his wrestling tournament. There were more tears than laughs. But those are learning lessons. And while he doesn't like to talk about it, he does usually come back with a fire in his belly the following week.

This is the same child who, this morning, declared he thought he had a wiggly tooth. Who 5 minutes later, was throwing something out in the garbage... his tooth.

I don't always do so well at being his mom. Thank goodness he seems to be figuring this whole life thing out as we go.

Homework stresses

Last night, C-man forgot to bring home an assignment of which I had a part. I never understand these things - didn't I pass 6th grade? Regardless, he's been missing assignments and turning them in late recently, and we've really been on him about being prepared and not procrastinating. So in the middle of some sobs because he was just sick that he was going to turn one more assignment in late, I suggested he text some friends and get them to send him photos of the assignment. So he did. And thankfully, a sweet girl Victoria (why are the girls always on top of these things?) responded with the photos. But then, later that night, came in a flurry of messages from other boys. They had all forgotten, too.

And isn't that sort of ridiculous? What is homework teaching these kids, except to be stressed out? Was my paragraph on what I'm seeing as his progress in reading class really that important? Was there any learning transfer that happened as a result of it?

I don't teach kids. I have a degree to teach adults because I don't want to teach kids. But there are some principles of learning that remain fairly constant regardless. And one of those things is if you cannot apply the learning, then it's not learning. Assignment after assignment comes home, and I just shake my head. It's got nothing to do with learning and everything to do with checking off how many pages of notes they took. Did he learn more about Hitler because he had to take 20 pages of notes than if he'd been assigned a discussion group with peers? Doubtful. But it sure was more stressful.

We have teachers conferences coming up again next month. And I'm really struggling with how to approach this topic, or if at all. I don't want to tell the teacher she's doing it all wrong. I mean, I know my kid has been procrastinating and making it more stressful than it should be. But she's doing it all wrong. How many times does the idea that completing homework for completion's sake have to be debunked before our teachers change their attitudes and policies toward it? And how many parents have to endure the tears before we all just come to our sense?

Until then, I'll be over here helping my kid complete his assignments. Because getting through 6th grade once just wasn't enough.

Get back to it

I stayed home from work yesterday because I felt like total garbage. I snuggled Beasley and binge watched This is Us. Which, by the way, is a great binge if you haven't been following along. And despite my screaming headache, we attended the middle school band concert. Some days, my life is more glamorous than others.

Sunny days ahead

I have a head cold. It's dumb. I hate being sick. It makes me grumpy. I'm going home to sleep it off. Stupid cold.

Winning Weekend

This weekend, we headed out to Hartford to wrestle. After last weekend's tournament, we did a lot of discussing where his frame of mind was going to be. And somehow, it must have worked, because the incredibly tough minded C-man showed up. 

His first match was against a 7th grader who also showed up. And despite not wrestling incredibly well in the first period, by the third period, C-man exploded. He managed to win it in the last 5 seconds with a reversal to put himself up 4-2. The other kid stormed off angrily. C-man was about as happy as I've ever seen him.

The second match was against another 7th grader. C-man worked through his moves, and ended up with a head throw and a pin. (Head throwing is not an encouraged move, but it was there, so C-man took it.) C-man was thrilled.

The last kid he wrestled was someone he'd wrestled in previous years. It was clear the difference a mindset can make. He went into it thinking he was going to win, and it was the worst he wrestled all day. Thankfully, he was skilled enough to out-muscle this kid and win 9-0. But again, it was a learning experience for him about the importance and difference his mental frame of mind can make.

And with three wins in a four-man bracket, it meant he was in first place. Ahhh, the sweet, sweet feeling of being a winner.

Almost

The boys are sick. The work week has sucked. But tomorrow is Friday. And that's all I've got to say about that.

Grateful day

Here are some things I'm grateful for in my life today:

• My migraine broke. I'm not sure why I'm getting these damn things - if it's leftover from my concussion, because I'm 40 now, or back pain/arthritis. Geez, they suck. But that moment it dissipates is amazing.
• Sherlock is back. I've always adored Sherlock Holmes, and the newest version, with its modern day upgrades while still giving consistent nods to past books, is nothing short of delightful. Plus, Benedict...
• I've been pretty successfully avoiding the work candy dishes. We'll see how long this lasts, but I'm really grateful to be staying away from the vast majority of sugar every day.
• The Green Bay Packers. Let's all take a moment and smile about them.
• We're wrestling on Saturday, which means I have Sunday off. Well, to clean and stuff, but at least we're not racing back to work. That'll be nice.

Learning moments

After sweating it out, working out, limiting food, and dehydrating for 24 hours, C-man made weight for Sunday's tournament with a pound and a half to spare. I made it quite clear that we wouldn't be making weight like that on the regular, because just no. So now that he knows he has to be 110, we'll stay there appropriately because it's just too damned stressful on me.

But he was so proud of himself to ride the team bus and compete in the dual, so that was great. The setup was a team dual with 4 matches for each weight class. To get more kids experience, the coach split the matches between two kids. As the varsity kid, C-man got the two tough matches. That, combined with the fact that they were his first matches of the season, saw him at the bottom of two pins. After having worked to get to that weight class, he was not happy about that. At all. But, as all things are, it was a learning experience. And while he still isn't happy about it, I think it helped give him some perspective.

It was clear how stressful it all was, though, because he was falling asleep at dinner. And when we went home, he couldn't even stay awake for that awesome Packers game to finish up. So now, we plod ahead through the work week to next weekend's tournament. The one where you just weigh in what you weigh and we don't stress about it. Hallelujah.

At last. Friday.

• My back has been really terrible. I'm blaming the disgusting weather.
• I can't believe our next president is arguing with the Terminator via Twitter. I mean, honestly, I really can't grasp it.
• This whole wrestling weight loss thing is so stressful. I really dislike this sport more than ever now. But C-man's so stressed about it, it'd be so sad for him to miss the cut. So here's hoping and praying and drinking fluids.
• C-man's now planning out his menu for post-wrestling season. It's like your last meal in reverse.
• I'm loving Ed Sheeran's new songs. I'm sure the radio will play them until I hate them, though. But for now, they're pretty catchy.
• Beerman and I have a cooking class tonight while C-man skis. I hope it's fun.
• It's finally Friday. Every day I've been convinced it was a different day than it was. Short week after a holiday will do that to you. But today? Friday, for sure.

Another day

• The Wendy's Twitter account is killing me. It almost makes me want to go there. Almost.
• C-man's down about 4 pounds, but still has a little over a pound to go before Sunday. This is the part of this sport I hate. He's really stressed. The good news is he'll go to West Bend if he doesn't get to 110. But I know he'd be really disappointed after getting this far.
• I'm trying really hard to reduce the sugar in my diet. It's become more obvious than ever that I really like sugar.
• My bee porn catalogs have begun arriving. That means we must be on the right side of winter. It sure doesn't feel like it.
• I hope my bees are doing okay. It's always so nerve-wracking to think about.
• It's only Wednesday of a short week, but I'm looking forward to the weekend. Except for the wrestling tournament part. I'm having a hard time getting excited for that again.
• At least I have really warm clothes on. That always makes me feel better.

Wordless Tuesday

Those pesky resolutions again

• WEIGHT: Time to lose some weight. Since C-man has been working really hard and successfully cutting off almost 5 pounds for his wrestling weight class, in spite of all these people giving us boxes of cookies and treats this holiday season, it's time for me to do something, too. I need to get 15 pounds off. If I manage more, because I really should, that's great. But 15 would be an amazing start. Plus, it'll help C-man with his goals, which is a bonus.
• READING: I've gotten so far off the reading bandwagon, it's embarrassing. So this year, I'm back to reading. At least 20 books.
• MEDITATION: I'm going to continue to meditate regularly. While I've already started this, I want to continue it through the year because it really is such a positive thing for me. My goal is to meditate 4 times a week. Anything more is just pleasant gravy.
• PAIN: It's time to figure out this back pain once and for all. Which means I have to suck it up and see a back surgeon. Ugh. But I can't just live like this anymore. And 2017 is my year to finally fix it.
• CONSCIOUS PHOTOGRAPHY: At least once a week, I want to focus on taking photos of something new. I've really gotten out of the photography habit, because it's become a grind to take photos of C-man's sports teams and then edit them. So if I can find a new space, and create new, I'm hoping to find my groove again.

So that's it. My genuine effort to be a simpler, more focused, and more conscious participant in this thing called life. Happy 2017. We're going to crush this together!