Surviving my life hurdles in October 2017

Hi all, I’m back with my October goals and I’m really sorry I’ve been away for a few weeks.  Between my son starting nursery and a couple of nasty illnesses, one after the other, I’ve really struggled to find the opportunity to blog this month.

Having a low immune system due to my medication and experiencing the joy of MS symptoms which flare up whenever I get ill is not always the easiest!

However, it isn’t all doom and gloom!  I feel happy about a lot in my life.  My head is generally clearer due to my diet, which makes life simpler and more enjoyable.  Also, now that my son is very nearly 3, he is becoming more of a contented preschooler and less crazy toddler.  This is making parenting with MS so much easier as he requires a lot less energy.  We can sit and play rather than me chasing after him constantly on damage limitation!

Did I achieve my September goals?

On the whole I would have to say no, although I did get my son settled into nursery well, which was the most important goal on my list!  

I never managed to feel up to swimming, I haven’t done any sewing and I certainly didn’t make time for my blog!  Oh well, I know I’m trying my hardest and I can only do what I can do.  One baby step at a time…

Learning to live a little

I feel better in myself (when I’m not fighting additional illnesses that is!) and my partner has had a few holiday days this month so it’s been great doing a few things together as a family.  

We enjoyed visiting the British Ceramics Biennial 2017 in Stoke-on-Trent, it’s such a great event, I’d really recommend it if you’re in the area at all over the next few weeks.

I’ve mostly been enjoying the simple things, like getting my son up and ready for the day and looking after him a bit more in the afternoons.  I never take these opportunities for granted and they really help me feel more confident in my abilities as a chronically ill parent.  It’s amazing just how much living with a chronic illness can chip away at your self-esteem and confidence over time when you have to work twice as hard to achieve half as much!

My main achievements

Parenting and family

I can’t tell you how relieved I am that my son loves his nursery.  In fact he may love it too much as, although he is pleased to see me, he doesn’t want to leave!  Every time I go to drop him off I love seeing all the different activities that are on offer and I’m really happy with the nursery we chose for him.

He even had his first homework, where we had to make a rocket.  Being an ex-art teacher, I loved coming up with ideas for that and helping him put it together.  I took photos as we were making it so I’ll definitely share it as a craft tutorial on the blog soon!

Health and wellbeing

I managed to read most of the Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis (OMS) book and I definitely have a better idea now of how I can manage my condition.  I’m doing really well on my diet, although it can often be hard to find the energy to make healthy food from scratch.  I also know I need to rethink how I deal with stress and try more regular meditation.

My October goals

Health and wellbeing

• To make more time for meditation and to improve how I react to stress.

I find meditation really helpful when I feel really stressed out and at my worst but maybe if I made meditation more of a regular thing then I wouldn’t get into such a bad state in the first place!  The OMS book recommends meditation as a way of managing stress and therefore helping my MS, so it’s definitely worth a shot.

I also need to work on adjusting my mindset when it comes to stress.  I’ve come to realise that most of the things I get stressed about are due to fear because I lack confidence in my ability to cope if the worst case scenario should happen.  I need to start believing in myself a lot more as I have been dealt many blows since my MS diagnosis which have been hard to survive but I’ve managed it!

Parenting and family

• To have fun celebrating my son’s 3rd birthday, without overdoing things and getting stressed out.

After how difficult preparing for my son’s party was last year (during an illness which flared up my MS symptoms) I need to go easy on myself and just do what I can.  He will still enjoy it regardless and I really want it to be a nice day, even if I’m feeling really ill.

I’ve arranged a time which better fits around my illness, avoiding when I get most fatigued in the middle of the day.  My partner has been doing a lot of the preparations and will be making the cake again so that will help me a lot too.

Creative and fun

• To get my sewing needles out again as it’s relaxing and good for the brain!

I’m going to try again with my sewing goal from last month as I love sewing so much.

I have a personalised Christmas stocking that I started for my son last year which would be a great project to work on and hopefully complete in time for Christmas (illness permitting).  I love sewing so much as it’s really relaxing and a good workout for my hands too.

I’m sure he will love his Christmas stocking for years to come so that’s definitely a good incentive!

Blogging

• Use the crafts I’ve been creating with my son to create some new craft tutorials for my blog.

One of the great things about doing more crafts with my son recently, is that I have loads of great material I can share on my blog for anyone else interested in giving my craft tutorials a go.  Some of them are for homework themes set by his nursery which is great as it’s making me try out different ideas than I probably would have thought of myself!

Hopefully, I can get back into the swing of things with my blog again this month.

As ever, wishing you the best with your goals too and I hope you have a great October!