HELP I'm getting dumber!

[Anonymous]

I am cracking up at the book suggestions here. Way off base if literary merit is the OPs desire, esp Charlotte Simmons. Agree that Nabokov is helpful but Ada is generally the least favorite of his works among hardcore fans. Don't start with that one if you haven't read at least 2-3 of his others. You'll be disappointed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am cracking up at the book suggestions here. Way off base if literary merit is the OPs desire, esp Charlotte Simmons. Agree that Nabokov is helpful but Ada is generally the least favorite of his works among hardcore fans. Don't start with that one if you haven't read at least 2-3 of his others. You'll be disappointed.

I don't mean this to sound snarky... What do you recommend if everything else is so off base?

[Anonymous]

you can get free podcasts from Berkeley on a really wide range of classes. I would download those to learn something new.

[Anonymous]

I am Charlotte Simmons is a terrible book and has zero literary merit. I could see it as a beach read, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am cracking up at the book suggestions here. Way off base if literary merit is the OPs desire, esp Charlotte Simmons. Agree that Nabokov is helpful but Ada is generally the least favorite of his works among hardcore fans. Don't start with that one if you haven't read at least 2-3 of his others. You'll be disappointed.

I don't disagree with this assessment in general. However, I take exception to the notion that Ian McEwan's works do not possess literary merit.

[Anonymous]

I don't think it's just the SAH. I feel that way and I still work. I just don't have the sharpness or edge anymore and I am pulled in so many different directions and kids are always on forefront of my mind. I do know it can be fleeting because it was few years after my firstborn that things felt sharp again...and then I had # 2...I am slowly coming out of the weeds.

There are many studies showing that at 34 weeks pregnancy the brain purposely is designed to focus solely on birth...making concentration on work and other things more difficult. I really think this continues the first few years of children's lives. Also--the many sleepless nights don't help either.

I have done some seriously d8mb things in the last few years.

I know all of the hardcore workaholics will chime in and tell us we are all stupid and they are sharper than ever....

you are not alone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am Charlotte Simmons

Worst. Book. Ever.

I tried to sell my copy on amazon, and people were asking one penny for it. And it's not even worth that much, because there are tons of people trying to unload it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't think it's just the SAH. I feel that way and I still work. I just don't have the sharpness or edge anymore and I am pulled in so many different directions and kids are always on forefront of my mind. I do know it can be fleeting because it was few years after my firstborn that things felt sharp again...and then I had # 2...I am slowly coming out of the weeds.

There are many studies showing that at 34 weeks pregnancy the brain purposely is designed to focus solely on birth...making concentration on work and other things more difficult. I really think this continues the first few years of children's lives. Also--the many sleepless nights don't help either.

I have done some seriously d8mb things in the last few years.

I know all of the hardcore workaholics will chime in and tell us we are all stupid and they are sharper than ever....

you are not alone.

I am definitely not a hardcore workaholic, but am a WM and wanted to say I had this baby fuzz on my brain for the first year, but since then I have felt a positive change. I feel like my confidence has grown, I'm forced to multi-task more, and I feel like way more invested in "the world" - meaning I get way more fired up about things like the environment, chemicals we are exposed to, politics, and definitely the economy. We were living the high life it seemed pre-kid and now with cutting back my hours and therefore paycheck got cut 20%, daycare took up a big chunk of our income, college savings, etc., there is just more going on and I am more "engaged" in things. I feel like I have to THINK so much more.

In a way I've had to be more efficient at work (DCUM breaks exempted of course) and work has also taken on more meaning. It's time away from my kid so I had to think long and hard about staying or finding another job (not working is not a choice because of financial reasons - I did decide to stay in part because of the work and definitely because of the flexibility as well).

Of course, I have a two year old so we will see what happens when and if we have number 2. Hopefully I will only spend another year in the baby haze again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am cracking up at the book suggestions here. Way off base if literary merit is the OPs desire, esp Charlotte Simmons. Agree that Nabokov is helpful but Ada is generally the least favorite of his works among hardcore fans. Don't start with that one if you haven't read at least 2-3 of his others. You'll be disappointed.

I agree that Charlotte Simmons is not "literary," although I did enjoy it. What about Infinite Jest, though? I think it's the most intelligent book I've read in the last 10 years.

[Anonymous]

I'm the WM who just posted and lest this dissolve into a war, want to clarify that I sympathize with OP and agree with others that are a ton of ways to keep your mind engaged as a SAHM and you not, in fact, turning dumber!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think it's just the SAH. I feel that way and I still work. I just don't have the sharpness or edge anymore and I am pulled in so many different directions and kids are always on forefront of my mind. I do know it can be fleeting because it was few years after my firstborn that things felt sharp again...and then I had # 2...I am slowly coming out of the weeds.

There are many studies showing that at 34 weeks pregnancy the brain purposely is designed to focus solely on birth...making concentration on work and other things more difficult. I really think this continues the first few years of children's lives. Also--the many sleepless nights don't help either.

I have done some seriously d8mb things in the last few years.

I know all of the hardcore workaholics will chime in and tell us we are all stupid and they are sharper than ever....

you are not alone.

I am definitely not a hardcore workaholic, but am a WM and wanted to say I had this baby fuzz on my brain for the first year, but since then I have felt a positive change. I feel like my confidence has grown, I'm forced to multi-task more, and I feel like way more invested in "the world" - meaning I get way more fired up about things like the environment, chemicals we are exposed to, politics, and definitely the economy. We were living the high life it seemed pre-kid and now with cutting back my hours and therefore paycheck got cut 20%, daycare took up a big chunk of our income, college savings, etc., there is just more going on and I am more "engaged" in things. I feel like I have to THINK so much more.

In a way I've had to be more efficient at work (DCUM breaks exempted of course) and work has also taken on more meaning. It's time away from my kid so I had to think long and hard about staying or finding another job (not working is not a choice because of financial reasons - I did decide to stay in part because of the work and definitely because of the flexibility as well).

Of course, I have a two year old so we will see what happens when and if we have number 2. Hopefully I will only spend another year in the baby haze again.

I am the PP you quoted and I do agree with you. However, don't be surprised when you get fuzzy again if you do have # 2. i just wanted to let her know it's natural..not necessarily permanent and not at all solely a result of SAH. To quote my anonymous, unknown studies again...they do show that mother's brains do change and different neuropathways develop..spec in multi-tasking areas, etc. I do agree that I waste alot less time now and cut out the non-essential...and I am definitely better at solving workplace conflicts after dealign with a toddler and a preschooler!

[Anonymous]

Read Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin. It will improve your vocabulary and stretch your mind. Beautiful prose.

[Anonymous]

I've been off work since 2006 due to thoracic outlet syndrome. Guess what, I got it all from being hunched over a keyboard, BTW, since 1972! Used to churn out legal papers at 145 wpm; and that's having to spell out the dictation in my head at that speed. Anyway, have been languishing at home trying for a surgical/lidocaine/steroid fix, for which there really is none in my case, I discovered, and lo, and behold, in addition to doing pretty well at crosswords, I took on Sudoku in March of this year. Wow, was I proud of myself when I got to the "Diabolical" leval of Sudoku with relative ease after 2 mos. of practice. I normally got the LAT crosswords 7 days a week and NYT crosswords Mon.-Thurs plus Sunday with some amount of elbow ease. Now, that my body's falling apart, I'm looking at an increased level of mental decline. Wha' happened? Is it because I'm in so much pain and I'm so tired?

Would love to hear from someone in my shoes. I feel the need to tell anyone who works on keyboards for an extended length of time to really be careful. Thoracic outlet syndrome is a really crappy situation to be in. I ignored everything at first, for the first 30 years b/c all I wanted was to rest up during the week-end. Now, I get occipital headaches everyday, the back of my neck is vertabraeically lumpy, and I'm bent over like an old dowager with its attendant "hump" at 56. For anyone interested, the rate of thoracic outlet syndrome if 3:5/1 for women to men; had a very poor ergonomic set-up at the law firm at which I was employed, ironically, at a workers' comp. law firm. The upshot is that if you hunch over a keyboard/crane your neck for many years, it bulks up the scalene muscles on both sides at the front of your neck and "crushes" the nerve/vascular pathways and causes a great deal of pain in the end. Add to that I picked upt 18-19 lb. legal files at arms' length for 17 years, stupidly thinking it was good exercise.

I need to get this info to anyone who will listen. Since I started doing computer/keypunch work since 1972, this syndrome will start popping up with regular frequency in the near future due to practially everyone being on a keyboard. I kept thinking, "'m tough, I'm tough," until I hit a brick wall at 50. Used to have a high threshold for pain for a long time, but this pain, according to my pain physician, will never go away for the rest of my life.

Anyway, since my body was falling apart, I thought I'd keep my mind sharp. Now I seem to be getting dumber which is why I got on this blog [google].

Best regards, Teresa B.

[Anonymous]

I've been off work since 2006 due to thoracic outlet syndrome. Guess what, I got it all from being hunched over a keyboard, BTW, since 1972! Used to churn out legal papers at 145 wpm; and that's having to spell out the dictation in my head at that speed. Anyway, have been languishing at home trying for a surgical/lidocaine/steroid fix, for which there really is none in my case, I discovered, and lo, and behold, in addition to doing pretty well at crosswords, I took on Sudoku in March of this year. Wow, was I proud of myself when I got to the "Diabolical" leval of Sudoku with relative ease after 2 mos. of practice. I normally got the LAT crosswords 7 days a week and NYT crosswords Mon.-Thurs plus Sunday with some amount of elbow ease. Now, that my body's falling apart, I'm looking at an increased level of mental decline. Wha' happened? Is it because I'm in so much pain and I'm so tired?

Would love to hear from someone in my shoes. I feel the need to tell anyone who works on keyboards for an extended length of time to really be careful. Thoracic outlet syndrome is a really crappy situation to be in. I ignored everything at first, for the first 30 years b/c all I wanted was to rest up during the week-end. Now, I get occipital headaches everyday, the back of my neck is vertabraeically lumpy, and I'm bent over like an old dowager with its attendant "hump" at 56. For anyone interested, the rate of thoracic outlet syndrome if 3:5/1 for women to men; had a very poor ergonomic set-up at the law firm at which I was employed, ironically, at a workers' comp. law firm. The upshot is that if you hunch over a keyboard/crane your neck for many years, it bulks up the scalene muscles on both sides at the front of your neck and "crushes" the nerve/vascular pathways and causes a great deal of pain in the end. Add to that I picked upt 18-19 lb. legal files at arms' length for 17 years, stupidly thinking it was good exercise.

I need to get this info to anyone who will listen. Since I started doing computer/keypunch work since 1972, this syndrome will start popping up with regular frequency in the near future due to practially everyone being on a keyboard. I kept thinking, "'m tough, I'm tough," until I hit a brick wall at 50. Used to have a high threshold for pain for a long time, but this pain, according to my pain physician, will never go away for the rest of my life.

Anyway, since my body was falling apart, I thought I'd keep my mind sharp. Now I seem to be getting dumber which is why I got on this blog :roll:[google].

Best regards, Teresa B.

[Anonymous]

Skip the fiction books and start reading a journal/publication. Is there something like a Lawyers Weekly?

OP - can you register for any conferences going on in your field - 1. to stay stimulated 2. to keep current when you do re-enter?

It sounds like you're craving a good hearty discussion and current news that is relevant to your field (you hang on every word from DH's cases) than a book club.