My kids are a consistent source of inspiration to me. As tired as I feel some days from the managing of the daily chaos of life with kids, I would not trade it for the world. They are my greatest teachers, which is not something I expected from motherhood. Those little nuggets of wisdom they drop into my lap at the most unexpected moments remind me that God is so present in their being and their light, like all children, is meant to shine so...
Do you ever have moments where clear perspective is dropped in front of you and you just have to laugh? I had this happen recently at a yoga class. Since January, it seems like one person in my household has been sick. Each of us, myself included, had head colds that took weeks to kick. My dog sprained his tail somewhere during that time. Our youngest daughter started coming into our room every night and would only go back to sleep...
This was the first year since moving back to Western New York about 12 years ago that I didn’t go Black Friday shopping with my mom. It just didn’t work out this year for us to go. Both of us on the morning of the Day after Thanksgiving started texting each other our favorite memories from over the years of our annual tradition. Our tradition started over 20 years ago and although there have been other years we’ve been apart on this day,...
When a child is first conceived in the womb, the first organ to develop is the heart. This is beautiful to me. God didn’t decide that during our creation, the brain should come first, but instead he designed us so the heart will come first. The brain and the heart are obviously interconnected, just like most everything in our bodies. One needs the other to continue to function, but what I’ve noticed about myself as time goes on and my brain...
I was so excited when our day care payment for our oldest went away this year. We were also winding down on the number of diapers purchased for our 2 year old as she was in the process of potty training, so man, did it feel like we were getting a weekly financial bonus. I’ve noticed though that with the shift to these older ages, I’m feeling more pressure to spend money on things for them. Here is what I’m observing for my spending...
Blakeley, my 4 year old, and I sat playing with magnetiles in our playroom and as we played, the conversation somehow turned to my job. My day job title is “corporate facilitator” so, even though we’ve talked about work before multiple times, I explained to her that I teach grown ups (which she always giggles about, so I’m imagining that she pictures me teaching adults in settings like her pre-school with small chairs and rainbows and...
As I sit curled up on my couch with an oat milk latte next to my dog in the wee hours of the morning, I am feeling flooded with gratitude. I have a beautiful home, filled with love and joy. It’s warm inside as the cold rain pitter patters on the windows. I have a kitchen stocked with nourishing food. I’m heading to a yoga class shortly, a luxury that I often forget is a luxury. Both my husband and I have steady income and we feel...
I stood talking with a co-worker who recently returned from maternity leave. I myself, had given birth to Ella about 6 months prior. I work in a corporate office and during the pandemic, was blessed to work from home 100% of the time, so this woman and I had not seen each other in over a year at the time of the conversation. The words tumbled out of her mouth as a compliment, but they’ve stuck with me. “You look like you...
I have started and stopped writing about motherhood probably 100 times now. It is something that I care so deeply about to help others feel empowered on their journey as a mom, but also terrified to share any of my thoughts on for fear of judgement from others. Which is why I must post this one, because letting fear rule my writing is never the way to go. I always knew that I wanted to be a mom. My career aspirations changed from time to...
This past winter, we took a family ski trip to Lake Tahoe. As we started preparing for the trip, I needed to make the decision if I would ski or snowboard. I know how to do both, but neither, very well. I’m a Green Circle or Blue Square trail kind of gal through and through, enjoying a graceful glide down the slopes. I learned to ski as a young teen, then made the switch to snowboarding in high school because it was difficult for me to grip...
