Wednesday, January 16, 2008

The Shoulds of the World

I'm a little overwhelmed lately by the "shoulds" in life. Though I do have a busy life, it's not really related to being a working mom. I handle that well, and the kids are at the age where they enjoy and learn at daycare. Besides, all moms and women are faced with shoulds. But honestly, there seems to be a million "should do this" and "should do that" things in the world. Here's what I mean:

  • You should read with your child 20 minutes a day.
  • You should exercise 30 minutes a day.
  • You should brush for at least a full minute twice a day and floss once a day.
  • You should have 8 glasses of water in a day.
  • You should have 3-4 servings of milk in a day.
  • You should have a combined 9 servings of fruit/vegetables.
  • You should put money into retirement.

The list goes on and on from things you should do at work to time you should take for yourself. Seriously? After all those shoulds, you're supposed to take extra time to yourself, too?!? Now I do pretty good. I exercise on the elliptical pretty regularly, I eat pretty good, I mostly drink water and I spend good time with my kids. But there's always the shoulds, hanging out there. Just this week, I was told by my new dentist that I should floss because I have deep gum pockets (!?!), and the nurse at my "woman doctor" tells me I should consider a calcium supplement and Vitamin D pill to keep my bones nice and strong.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not bitter. These are good shoulds, but sometimes I just want to be satisfied. This is why I figure there should be some other shoulds on the list as well. Here's my list. I should hope that you try one or two of them out.

  • You should watch Project Runway (or whatever your TV pleasure is) without feeling like you need to do something productive at the same time.
  • You should let your kids (if you have kids) blow off dinner and just eat popcorn, toast or whatever...just for the giggles.
  • You should call an old friend and just chat because honestly, aren't those the things that make us smile?
  • You should buy something frivolous for yourself. Not for your kids (that's what I tend to do), and then enjoy it!
  • You should not take work home. Trust me, it doesn't go away.
  • You should buy yourself a special treat instead of waiting and hoping that your significant other will take your hints.
  • You should built a chair fort out of blankets with your kids (or nephews, nieces, etc.) just for the sake of doing something silly.
  • You should find a way not to worry about body image as much...and if you find a way, please let me know about it.

2 comments:

Amber said...

Deep thoughts. Is it wrong that I don't do any of the "shoulds?"

Anonymous said...

You go Stacy!