The Two Minute MOMent (and a little chocolate)

After grocery shopping this morning I pulled into the driveway with my delicious fruit and nut candy bar.  My son was happily in the backseat munching on a snack of cheese crackers so I did it... I took a two minute Moment!

I put the car in park, reached beside me where I put the purple package in the passenger seat, and slowly pulled open the top.  Heaven awaited.  I broke off a square and placed it on my tongue, then another, and another.  Once I'd finished two rows, enjoying the silence, the cool air conditioning, and the taste of sweet chocolate, I was good.

I unbuckled myself and got out the car, closed the gate to keep my dangerdar son from escaping, and let him out the car while I toted groceries.

It's the brief moments that can feel so good sometimes.

Do You Work Inside the Home or Outside the Home?

Years ago I was going through a local Junior League class to become a new member and at the President’s home at our graduation celebration another member asked a question that I have reflected on again and again over the past six years.  She asked if I worked inside the home or outside the home.



At the time I was working a full time job outside the home, but I considered that I was also working inside the home.  It wasn't either/or, but AND.

 

She worked inside the home full-time.  At the time I had never been a full-time SAHM, homemaker, housewife, or even a WAHM.  I didn't really have much choice but to return to my full-time job after my 12 weeks of maternity leave ended after my daughter was born.

 

With my second, nearly a decade later, things had changed.  I had a profession and was working part-time from home doing challenging and interesting work, mostly while my daughter was at school.  The occasional evening meeting wasn't bad and she could even tag along at times.  I had become a WAHM.

 

With a new baby, I dropped down to very part-time work before putting it to the side in December.  What I have learned is that there are upsides and downsides to all the choices we make for our families and ourselves and one solution is just one solution and there is certainly no one size fits all.   I have also learned that is isn't in my nature to solely do home-making. For me there is something fulfilling about having a project, completing it, and seeing the results of your work; being able to return to it, look at it, learn from it, and continue growing.  I also appreciate a neat house, clean clothes, and home-cooked meals.  Some other women may feel the same way about doing these tasks and be completely fulfilled in that, and I am so happy for them.  We are all different.  Those differences should not be ways to separate and divide us, creating unnecessary divisions between women based on our choices.

 

I know women across the spectrum, all of us working hard, whether inside, outside, or both.

 

I don't think either is easier than the other- especially if you are home with young children or working a job that is intense and demanding.  Both add value to our society, when done well.

 

But we do our best, trying to balance our lives and all of its intersections, as women have always done and I am sure will continue to do.

I am currently a full-time SAHM and working part-time on my business.  I have ventured into new territory and am allowing myself the room and freedom

Define Yourself by Your Own Truths

When we define ourselves

by what delights us,

feeds our spirits,

and fuels our passions

we find the truth

of who we are,

by finding truth

in who we are

Groundhog Day

Some days I feel like I am
stuck in Groundhog Day.
I cook, clean, do laundry.
I go to bed.

I wake up the next day
and it all repeats.

I just had to write this up.  I'll share one some other item about the Gremlins!  I think I know what they have been up to.

Don't Blink - May and the Passing of Time

May is always a busy month with school ending, recitals, talent shows, graduations, and my wedding anniversary. Not to mention Mother's Day and this year I am adding what will be my first 'real' festival.

I guess it's a little bittersweet.  There is so much to look forward to, and every weekend has something going on.  As May ends so will elementary school for my daughter.  She'll be a rising middle-schooler and I keep looking at her and listening to her speak and wondering where my little girl went; where is she hiding?

In her stead is this beautiful girl with braces, big hair, long legs, and a little pre-teen personality.  When did I become the mother of tween?  I'm not old enough to have a tween!  There are days I forget that I'm in my late 30s and not late 20s.  After all we are as old as we feel.... problem is her growing up is starting to make me feel..well... older.  Thankfully my almost 16 month old makes me feel a bit younger - challenging me to keep up with him.



The end of the month also brings 8 years married to the love of my life.  The years have flown by as evidenced by the fact that his nephew, who was younger than my daughter is now when we married, graduates from highschool this month.

Don't blink....

 

A Moment for My Mom

This evening while watching ACM Awards and unloading the dishwasher I started thinking of my mom. Sometimes I just think about how much of a superwoman she was and is.

I still wonder HOW she did everything she did.  I know necessity is the mother of invention - it must be the mother of ingenuity and strength as well.

How do you honor the woman who sacrificed so much to make sure her children could have a good life?  Who showed that you could be a mother and still have a life that wasn't just about being a mother? Who despite not being able to live out her own dreams, always encouraged us to dream and to go after those dreams?  She was breadwinner, cheerleader, taxi, teacher, singer, writer, bringer of the laughter and the discipline, and pretty to boot!

Growing up, my mom was truly the wind beneath my wings and today when I am tired, weary, cranky, afraid of success or afraid of failure, I think of her, her fortitude, and her belief in me.   She showed that if you want something and are willing to work for it, you can do it.

Mom, you are one of a kind and I wouldn't be the woman I am without you.

You are adored mom.

And yes, Mother's Day is a whole month away....

Have Your Cake and Get it Too

This is a MOMent

Last night after a stressful evening searching frantically for a missing document, it was found to everyone's relief.  What better way to celebrate than to have some cake.

I'd just put our 14 month old down for the night and came out of the room.  I just wanted cake after the stress, but so I didn't set a horrible example, I ate a saucer size plate of dinner first.  I sat down on the sofa with my husband, my daughter, my 'dinner', and a big slice of cheesecake with cherries on top (my ultimate favorite).  My 10 year old sees my cake and wants some of the chocolate cake.  (No, I don't usually have cake in the house but it was dessert from the Easter dinner I cooked the day before.)



I tell her she can have a small slice and begin to eat my mini dinner so I can have my big dessert.  A couple minutes later she looks over and asks again if she can have cake.  I said "I told you you could have a small slice".  She says "I know", and pauses.  I say "It's on the counter."

She says,  "I thought you were gonna get it".

"Why would you think that?"

"Because that's what mommies do".

What have I done?