Dee74

last part here:

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...t-16-a-21.html

D

Applekat

I'm around and sober. Mellow after last night, and busy day today. Mentally and physically drained. Thanks for thinking of me. When is Uncle Casey flying in to play with the kiddos?

I - we - just need to power through this weekend. How many drinking radio commercials did I hear while driving today? Ugh. Three day weekend and I will remember and celebrate the true meaning of Monday's holiday. AV still whispers though! I don't see that disappearing anytime soon.

MITA I completely understand the post milestone blues. I will have to be even stronger on Sunday bc of that.

Kiki I just loved the Chewbacca lady. My kids wanted to head to the store immediately the other day for one. Infectious laughter.

Clearly - my kindergartener goes through late June but she is already "done". There's field trips, plays, ice cream socials, hot weather, fundraisers, picnics, teacher gift money collection ...exhaustion....perhaps the most annoying thing for her is she on orders to stay off the monkey bars bc she has about 14 blisters on her hands that keep re-opening. Without the monkey bars, recess is just BORING. Lol. How do they cram all this stuff into the last month?!

I'm so tired just thinking about it.

immri

Morning all, glad it's a new thread hopefully we can leave the drama behind
So glad it's the weekend, I'm so tired still

Bobbieka

Hey!!

CaseyW

Grocery store conquered. Didn't walk by the beer/wine section this time so no middle finger salute. Kind of disappointing, to be honest.

Maybe we should plan on early fall. I bet that's beautiful in your area. We have no real trees here so fall is basically only an abstract concept in my city. Sorry to hear about your kiddo's blisters. Poor thing! Life is much more drab without monkey bars. Glad you checked in--keep on doing the next right thing! I feel blessed to have you in my recovery.

Good morning, immri! May you have a junk food-filled, drop bear-free weekend!

Hay is for horses, Bobbieka.

Thanks for the new digs, Dee74! Hope you have a wonderful morning.

clearlyheaded

Schools do cram a lot in at the end, don't they? I first noticed the year end stress in my kiddo in kindergarten and I remember thinking, WTH is THIS?!?! Then it happened again at the end of 1st...and then 2nd! So I was prepared this time around, lol. Same happens around the winter holidays. It's exhausting for the parents, too.

immri

Do kids in America have longer winter or summer holidays?

CaseyW

Definitely summer, immri. Usually two to almost three months, except in a few school districts that have gone to year-round school with more frequent but shorter breaks. I'd guess most schools let out for two weeks for winter--the week of Christmas and the week after. I'm sure there are exceptions to that as well. How does it work in Australia?

KiKi0615

Hi guys, just checking in. Waiting for kid #3 to finish soccer practice so we can go grab our favorite carryout & watch the NBA playoffs tonight.

Sooooo.....for people with some sobriety time under their belt, tell me how the cravings are? Mine are still bad but it's because I keep slipping at like a week! I'm hoping doing 90 AA meetings in 90 days will help.

But...for now..,how are your cravings after 30, 60, 90 days?

immri

Oh wow!! Our holidays are about the same length and over summer too, but our Christmas is in summer so it's all one big break. 'Chrissie holidays' seems strange to get such a short break over Christmas! I'm sure you guys think it's strange our Christmas is summer, though

KiKi0615

Our summer breaks are usually about 10 weeks. Winter break (from Christmas through New Years) is about 2 weeks then they have a Spring break in March for 1 week.

immri

Kiki my cravings are very rare now, but every day was horrible for a week or so. I had cravings yesterday when I was just about shaking with anger, but that was the first time since about day 20? Wasn't anywhere near as strong as before either

ManInTheArena

Kiki, I don't really have cravings any more and have not for a while - probably the last 30 days or so. What I have to be careful of, though, is just letting my brain trick me into slipping - I don't consider it a craving, but maybe in its own way it is. It's more like a slight nudge from the devil on my shoulder - temptation is really a better word.

I understand the early cravings though. I had to find a lot of things to occupy my time - cleaning, exercising, organizing, walking the dog, visiting SR, etc. When I ran out of things to and was still having trouble I would just go to bed, if I could.

They do get better with each day, but each day is a new challenge! Like we don't have enough of those?!!

You seem to be doing well lately - I'm very happy for you!

Applekat

We also (NY) still have a "February break" - which is pointless. It comes soon after Christmas break and is usually just snowy or kids are sick. Our year ends 6/22 and restarts right before Labor Day depending on when that falls or right after.

Clearly that's the thing - this was our family's first year of having a kiddo off at school. And I know it will just keep on getting to be more involved year after year. It has been good - but so MUCH at times. My kid is in KDG and is gone from 750-330. She is exhausted, and it SHOWS every afternoon. Smart but tired girl. I mean really....

CaseyW

I'm not really the right person to ask on this one as I really don't think I've had any outright cravings at all so far this time. I was so embarrassed and ashamed of my sudden disappearance from SR last year that when I finally made myself come back in here on March 13, 2016, and was immediately accepted and made to feel OK, it put me on a pretty big high that carried me through that time when I'd normally have the hardest cravings.

Doesn't mean I haven't had thoughts of drinking but nothing that I was even close to acting on or even really stressed out about. Just more along the lines of I'll be doing something and think, "I'd normally be having a glass of wine right now. That'd be nice." And then I remember it wouldn't be nice at all and keep moving on.

But from past experience, I'd say the cravings were most intense for me usually in the first 12 days or so and then would pop back up again every two or three weeks, usually when I wasn't doing my normal routine or if I got highly upset at someone like immri was saying happened to her last night. Like MITA and Applekat mentioned earlier, milestones can also cause some anxiety that might cause a craving or thought of drinking.

Cool thing is the cravings will go away. They really will. They're only thoughts and have no real power over us as long as we don't feed our addiction that first drink. Let those thoughts out as soon as they come, get in here or get to an AA meeting ASAP, and in the meantime maybe try to get out of your own head by helping someone else here. That's how AA was founded--Bill W. trying to stave off his own thoughts of drinking by helping someone else who was hurting. That's how he met Dr. Bob. There's an amazing amount of power in the simple act of one addict helping another.

I repeat it over and over and over again because it's the truth for me and I think it applies to everyone else: You really don't have to take that first drink today no matter what.

Yeah, that's as backwards as your toilet water. Oh wait...we disproved that one, didn't we?

CaseyW

^^^^^ This. A million times this. ^^^^^

Anytime I've started drinking again after the 30 days or so sober mark, it's never been a gigantic huge craving that has sent me back to the bottle or bar stool (or box wine in the last few years when my drinking life got even more pathetic and lonely). It's always just been a nudge, just letting that tiny thought that it'd be different this time--that a drink or two wouldn't hurt--that has done me in. And it's almost always precipitated by my stopping or slowing down doing the things that have been working for me so far.

beerbgone

Evening gang. Just finished a big dinner and sittin' here eating ice cream right out of the container. I don't bother with bowls anymore!!!

immri

Agreed, exactly the same for me too

CaseyW

Sounds like you're just being more efficient and eco-friendly by saving the water you'd need to wash that bowl. I, for one, wholeheartedly endorse this method! Now if you can just figure out a way to do away with the spoon too...

beerbgone

Spoon? Whut spoon?