Memo to Self, re: Surviving Summer

Things to accept:

1. That it's going to get damn hot, and there's nothing I can do about it. That I can plan our days around staying cool as much as possible, but that I'm still going to have to go out and end up hot and sticky and uncomfortable some of the time. That Rachel and I are going to hate it, and that even Will is going to be a pill about it some of the time.

2. That the kids are probably going to watch more TV and spend more time on the computer than is ideal. That even though I laid down stringent rules about when and where and under what circumstances they will be allowed to play with the Gameboy I bought yesterday, they will still use it more than makes me happy. And that the proceeding facts do not automatically disqualify me from making the Good Mom list.

3. That even on days when I try to be creative and make things more fun for them -- like today, when instead of sticking them in childcare at the gym, I decided we would ride our bikes to Davis Commons, have Jamba Juice and linger at Borders for quite a while -- even on those days they are going to fight with each other and complain about being hot, tired, hungry, thirsty, deprived because I won't buy something for them, or otherwise put upon.

4. That sometimes I'm going to be lazy. That somedays I'm going to sit here on the computer and procrastinate on going to the gym, cleaning the house, taking a shower or doing the laundry. That some days I'm going to skip the gym and let the kids watch TV and play video games and eat junk food all day long. That sometimes, after doing all of that nothing all day long, we're going to go out to eat, even if we just went out the night before. And that none of those things makes me a bad person.

Promises to myself for this summer:

1. I promise to stick with Weight Watchers, even if it keeps taking forever, for the whole summer and as long after that as it takes to lose the weight I want to lose. I promise not to use the fact that it's hot or I had a bad visit to the scale or I'm stressed or whatever as an excuse to overeat and go off program. And I promise to indulge myself on special occasions, not stress about points, and not beat myself up afterwards if I go a little overboard.

2. I promise not to let my kids' occasional need for an attitude adjustment discourage me from planning fun things for us to do this summer.

3. I promise to go to the gym several times a week whether I feel like it or not, since I know I'll feel better and lose weight faster if I do.

4. I promise try my best to manage my stress and not take my frustrations out on my kids.

5. I promise to give myself a break and remember that I'm only human when things get to be a little too much.