Week 3

Well after the excitement of week two, I kinda had to take some time to recover. However, this week I am instituting a new project.
My weeks tend to get really busy, really quickly. Before I know it we are running around each and every day. So I have decided to devote Tuesdays and Thursdays to my kids. On Tuesdays Cameron will be in charge of picking our activities. On Thursday we will do things that are more geared to Reagan. I want my kids to feel special, and I really believe that taking this time with them will do that. They need to understand that they are more to me than just "baggage" that I carry as I go about my day to day life. They need to realize that they are my life, the time I have with them is so short! Next year Cameron will be in school, so each day I have with him is a treasure.
I did realize this week that I still have a long way to go when it comes to becoming that mom I want to be. On Tuesday Cameron came into my room at 7:00 to wake me up. Usually I am up way before him, but my husband didn't have to be at work till later, so we both used the time to catch up on sleep. Instead of waking up with a song, I was grumpy and sluggish and kinda snapped at him. The minute I saw the hurt look on his face I felt so guilty! So I got out of bed...acted more cheerful than I felt and started over. We sang and laughed our way through the morning. I really need to work on not letting what I am feeling affect how I interact with my children.
The wonderful thing is that children are very forgiving. I asked for Cameron's forgiveness and he gave it without hesitation. That is another lesson I can learn from my children.


Matthew 19: 14
But Jesus said, Let the little ones come to me, and do not keep them away: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.

Month 3: Motherhood

“Motherhood has a very humanizing effect. Everything gets reduced to essentials.”
Meryl Streep quotes

March is the month where I really want to work on my mothering skills. I also want to take time to learn things from my kids.

"When our inner child is not nurtured and nourished, our minds gradually close to new ideas, unprofitable commitments and the surprises of the Spirit."
— Brennan Manning



Before I became a mom I had , what I realize now, was a delusional picture of motherhood. Much to my dismay no heavenly light shone down on me while I rocked my sleepy baby and no birds chirped sweetly in the morning to wake me after a restful night sleep. Instead there was poopy diapers, spit up, crying, dishes to be washed, and a house to keep clean. Life didn't stop just because there was a new member of our family. The other members still needed attention.

With this being said, I am the happiest I have ever been in my role of wife and mom. But there are still hard days, days where I have answered 500 questions , changed 10 diapers,said no 5,000 times and cleaned up 20 messes....all before 9am.

I know that I will still have the hard days, but I really want to work on an action plan so that I don't completely go insane during those times. I am going to take some of the ideas in Gretchen Rubin's "Happiness Project". One of the ones I am going to work on is waking up my kids every morning with a song. She noted that when they started the morning with a silly song the morning went better. So that is my goal for this first week.

As for learning things from my children, both Cameron, Reagan and Patience are unique in there own ways, so here are the attributes that I would like to incorporate into my life from them.

Cameron (age 4 1/2): His desire to know "EVERYTHING". I love to study, but don't make time for it. I have a couple of subjects I would like to know more about, so this month I am going to make that a priority.
Regan (age 1): Her ability to ask for what she needs. One of my characteristics that I would like to change is my need to do everything myself. I very rarely ask for help, and when I do, I feel like I am letting everyone down. Pride doesn't keep Reagan from making her needs known, I need to do the same.
Patience (age 9 1/2): I don't get to see Patience as often as I would like, but one of her qualities that I most admire is that she hands out compliments all the time. She always has an encouraging word, and I would really like to develop that in my life.