I’m living in a bonus year. Yep, this year is a total freebie. You see, all last year I thought I was 47. If I had to fill out an application or paperwork, I confidently wrote “47” in the blank space.
I woke up last Monday feeling excited to be closing in on 50. I told Penn, “I feel so lucky to be aging, I’m so excited to be 48!” He looked at me with a raised eyebrow. He said, “Babe, Happy Birthday. You’re turning 47 today.”
I got my age wrong FOR AN ENTIRE YEAR.
So while I missed being 46, I got a do-over on being 47.
What I Woke Up To
Within a few hours of my re-do year, we learned there had been yet another school shooting. This time in Nashville. Our podcast is a place where we like to have deeper conversations so we started the cast with how we were processing the most recent tragedy.
Penn’s approach was to learn more about gun legislation across the world. I called and emailed my elected officials to make my voice heard. (You can gohere to find your representative andhere to find your senator.)
The stress of the day caused me to eat most of my birthday cake alone at lunch. It wasn’t a proud moment, but it brought me some comfort–and so did answering some of your questions.
Your Questions & Fire Alarms
We shared some of our favorite questions on the podcast this week. There were a lot of opinions on what is “best” for kids and parents. When our kids were younger, people told me to take time for myself. But that’s not always an option—my advice is to accept that you may not have those opportunities and not to add the stress of missing those opportunities to an already challenging time.
We also have been reflecting on something that happened a few weeks ago. I was at a doctor’s appointment when I received a notification that a fire alarm was going off at home. I called Penn, and he was driving our son to school, so we both felt helpless. I will tell you now that everything was fine, but at the same time, it was not fine. As a person with anxiety, situations like this confirm your fears.
In this week’s podcast, Penn explains what happened, and I share why it can be difficult for me to let my guard down. We loved answering your questions on all these topics and much more. Our podcast is our very favorite thing we create. I hope you give it a listen.
