Leaning In, Leaning Out, Leaning Over

When I had five minutes to myself (read: I was going to the bathroom), I spent it reading an article in Parents magazine about "Leaning Out" -- that is, "Out" of our kids lives.

Supposedly we're too focused on these kids who
1) we had grew inside of us where we gagged at the sight of ranch dressing and threw up everything we ate (side note: throwing up peppermint patties is surprisingly refreshing, bile on the other hand is not),
2) we birthed for 18+ hours without meds, and
3) who were then thrust into our arms without any manual or inkling that we will no longer sleep past 6:01 a.m. on Sunday ...

January 2011 - First swim class

After all that, naturally we're signing up for Mommy & Me classes when our babies can barely hold up their heads and traveling out of state for little league games when we don't even want to drive 10 miles to visit our parents.

That's what kids make us do -- go insane do things that are unreasonable to the normal outsider but perfectly normal among other sleep deprived, wide-eyed, toilet-paper-stuck-to-the-shoe new parent.

Competition
Are we signing up for classes and sports leagues because we're competing with other parents? That's what the article leans toward; I can't speak for all parents but at this stage -- my kids are very young -- I can care less what other moms are doing. However,  I have no idea what mayhem lies ahead of me once they hit elementary school and what parent wants to say, "We're too poor to have you do travel hockey, and yes these are new shoes I'm wearing, thank you for noticing."

January 2012 - Music class

I signed my son up for swim & music classes at 6 months old because I was bored staying at home with him and I needed to get out of the house. There I said it! Now I do activities with my kids because this is my new job and I don't want to suck at it.

Before I had kids, I worked, I traveled, I drank liquid dinners with friends and had flings with co-workers, I took showers everyday and only wore yoga pants to Yoga class. I had a closet full of shoes that made "clack-clack" noises when I walked the pavement and I slept in on Sunday morning. Halleluiah sister!

(Now my shoes go "thud thud," my only travel consists of the boring drive back & forth to preschool, and I have stretched my yoga pants from being skinny, fat, skinny,  pregnant, flabby, fat, pregnant again... does this list have to go on?)

April 2013 - Swim class

I traded all that to be a stay-at-home mom and I take this job just as serious as the one that paid me, albeit, terribly. So for now, I'll sign my kids up for classes where we can have fun together and they clean up the mess, where I can get out of the house and no one even notices me in my yoga pants because we are all wearing them. And even if my kids don't remember any of this, I will.

I'm Leaning into my Kids (Sorta, and Not in the Annoying Way)
Why? Because I didn't Lean In at work like Sheryl Sandberg said and I have a twinge of regret about it. This is my new chance; it's my new job and I'm the CEO this time.