Finding My Passion and Being a Stay at Home Mom.

So I have two boys. They are awesome! Awesome at making me smile and question my sanity. Most times on the same day. But this has nothing to do with my kids. Or my husband (he’s awesome too and also drives me crazy)

This has to do with me. I’m not 20, at all. I’m not past my prime either. I’m stuck on that zone of “I’ve been a mom for just a bit too long to go back to where I was” If you have kids you might know this feeling. You know you rock as a mom. Your kids are happy and know you love them. Just the right amount a discipline and mess happens in your house. But then after everyone has gone to bed and you are left with your thoughts for the first time since 5am when the first request for yogurt raisins came, you think “is this all I’m going to do?”

Now don’t get me wrong!! Being a stay at home is a full time rewarding job! It’s hard on a good day. But I (like many) came from a creative background and find it hard to be happy just making salt dough decorations.

I want to be were my people are. I want to see, want to see them crafting! Walking around with those, what do you call them? Lattes!! (I’m such a 90’s kid).

Anyway. I had a sit down with my best sounding board, my hubs. And talked the big talk. What do I want to be when I grow up? What is one thing I would do if time, money, family were all in place? Where do I see myself doing the most good? It was a hard talk but necessary. Thankfully I have an amazingly supportive partner in this journey.

All the answers came down to I love to craft. I love to talk to people about being healthy. I love to try new things. All things I do now, here, in this blog. But are they my passion? Are they how I will find my path? I can point to many women leading the life I would love to.

http://www.mommypotamus.com/

http://wellnessmama.com/

http://nomnompaleo.com/

https://rosieresearch.com/ (<– personal friends <3)

Each putting their own vibe and spin on living a healthy, busy life. But can I do that? Could I dear tell people my thought? Well I sort of already am. Maybe I can do this? Can you really make your own path and live the life you want and still be a stay at home? Maybe with all the new freedom from great app on the phone I can… This summer will be the real test. Full time stay at home with two energy balls and no camps planned.

So I’m coming up with a plan. I’ll need to brain storm and plan a lot. A LOT! Meals, schedules, playdate don’t take care of themselves. Invest in a good planner. I’m finding the Sugar Paper planner from Blue Sky to be working great for me! Add a little washi tape and stickers and boom! You know when what’s going down!

From there I’ll need to make sure I’m carving time out for myself. And really do it. I won’t be staying home if I can help it. The dish’s will gently whisper to me from the kitchen as the children loudly scream from the living room. I will get nothing done, trust me! So I will take a day (or days) and a time and make it mine. I like CrossFit so I’ve found a time that I can go and it’s mine. My precious, no touchy, MINE! 😉

On Sunday I will take some time after the kids have gone to bed and everything is done and plan the week. I know I need to talk to hubs since he has a ever changing schedule. I know every week might be different so I make sure I know his schedule and plan mine around his. Now I’m not putting myself second. His schedule provides more for our family finically than mine so his takes priority. I still value my time just as much, but I can shift a lot easier than he can. Expect Mon Wed Fri at 9:15 (for realz no touchy!!)

Then there’s the need to create and provide something positive into the world. Here comes the up tick in blogging. My goal is to add more content to this fun little forum and build something that helps other and myself. Make sure to follow me on Instagram too (that’s where all the pretty stuff is) I will try to get back to my plan of a blog for moms (and dad and parents in all forms) to find someone else who have no idea what’s going on but still trying to fake it till they make it. I will add recipes and health tips that will help busy families. And even write about things we deal with in real life. Like how we are going camping over an hour away with a kid that gets carsick…… wait, what? I have to get some plastic bags and Clorox…..

Thanks for reading my ramble. Wish me luck!

The risk and rewards of technology and tantrums

So we turned that corner. The one with video games, TVs, kindles, iPhones, iPads and computers all trying to get my 5 year olds attention at the same time. Now I’m not going to pretend in the slightest we’re a screen free home. We’re independent business owners, self employed and with that comes the hustle. The need to be connected to make sure you don’t miss the next big opportunity. But I want my kids to grow up, not out. So I try to keep the screen hidden as best I can. But this winter was rough and we slipped into “fine just take it…” Here’s how we’re working our way back.

Embracing my husbands sweatpants

As a mom I spend a lot of time comparing my family and self to others. Not in an “I’m better” or “I’m worse” but in an “Is this shit normal?” sort of way. And truth be told I do sometimes find myself falling down that rabbit hole of “Am I the only one who didn’t brush their teeth this morning?” comparison. 

We’re late! Sorry, I’m not sorry.

If you have children or children like people in your life, you might have experienced what I like to call “GET YOUR SHOES ON NOW!! running late”. That moment when you question why you are even leaving the house. Because as you pin down one child who decided that right before you walk out the door is the best time to do a stinky, you realize for some reason your other child has removed his shoes and he has forgotten how to put them back on. Even though you watched him do it 5 minutes ago. Like 5 minutes ago. Real time. That knowledge is now, somehow, gone.

How to deal with tough sleepers

I love to sleep. That moment when my head hits the pillow and I know my day is done. I can just let go of those worrisome thoughts and turn off my brain. For a full 5 min. Because then I remember everything I forgot that day or some little person wakes up and needs a drink of water but really need to go the bathroom. We had a horrible stretch with Bear where he thought it was fun to stay up from 12am-4am talking about why the sun wasn’t up. I learned fast that kids need sleep as much as adults. And adults need kids to sleep unless they have a great coffee supplier.

How to manage the Crazy

I’m in full on Back to School mood these days. Bear is 4 so it’s not full on school time for us yet. But September mean schedules and events and soccer and CrossFit kids and and and….. Did I pack any snacks? Who has clean underwear on? Did they brush their teeth? With all the shifts in schedules and new events going on how’s a mom to maintain to awesomeness and not get overwhelmed?

Getting things back to normal: Chore Charts

Oh summer! How I love you. Long days of fun and stuff…. Honestly I’m burnt out. Summer is great. And we’ve had lots of fun this year. But man I can not wait to have our schedule back. The bears have free range during summer but September means Mama Bears back at the reigns.

5 easy Screen free things to do when it’s just too damn hot out.

So we’re in the thick of summer up here. It’s been 90 degrees the past few days. I’m not turn on the oven. I’m not wearing any more clothes then is absolutely necessary. And I’m not stay outside for longer than to water my poor garden. The Bears love to keep busy so we’ve been at odds lately. They want to run around in the blasting heat, but in all honesty I just can’t. I’m known for passing out. Long story, fun times.

Dear Mom at the playground on your phone,

Please stop.

I know those emails are important. I know the voicemail left by a potential client is hanging out in you inbox. I know that new house that just came on the market already has 3,000 views and saves.

My son called me stupid: why I let him.

It was simple enough. Standing in the kitchen making breakfast one day, I heard his little voice. “Mommy you’re stupid” Thankfully I had already put down whatever utensils was in my hand. My mind spinning as I thought about how long I was going to ground him. How many treats were to be taken away. I paused, I took a breath, I turned to the little figure behind me. “What did you say?”