For the first time since becoming parents, Bryan and I both got sick.

Our symptoms were brutal but passed relatively quickly – this was not the tough thing. The tough thing was managing our sweet little baby girl through it all.

I spent the weekend watching her, mostly on my own. I am a seasoned veteran at the individual tasks – feeding, diapers, walks, etc. – but the idea that Bryan wouldn’t be able to help at all was constantly lingering in my mind. I also dedicated a good chunk of my brainpower to the idea that she could get sick, how can I keep her from getting sick, how would I know if she got sick???

When Bryan and I switched off being sick (because we live in a one bedroom apartment and it was inevitable), I had the opposite worries. Is Bryan OK? Does he need any help? Wait, I can’t help! Is she sick now? Would Bryan be able to tell if she got sick? Wait, I can’t be worrying – I don’t have the brain capacity to worry. Won’t it make it harder for me to recover if I’m stressed???

Anyway, baby girl is starting day care next month, and by many accounts, having a child in day care is like welcoming your home to all of the germs in all of the other children’s homes. This cycle will definitely repeat itself again!

At the beginning of this year, I started tracking several habits. These included:

• Going to the gym
• Getting 8K steps
• Reading
• Meditating
• Not shopping
• Socializing
• Not eating sweet treats
• Playing the piano

This list made sense for my life at the time. I was still very newly postpartum, with so much fresh anxiety about my health and recovery, and wanted to focus on exercise and eating well. I also wanted to get back to the habits that served me well pre-baby and took me out of “mom mode” for a bit, like talking to friends, reading books, playing piano.

I hate to harp on this point, but the postpartum period was difficult! I liked the idea of setting goals and tracking my progress toward them, but it also, on some days, became a point of stress, especially when I dwelled on the goals that I wasn’t checking off.
There was also some ambiguity in this list – if I bought groceries, did that count as “not shopping”? Did “socializing” only refer to in-person meetups, or was it OK if I just sent a reaction in the group chat?

After a few months, I re-evaluated my habits list and cut it down to the following:

• Gym and/or 8K steps
• Reading
• Meditating
• Playing the piano
• Writing

So far, this new list is going well! I’ve created new, positive habits based off of my desire to check them off, like ending my workouts with a meditation, listening to more audiobooks than I ever have before, and setting this daily summer writing challenge. Playing the piano has been the most difficult to fit in but most rewarding of the bunch; my long-term goal is to stay sharp enough that I can still play when my daughter is old enough to encourage her to learn on her own. That goal is still years away, but it doesn’t hurt to build a foundation now!