Book Report: Dopamine Nation

Last week was one of those weeks. Hugo started feeling warm on last Saturday and produced this on Monday night:

US friends you're allowed to be jealous that these tests cost $3.

So I did what I too often do when the going gets tough. Tune out. Kids played in the background while I did housework listening to this:

The Idea of You was a true escape until it consumed my thoughts about how horribly the book ended. I would instead recommend spending your listening hours, not while kids are around, on this much more edifying book: 

Dr. Anna Lembke, writes from a background as a psychiatrist and personal experience of addiction to...romance novels. Spoiler, the author got a handle on her addiction by leaning in to her work. Although, I would say the author could have just as easily ended her romance novel addiction by reading The Idea of You. That book single handedly ended my interest in the genre. 

In any case, there are so many helpful vignettes in Dopamine Nation and the message is timely. We're all trying to escape right now, are't we? We can talk a big game about there being many time periods of horrible leaders, but actually having to live through "the new age of infamy" is exhausting. 

Also, personally my ADHD brain is especially seeking dopamine. Part of the reason I'm so 'scattered' is because I'm looking for the next dopamine "hit". The place where I get it? Radical honesty. Partly it's my enneagram eight. Give me truth over comfort, every time. I'm bringing this truth into lent this year.  We are making space for joy, but to get there, there will be discomfort. 

Police Officer Please Let me Explain...

You pulled me over because this looks unsafe to you?

Urban bodyboarding - a kissing cousin of 

urban bike tubing

Let me assure you, there was a lot of thought that went into this process. First, can we admit that adults in their 40s should not use bean bag furniture, much less secondhand fatboys? Can we also agree that a closed Kita and a public transportation strike shouldn't deter from this noble quest to find "real" furniture?

I should point out that the first stop was actually to get a bike safety check. IE my husband got a flat tire on the way taking the boys to school so we took the bike to the best bike shop in Berlin this morning. While the bike was in the shop, most of the snow-turned-ice melted. I even planned to avoid the iciest stretch of the route to Ikea by running an errand to pick-up my daughter's new German ID. 

At the risk of seeming ungrateful for our residency status, is this update really necessary? An ID that matches her current passport photo seems pretty unreasonable because when you look at her old passport photo below, it's clear that Carmen has not changed a bit.

But as I was saying, with a safe bike and clear roads we made our way to Ikea. Here I will admit a small error in my planning. I double checked the couch dimensions would fit in the bike. However, I did not confirm enough space for a child to be in the box. Also, we had a lot of swim gear with us. I couldn't let our expedition for furniture interfere with our weekly swimming lesson. #swimsafetyfirst Additionally, the swim bags doubled as cushions on the way to Ikea as the bench was out to fit the couch. In any case, one kid and swim bags worked for the ride to school to pick-up Hugo. 

It worked so well, in fact, that the ride put this unicorn to sleep:

When I arrived at Hugo's school, he jumped up on the couch box and said, "I can ride on top. And, do you have a snack?" Yes, meatball leftovers eaten in ready position.

Boxbike content includes: One cardboard box containing a small Ikea couch, one bag of wetsuits (blast you Putin for freezing Berlin public pools), one generic swim bag, one bag of Ikea odds-and-ends, one Ikea cool bag with three kilos/6 pounds of meatballs, one adult backpack, one kid backpack, one slumbering unicorn, one responsible adult peddling (with motor assist), and one urban boogie (card)boarder.

We did, in-fact, ride a couple blocks with Hugo on top with lots of disapproving looks, one admonishment from a concerned driver, and mercifully no traffic citations. Hugo said, "We'll be fine. Everyone knows you shouldn't wake up a sleeping kid." Then Carmen started to stir so we could do this cozy arrangement. 

The littles and I assembled the couch during one of the sick days last week. I think we can all agree the risk of bodily harm was worth it.

#adulting

Building Ikea furniture is currently Hugo's greatest love. He is available for hire and can be paid in meatballs.