The Anti-Routine

Zach of Note

• Fights about actually using soap in the shower
• No more special weekends sleeping with me; he always starts the night in his bed
• Discussed better food choices at the end of the last week of school and came to an agreement that we wrote down in our family journal 
• Z was excited to see a red-winged hawk at school
• I asked Zach why is always so contrarian. I ask him to do something, and he’ll often say “No,” and then do it. We started doing the opposite. I would say, “Whatever you do, don’t do X,” and he really liked that. I need to do it more often!
• Zach is so into hockey now and all the sports: soccer and football. All sports all the time. 
• He enjoyed his Sports Illustrated Kids
• Zach and I enjoy “kitchen showdown” where we play songs and try to score on each other. 
• Zach has been struggling with frustration - using words like “stupid” and “sucks,” including “learning sucks.”
• He got super-upset when the Ravens lost and seemed upset that I didn’t watch enough sports with him. 
• He told us he liked the pandemic because we spent a lot of time with him. 
• He continues to tell us how much he loves Callie and how much he looks forward to seeing her when he gets home from school
• I told Zach “I love you,” and he said, “You always say that.” I said, “You can’t say it too much.”
• Interest in cat training after watching Liesl’s videos with her cats
• Working on Zach having patience for himself!
• Reading Who Would Win, joke books, Big Nate, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Catwad
• Listening to Spy School, Big Nate, Harry Potter

Zach & School

• Zach shared a fun fact about water filtration that he learned from S teacher. I messaged to tell her that he enjoyed her lesson in Talking Points.
• Zach and Sra S. Challenges continue
• At the end of 2024, we decided that we would do these things since it feels like partnering with his teacher is not possible: 
• When he has to miss school for dentist or doctor, make it in the PM
• Focus on science and math camps
• Help him get through Jiji assignments so he can keep going to more challenging math work
• On the first Tuesday he was back at school, we got an invitation for him to join a friendship circle (aka counseling group). He enjoys it and has been demonstrating great self-control in the first two sessions. Apparently he’s also good at Jenga!
• As he’s continued to struggle with Sra S, we remind him that he as good self-control (as per the friendship circle), and we got him to take a game to school, which allowed us to connect with Sra S around home much we and she thinks the kids should be doing something other than playing games on their computers during indoor recess. Zach rated computer games at indoor recess as an 8.5 and playing Skull King a 9, so he agreed to more games too!
• Zach enjoyed playing the floor is lava in gym and he loves clay in art. He and Jackson won a Kahoot game in Ms. Goodman’s class. 

Zach & Orthodontics: He’s still doing an amazing job with his expander!

Zach & Soccer

• One last goalie practice with Liam; it was wet!
• Jake said the boys “played with heart!” Awww
• When Zach sprained his ankle, which was at the end of their first indoor practice, it cracked me up that all the coaches had different advice for us. It was cool that Charlie came by to say “hi” to Zach. (The 2014 C-team coach.)
• The assessments from Jake and Liam were helpful and Liam’s was particularly thoughtful and insightful

Good Food

• Great Harvest shortbread and St. Nickerdoodle cookies 
• Chukar Bakery’s muffins and Brownies - Yum!
• Auntie Em’s egg bites
• Thompson Italian food: manicotti, beef short ribs and polenta, parsnip soup, and pumpkin cake
• The River and the Rail’s trout with veggies, farro, savory mousse of some kind, and kale. So good! 
• Buffalo cauliflower tacos at Bowlero
• Auntie Em’s sourdough and sourdough discard delicacies, including my flat bread
• Donuts from Texas donuts
• Tomato lentil soup
• Hellbender burritos and tacos for Z
• Chai sugar cookie and White Grass soup

Connection + Family Fun

• We played a lot of Gin Rummy in December, which was very fun! 
• We watched the last Harry Potter movies
• Great to say hello and catch up with the soccer families 
• Grateful for the friends who checked in and those who helped: Jeremy - Liam’s dad helped us to the car; Andrew and Neal, Doug, and Cora and Tom
• Checked in with Mary Kay on a Tuesday! We missed December, but have kept up a good monthly cadence.
• Gratitude from Nikki for the new year! 
• Since we aren’t walking to school (snow, ice, sprained ankle), we’re back to the bus stop neighbors; good to see them again!
• Liesl - she shared some great cat training videos. What inspiration!
• Sent a thank you to Dave L.
• Sent a card to Linda S. 
• Dinner with Auntie Em and watching Inside the Mind of a Cat

Gratitude

• Started daily gratitude, and Zach is thoughtful, perceptive, and grateful for a lot!
• Glover family quilt
• Susan & Lindy took care of Callie

Personal and Professional Fun and Not So Fun

• Tolerating discomfort and hard emotions in kids is such a hard thing and a good thing! He’s been bored, gone on boring walks and errands, and had to just sit in the car and look out the window
• Spanish continues and speaking Spanish with Zach!
• The gift buying and giving process with Zach was hard. It feels like he’s so ungenerous, but we don’t spend a lot of time on gift giving, so it probably makes sense. 
• 2024 recapped and beginning to send out. 
• Bought plane tickets to Spain and found some fun Madrid items that I shared with Zach for his feedback. 

Health: A cold from Dec 30-Jan 3 and then shingles - NO!!!!!!!!

Reading

• Swift River
• Finished Our Hidden Conversations
• Started Caste
• The Last Thing He Told Me

Listening

• Motivation 10-25: 
• Elevate healthy eating to independence and rebelliousness. Find kids who are eating food that is good for their bodies and make the status eating like them! 
• Bullying before 10-25 is about a social emotional regulation problem; after it’s about trying to find where we belong and feeling left out. Help everyone feel like they belong! 

• Anti-Fat Bias: don’t forget, we come in all shapes and sizes; what matters is strength and flexibility. 
• Dr. Becky and analysis of “Bad Therapy.”
• Podcasts on puberty: boys experience anger and have less ability to verbalize it. Apparently both sides of the brain of girls have verbal capacity, but only one side for boys
• Spark Brilliance
• Highland Hearts Holiday Bookshop

Watching

• Somebody Somewhere
• Love Actually
• Virgin River
• Our LIttle Secret
• Let It Snow
• The Six Triple Eight
• Dash & Lily
• Abbott Elementary
• XO Kitty

Not So Fun: Trump’s inauguration and the immediate and challenging implementation of his agenda. 

Professional 

• IT Team and Clfiton Strengths and AI prompt
• Angela’s Owning Your Career
• Empathy w/ Bjorn and getting him to Judie; same with Anton
• Relationships with Annie, Athena, Hailey, Anita, and so many more
• AMAZING kudos from Caroline on Leadership Institute
• DEIB
• Aspiring Leaders
• I’m part of the Center of Expertise for Talent Acquisition, Development, and Management. CoE head is from Hungary
• Lots of laughs about soup drops and how gross they seem
• “Le Susan Fort” bit
• Kudos from leadership (Viyas, Judie, James) about how committed I am to professional development