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Hibernation Mode

Our family is deep into hibernation mode. I tease Adam about hibernating every winter. Once he truly has to put his golf clubs away (which this year was around New Year's - he played in cold weather until there was actually snow on the ground) he doesn't want to do anything. He will find every excuse in the book not to go out. He works from home, and unless he's traveling, time will go by when he won't actually leave the house for weeks. Seriously. If it doesn't look like I'll be running errands for what he needs, he'll just order it online. He won't call it hibernation, but that is clearly what it is. He's like a bear. He wants to stay in his cave but he gets really grumpy when you poke him and tease him about it.

My hibernation is a little bit different.

This is the part of winter when I get sleepy and lazy. Everything is just sloppy. The driveway is sloppy. Parking lots are sloppy. The car is sloppy. And because of that our floors are sloppy. Shoes off or not, there is just a lot of slush and salt residue. The snow has lost its appeal. The cold has definitely lost its appeal. I'm tired of layers, I'm tired of feeling cold, I'm tired of all of it. I just want to curl up inside.

In theory, this would be the perfect time to really focus on getting the house organized and cleaned. Getting the school stuff organized, getting my blog stuff organized, getting the closets into good shape...but no.

Because in addition to wanting to curl up, I don't want to do anything. I want to snuggle up and watch movies. I want to snuggle up and read. I want to drink coffee and tea while curled up in my green chair or binge watch some TV under my covers.

None of these things could be called "productive".

Now I'm different because I try to combat these lazy tendencies by going out. I might love snuggling up, but I hate feeling trapped in the house. So the girls and I venture out almost every day. If I'm not encouraging them to run themselves ragged at an indoor playgym, we're running errands. Or finding a playdate. Or at one of Madison's nine bazillion classes. Or at the gym. We get out.

It should be noted that my gym routine has stayed the same. We might GO to the gym often, but I'm not increasing the workouts. At all.

You would think these outings would energize me. And when we're out, they do. But as soon as I get home...right back into hibernation mode. Maybe I'm less like a bear and more like a squirrel when I hibernate. I'll go out and run around and gather up all the necessities, but then I laze around once I've stashed them all away. Gotta conserve the energy so I can go back to gathering mode when necessary.

Up until this week I was feeling frustrated with this cycle. I've never really been a hibernator before and I was annoyed with myself for being such a lazy coconut. I am a master list maker, but I wasn't getting anything done...except making more lists.

But now I've decided to embrace it. Adam might be a bear all winter, but when the spring comes he's out every chance he gets. So I've got to figure that when the thaw happens and the snow finally disappears, my energy will come back too and I can throw open all the windows, breathe in the fresh air, and go back to my productive ways.

And if not, I know there are some really cute containers to stash clutter that Amazon will deliver right to your door. Posted by Meredith at 5:14 PM