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Thursday, June 13, 2013

The high road is a tough place to stay

My dance studio home has had it's share of drama, as I'm sure most dance studios do.  At least I hope so.  I know not all of them are of the Dance Moms and Abby Miller caliber, but you can't have that many moms and teens in one place and have smooth sailing all of the time.  I suppose the key, and the 'adult' thing to do is to rise above it and strive to be the better person.  What happens when it's not an easy task?

As I said before, there was some major upheaval at my studio home.  Things were said and done by many people on both sides of the issue.  My post here is not to take a side or lay blame.  It's to figure out how to move on and let all sides heal and prosper after the storm.  I've been striving to stay on the high road, and not engage anyone in any talk about the chaos.  That has been no easy task.  Everywhere I turn, there's more gossip, more 'have you heard's?' and more stories.  I have done my very best to politely remove myself from those discussions and have encouraged those around me to do the same.  I do not badmouth any involved in the situation, and am focusing on the future of myself and my dancers.

But how do you deal with direct blows?  I had to do that this evening, and I'm trying not to jump to any conclusions.  Because assumptions are the first exit off my High Road.

Some photos were brought to my attention that seem to be mocking the dances that our studio performed this year.  These pictures were posted to the Facebook page of one of the mom's.  (I'm also starting to think that Facebook may also be a High Road exit ramp)  Mind you, I have removed myself from any pages that could pull me back into that low place.  But these photos were seen by someone else who informed me.  I did not look at them, and encouraged the person to remove themselves from the persons page (which they did).  Now I'm left here trying to figure out how to justify or interpret the photos in a way that will give me peace and let me move on.

I'm trying not to look at them as making fun of, or in a negative light.  These are routines that the girls in the picture also danced in through the year.  In what way would I see my daughter taking these types of pictures?  Maybe it was just girls having fun, bored and wanting something to do.  It's also very possible that they were all taken before the chaos and trauma happened.  That seems highly unlikely, but I need to give every benefit of the doubt.

I think what bothers me the most is the fact that it was a MOM that posted them.  As parents, we are supposed to be the guidance, the barometer of what's right and wrong, and the force that holds our children accountable.  I have faltered many times in this area, and am very much a work in progress.  But how can you publicly post photos of an entire group of teens seemingly making fun of another group?  I'm having a hard time resolving this one in my conscious.

I will still stay on my High Road path, and will not engage, badmouth or wish ill will to anyone involved.  I just wish everyone could put this in the past and move on.  I'm trying my very best to focus on the future, and I truly wish everyone the best in their next endeavors.  I don't want to have my daughter's or your daughters season ruined by what transpired at the end of the year.  They love what they do, and they deserve to enjoy it to it's fullest.

Monday, June 10, 2013

Re-Vamping...Dance style!

I've decided to change up my blog a bit.  It got really depressing writing about my failures and weight loss.  I'm sure I have much more fun and witty things to write about.  Since 95% of my time is dedicated to being a dance mom, I figured that's a good place to start.  Who knows where it will go from there.

I have 2 girls, both of whom dance.  One is a little more serious than the other, but they both enjoy it a bunch.  I'm one of those mom's who usually feels intimidated by other mom's, so I frequently find myself hanging out with the girls.  I must be pretty cool, cause they don't seem to mind much.  Since I do spend time with them, I usually get a very different perspective on how they see things.  I'd like to think that gives me an upper hand in how to deal with them.  And I learned a lot this year.

Our dance season just ended.  It was a very tumultuous year, and there was a great deal of upheaval in our company.  If nothing else, I've taken away some lessons that I'll do my very best to follow next year.

1. Teenage girls can be catty and bitchy.  And by 'can be' I really mean 'will be'.  I don't mean some of them.  I truely mean ALL of them.  Even the ones that are totally sweet around the adults.  I've seen every one the girls in our company in the past year at their very worst.  And bitch just barely covers it.  My kid is certainly no exception.

2. Teenage girls are also very sensitive.  Some of the bitch-ness mentioned above comes out of a defensive mechanism.  They are hurt, and want to lash out and hurt in return.  Some of those barbs were directed at me, and being the adult, I had to learn not to engage and let them be teenagers.

3. Moms need to learn when to back off.  I can't tell you how many times a mom stormed off, pissed at their kid because they 'couldn't do anything right' to help them.  It's not that you can't do anything right, mom.  Your kid is stressing out and wants to be older than she is, your presence and insistance on help is reminding her that she's still a kid.  When she yells at you, don't yell back.  Just say ok, blow them a kiss, tell them you love them and walk away.  Their friends will calm them, and they'll be back to normal in no time.  (I'll revisit this topic in detail in a future post)

4. Don't rehash with your kid when they calm down.  When she loses it and yells.  Let it go.  When she calms down and is ready for your help, give it willingly.  Don't look at her and say "oh NOW you want my help?!" Just don't.  Just be happy she's come down from her bitch high, and go with it.

5. There are ALWAYS 2 sides to a story, and they're usually completely different.  And with girls, both side are usually also very dramatic.  Take the story they tell you with a grain of salt.  I've had the girls tell me a story, and then the mom will tell me.  Let me just say, where the mom thought she was calm, you would think that she had fire spewing from her head when the child tells it.  And where the child thought she was asking ever so sweetly, the mom heard a prison warden-like command.  Sometimes I think they weren't actually talking to eachother when the event happened.  And Lord have mercy if the story is coming from two different teenage sides.  You'd think it happened the Hunger Games arena.  So unless you were standing there, don't wholly believe either story.  And certainly don't pass it on.

Most of all, they are teenagers.  Emotional, hormonal, growing-up teenagers.  As much as they want to be treated like adults, it's our job as parents to find that fine line and walk it like a Flying Wallenda.  Let them be grown ups when you can, and always be there to be their parent when they need you.  It's a crazy dance, but one we chose to learn the steps to when we had them.  The choreography is always changing, but luckily, we're fast learners

Thursday, January 31, 2013

Soul Searching

Well, Happy 2013 a month late!  I have not wanted to post anything, since all I think of to write makes me feel like a giant hypocrite.  I come here and try to blow some sunshine up my own hind-quarters and convince myself that I can do anything.  The truth of the matter is that sometimes I just can't.  So I've stayed away, in hopes of stripping away all my fake surface layers and digging deep into my true self.

     I'm always hearing of people searching their heart, and finding the true root cause of why they over eat.  There's an underlying reason the weight doesn't come off, or some past trauma that eating helps them cope with.  I had hoped that by finding what my psychological trigger was, I could learn to recognize it and cope with it.

     Well, I had a great childhood.  I had 3 older brothers who loved me and looked out for me, and two loving parents that made a point to be a part of my life.  No trauma there.  I had friends, great friends that provided an outlet and comfort.  I had a support system of extended family and friends for when things got tough.  I had an activity...I danced on a show team and was later part of the drama club in school and had lead roles in both plays we performed.  I had a boyfriend, and the relationship was great for 15 years.  Yes, I got a divorce because said husband cheated on me.  But let's face it, I knew it was over.  And while it hurt and sucked and I still hate her, the divorce was amicable and my ex and I can still talk like adults and have meaningless conversation.  The second marriage has been rocky, but He's at home, and I'm pretty much my own obstacle in that happiness.  My insecurities are mine, and he doesn't see me that way (at least I think he doesn't).  My kids are great.  No disabilities, no emotional issues...just great kids.

     So what then, is my big hang up?  I have yet to conquer that question.  What I have noticed, is that I have a new fear to go along with my fear of never losing weight and being forever unhappy with my looks.  I seem to have a nagging sense that I will fail.  I have a great plan for eating and exercise.  But in the back of my head, I'm terrified that no matter what I do, how well I plan, I'm destined for failure.  I'm only on my 3rd day of sticking to a routine, and every minute of every day is a struggle to not binge on everything I see.  I love to eat, regardless of what it is.  I've noticed that if it's sweet, I'll eat it.  Doesn't really matter if I don't like it, I'll eat it anyway.  Which makes no sense to me.  I'm the queen of excuses when it comes to exercise.  Though I have stuck to my plan the last 2 days, I can already feel myself working up an excuse to skip today.  Like, Kelly is home, and I don't want to take time away from being with him to hit the basement for 40 minutes to do a DVD.  Lame indeed.  But on a normal day it would be a good enough reason to skip.

On a normal day.

     Maybe that's the problem.  My days are always too normal.  I need to shake myself out of whatever pattern I've gotten used to.  The 21 days to a new habit rule keeps playing in my head.  Maybe today I'll make a 21 day countdown.  Maybe today will be the start of my new normal.  And maybe in 19 more days, I'll look back to this day and wonder why I ever settled for the normal past 2 years.  In 19 more days maybe this abnormal feeling of success will be

My New Normal Day.

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

This may be tricky...

The weekend was a bust.  Seriously...there was no dieting.  Well wait, unless you count the fact that I only had a Caesar salad for dinner on Friday because I didn't want to spend 20.00 on a meal at the hotel restaraunt.  That was totally negated by the fact that I had McD's for lunch and a Swiss Cake Roll for dessert.  That and whatever else I ate that I have blocked from my memory.  It was all a food laden musical blur.  *side note...the convention was fantastic!  I had a super time watching the dancers teach, and watching my daughter (and shared daughters) learn from some of their favorite dance stars.  It was a great experience that I plan on making happen every year.**

Then comes yesterday.  My day was great.  I got an elliptical workout in, ate perfectly all day.  Then I left work.  I heard a noise from something rolling around in the back seat.  I quickly realize that it's a Pringles can left from the weekend.  I told myself that I needed to grab it so all the chips wouldn't break and turn into garbage.  Let's face it.  That's not the reason I grabbed that can.  That's just how I justified it.  I proceeded to eat about 15 chips before I could blink 5 times.  When I finally gained consciousness again, I put the lid back on and threw the chips in the floor of the front seat.  I have no idea why, but I remembered that there was a sleeve of town house crackers (only 4 or 5 crackers left) in the door handle of the rear drivers side door.  I'm not sure what happened, but I reached back a red light, grabbed the sleeve and proceeded to eat the crackers before the light turned green.  W.T.F.  Oh but that wasn't all.  I decided that I really only ate 300 calories through the day, and had to have my granola bar that was sitting next to me.  Keep in mind, my drive home is only 30 minutes....  I am currently disgusted with myself and my behavior.

I got home and regrouped.  Cleaned up the kitchen and living room for the 40 minutes I'm home before I have to leave to take Alyson to dance.  Not a morsel went into my mouth.  Of course not, you see, because I had other people present and didn't want to be reprimanded by them.  Off to the studio, drop off Alyson and head to the grocery store with Hailey.  All goes as planned.  I get the kids their muffins and got nothing for me.  Again, because Hailey was there and wouldn't let that happen, so I didn't even bother trying.  Back to the studio to wait for Alyson, and get caught up on any loose Dance Company end that needed tied.  Back home around 8:35 or so, and unload groceries to come in and find that Kelly has ordered Dominics.  Fried Chicken, JoJo's, cold slaw, rolls, waffle fries and cheese to dip.  Fuck.  There goes any hope of salvaging the day.  I eat like it's my first and last meal (well, between getting up 3-5 times to help with homework, braid hair before bed, give goodnights and what not.)  Then I realize I have leftover Lemonberry in the freezer.  What the hell, might as well get rid of it while I'm on a roll.

What a shameful display of gluttony.  I have high hopes that perhaps today I can do something to make myself proud to be me.  Cause right now, phew, I'm feeling pretty embarassed...

.....but I did clean the food out of the car.... 

Thursday, November 1, 2012

November 1st, Ack!!

Well this certainly came up quick!  Damn.  I'm currently coming down off my food coma state that I put myself in knowing that this day was rapidly approaching.  FYI...I don't reccommend it.  But there is no sense of guilt today.  I enjoyed my indulgence, and now it's time to work.  Oddly enought, I already find myself making excuses to not workout.  Todays excuse...I wrote off the gym because I knew I had tap class later.  Then tap class was cancelled.  Did I change my mind and head to the gym?  Nope.  I was already out of that mindset and there was no going back.  So now I'm justifying it by telling myself I'm easing into it.  Yeah right.  I'll detox the diet now, and add the exercise back in next week.  Bahahaha...whatever I gotta tell myself I suppose.  That 30 pounds ain't gonna 'excuse' itself off my frame.  I did find a cute 10 minute stair workout that I can do during TV time tonight.  It's not thinky at all.  Simple and brainless...perfect for doing while I'm scolding whatever judge/contestant happens to be on the tube at that moment.

Food choices today?  Totally on target!  WW breakfast sandwich, campbells chicken egg noodle soup, and a granola bar.  Maybe a 50cal can of peaches to hold me till dinner before I go home.  Ah home.  That's where the real challenge comes in.  I know what's there.  A bowl of mini m&m's and chocolate chips left over from Hailey's halloween party yesterday.  A container of Pumpkin donut holes that Kel needed from the store.  Extra packages of blueberry mini muffins.  Small bite size things that I shove aimlessly into my mouth without even realizing I'm doing it.  THAT's where the trouble happens.  Focus and kitchen diversion will be key.

And then there's this weekend.  Aye.  A weekend away at a dance convention where all of my time will be spent patiently waiting for Alyson, Madison and Lauren to be finished with classes.  That's 8 hours of nothing, followed by dinner and lunch at hotel restaraunts.  Well, that should be a piece a' cake.

One thing I know, is that I will be taking my trusty purple binder with me this weekend.  Along with several blank calendar pages.  I'll spend some time making a workout schedule, and making playlists to go with those workouts.  That way, when I do get back home and am ready to add the workouts back in on Monday, I won't have to think about what to do.  It'll all be mapped out for me.  If there's one thing I've learned about this weight loss and exercise thing...

The less thinky I have to be about it, the better.

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

slacker...thy name is Stacey

Holy crap...has it really been 2 months?  Ouch...I had no idea.  Well, shit.  I don't even know what to say for myself.

According to my little ticker up there (which I just updated, thank you) I didn't totally backslide during my hiatus.  On the contrary, I actually lost a pound.  That's seems deceiving though.  Because I was all the way down to 211, and rapidly put those back on this week.  Fortunately, all is not lost!

As I gaze at the calendar I see a fun little fact.  My fantastic desk calendar at work has a little 'counter' on it, that lets me know how many days of the year have passed, and how many are left.  (is this a regular feature on calendars?  If yes, how have I never noticed this before?)  (side note, can anyone tell me what (EID) means for nationality on the calendar?  I obviously know (C) and (M) but that (EID) one has had me stumped for ages)  Anyhoo,  come November 1st, there are 60 days left (technically 61 since Dec has 31 but for my purposes I'll fudge it) in 2012. 

I always see all this diet and Exercise things throwing the time frame of 90 days.  90 days to a better body if you follow this workout, 90 days to a trimmer waistline if if you follow this diet...blah, blah, blah.  So if I use 11/1/12 as a starting point, my 90 days will hit nice and round (+/-1 day) on January 31st.  This epiphany struck me and little sparklies danced around my eyes (it had nothing to do with how hard I was thinking to figure out (EID), so shut up) and skinny versions of me jumping over flaming hurdles as I'm running the Warrior Dash in cute size 8 workout clothes played in my head  (ok maybe too much (EID) thinking took a toll).  Nevertheless, I felt...a...plan...forming somwhere in my calendar challeged brain.

I SHALL DO MY OWN 90 DAY TRANSFORMATION!!
(that has a much better effect if you say with the deep, booming, echo-y announcer / superhero man voice.  I'll pause while you try it....  you sound amazing.)

The details?  I'm still working that out.  But It has to be fun, and interesting, and fun.  Or I won't stick to it at all.  The goal?  I want to hit a 30 pound loss by Jan 31st.  That would be 30 pounds in 90 days.  Tricky? yes.  Difficult?  Incredibly.  Impossible?  NEVAHHHH!!

So stay tuned my little peeps...this could get fun.

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

busy is good!

I lost the weight I gained over the 'bad decision' weekend.  However, I missed putting sensa on dinner a couple times over the weekend, so my diligent 7 days started on Monday.  So far so good.  I've made good choices, downed my H-cut for b'fast and lunch (we eat too late to take it with dinner) and have 'sprinkled' everything with the exception of the fruit I had last night.  I have been rewarded with a 216.5 weigh in this morning!    The scale had a bit of fun at my expense though.  I stepped on, waited and saw the glum number 218.  I stared at it, motionless mind you, and it flipped to 216.5.  I know better than to take a low number and run.  So I stepped on and off 3 more times.  When all three of those times also said 216.5, I decided to pat myself on the back and log it.  That puts me back at 9.8 pounds lost.  So close to that 10 pound mark!  Such a small accomplishment...but a huge one at the same time.

I'm not killing myself to fit exercise in.  I hit my Zumba class on Monday, and will go again tonight.  I meant to get my circuit workout in last night, but cleaning up the kitchen and living room won instead.  Either way, I did not eat while I was alone in the house.  THAT is a major check in the win column for me!!  So my key to success is to stay busy enough that I don't think about food.  This should be an easy task, as my house is a unending mess, and there's consistantly no less than 5 loads of laundry to do at any given time. 

School starts next week, and dance 2 weeks after that.  At that point, the mess and laundry will double.  That should mean that my weight loss and good choice efforts should multiply as well, don't you think?

Now if I could only get my 'personal' life to go in the right direction...*giggle*...