Anatomy of a SuperMom Part 2

 ( eta- seriously, after all the time i put into making my CHARTS they didn't even show up on here!!! GRRR they did at first but at some point something went wrong. doublegrrr)

OK, so  a HUGE THANK-YOU to everyone who participated in my "survey". It was fascinating and revealing and inspiring and motivating! We're a bunch of hard working Mama's - but I did not need the survey to figure that one out!  

I think SLEEP and NUTRITION are vital aspects in being part SuperMom and lets face it, we all want to be part SuperMom, not for ourselves or for what other people think of us but so we can raise SuperKids - who are healthy, happy, balanced , empathetic and awesome. So we NEED to take the time from things like watching TV and oh maybe even the computer ( yes, I am talking to myself here!) and make sure we do this for ourselves. I always told myself that TV/Computer time is MY relaxing time, which it IS - BUT- at the expense of being drained the next day and the next and the next - who is that fun for? 

I am clearly NOT a writer ( or a SuperMom or a Chart maker truth be told!) and my thoughts on all this and the answers I received are all jumbled in my head and I am finding it hard to put it all to paper like I had planned. The one thing I did realize from this all though is that there is no ONE MOLD for what a SuperMom is, just like fingerprints and snowflakes , we are all completely different and so require different things of ourselves. Ultimately a SuperMom is a HAPPY MOM who gets out of life what she wants by making the effort to do so. 

So I am not going to keep harping on about this, and hope you've learned what I did from the experiment even though its completely NOT what I thought the lesson would be. There are no tricks or magic spells, we all require different things and have different things required of us. 

Here is a breakdown of some of the info I gathered, I’ll gradually add more to later posts as it would just be too much all in one. 

Question#4:

Approximately how many hours of sleep do you get a night?



According to my basic research we're doing pretty good here, 7-8 hrs is what we need. But of course for many thats not a continuous 7-8 hrs and there are too many of you getting by on 5 or less hours and I really urge you to try and get a few more. A more rested Mommy = a happier Mommy = a happier family. 

Question #6:

DO YOU COOK 4+ TIMES A WEEK?:
In response to the question about how often we cook in a week, there was one common statement across the board bar one - who cooks 6 nights a week. And that was that we wish we cooked more for our families. I know I wish I was better. My Mom used to come home from a full days work at 6pm and cook a full meal every night , like a roast chicken or something crazy like that! I will roast a chicken maybe twice a year! How DID she do it? I do cook most nights at home but its always pretty basic and I go in phases of being really good about it and then burning out and slacking off for months after that. 

Question #14:

WHAT IS YOUR WORST?

a) Poop

b) Snot 

c) Bedtimes

d) 5pm witching hour - making dinner meltdowns

e)Teeth Brushing

 f)Other    

This was pretty funny, but the majority chose d) the witching hour / making dinner meltdowns as their nemesis and since I answered mine has changed from e)teeth-brushing to d) the witching hour too. He has definitely got better about his teeth brushing ! f) was mostly people with older kids and so a) thru e) were no longer a factor but apparently “Getting the kids up and out te house in the morning” is gonna be on the horizon for many of us shortly. I can’t wait. I am such a great morning person at the best of times...

One things for sure: SNOT IS HOT / WE LOVE SNOT ! ha ha!

So, THANK YOU again. I will take all I have learned and continue to grow and try to improve myself and strive to be a better Mommy every day- knowing that I already am a SuperMom and so are YOU!

with love

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL.

spend time with your loved ones, coz if you can, you are blessed.

Tis the Season

Just a quick post to share our 2009 Christmas Card with you all , THANK YOU to A Mom Two Boys for getting the 2nd Annual Bloggy Holiday Card Exchange up and running!

As for Anatomy of a SuperMom : Its coming along well THANK YOU for all your responses! I am still collecting my data so its not too late to submit your answers from the previous post to supermominfo @ yahoo dot com !!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS BLOGGERS ! 

Anatomy of a SuperMom part 1.

OK, so every year for the past who-knows-how-many years, I have totally copped out of doing New Years Resolutions. I guess I jumped on the " no-one ever actually sticks to them so why bother" bandwagon and just rode it, I rode that sucker into the ground. I believe it's time for me to get up and walk on my own two feet this New Year and actually attempt to make and stick to a resolution.


Its just one, how hard can it be right? Well the ONE that I have picked is kinda all encompassing...


Lets start at the very beginning ( its a very good place to start...♫) So, many of you know that I was an Au Pair and then a Nanny for several years. I would ALWAYS say I was doing it to practice for when I had my own kids, I have wanted to be a Mommy since I was waaay tooo young and so it was the perfect avenue for me. I loved being a Nanny. I learned so much from all those kids and their parents , I learned a lot of what I wanted to be like as a parent and plenty of what I did NOT want to be like too.
When I was pregnant everybody would say to me " Oh you are going to be such a good Mommy with all this experience..." and my reply was always " Aw shucks Thank you, but I think the lesson I have learned the most is that no matter how much I think I know... its going to be way waaay harder than I imagine. " and you know what? I was RIGHT! 


Fast Forward 17 months after I officially graduated from Pregnant Nanny to Stay at Home Mommy:
Oh Em Geeeeee!!!! Its so difficult/ exhausting etc etc etc - I don't need to tell you, you know. Absolutely its also without doubt the MOST AMAZING/ REWARDING etc etc etc job in the universe. I do not forget that , not for a single second. My child is the reason I was put on this planet, he is the epitome of LOVE. But thats not what this particular post is about.
What I am saying is, after 17 months I have still not found my groove with this whole Mommy thing. I KNOW I can be more, and its not just the "Mommy" part its the Wife and Homemaker part too, others do it - I know its not easy , but nor is my current state of "just getting by" and I know we all have good days and bad days and behind the scenes in every house is some kind of drama. I am not delusional .
I just feel I am capable of more but I didn't get a degree in this ( Nanny School didn't cover it all) no-one does without experience and so ( finally - my point) I am going to attempt to tap into my network of Mommies across the globe - THATS YOU! - and learn some tricks, tips and been-there-done-that information and put it to good use for myself. Then I am going to take said DATA and share it back with you all *hopefully* on the form of a graph or 2 and some other nifty ways to emphasize what is important , what's NOT and what you may wanna try to make your life a bit easier in 2010 and beyond.


Yup, my New Years Resolution is : Learn some SuperMom skills before I even think about having another child!


So would you , my fellow Mama's o' the internet please take 5 mins and answer these questions. You can be as basic or as long winded as your SuperMom Schedule will allow.
Copy and Paste them to an email ( or send a blank email and I will send u the form. If you do copy and paste remember this is in WHITE so you will have to change the color or it will appear invisible in your email ), add your honest answers and send them to:
supermominfo at yahoo dot com
and then send someone else here, someone you feel has SuperMom powers we could all learn from and have them share the love.
( all information will be used anonymously - you don't even have to put any names or details in the email)


Your Questions M'dears:


1. How many Children do you have? ( list their ages)


2. How old are you ?


3. Are you a working Mom or a SAHM?


4. Approximately how many hours of sleep do you get a night?


5. Do you go to bed right after the kids? 


6. Do you cook 4+ times a week?


7. When do you do your Grocery Shopping? once a week? with/without kids? monthly? as needed?


8. Do you exercise regularly? - if yes, give basic details


9. Do you have regular "me time"? If yes, when/ how often and what do you do?


10. What is one ( or more) Mom thing you feel you do really well- your Mom Forté if you will... don't be shy.


11. What is one( or more) Mom thing you feel you would like to improve on?


12. Do you have a group of other Moms in your area that you talk to/ get advice from/ have playdates with?


13. Do you have "date night"? Paid Babysitter/Relative/Friend? How often?


14. What is your WORST 
a) Poop
b) Snot 
c) Bedtimes
d) 5pm witching hour - making dinner meltdowns
e) Teeth Brushing
f) Other... please elaborate!


15. Tips and Tricks or anything extra you'd like to share:


THANK YOU!


here are my answers:

1. How many Children do you have? ( list their ages)

1 boy -17 months old

2. How old are you ?

30

3. Are you a working Mom or a SAHM?

SAHM

4. Approximately how many hours of sleep on average do you get a night?

6

5. Do you go to bed right after the kids? 

NO!- its when I get most stuff done or relax- usually 12:30am bedtime for me

6. Do you cook 4+ times a week?

Yes- but I am tired of cooking the same things. I don't do Hamburger helper or anything like  that , but I need to get a bit more adventurous / exciting.

7. When do you do your Grocery Shopping? once a week? with/without kids? monthly? as needed?
Once a week, I usually take him to my Mother-in-law while I go to the Grocery store, I find that if I take him I spend FAR more and WAY less and take 10x longer. 

8. Do you exercise regularly? - if yes, give basic details

no. nada.

9. Do you have regular "me time"? If yes, when/ how often and what do you do?

1 hour of Yoga a week. And then random occasions.

10. What is one ( or more) Mom thing you feel you do really well- your Mom Forté if you will... don't be shy.

I'd like to think I am good at finding a happy medium between being natural/organic and "normal" . We are still breast-feeding, doing cloth & disposable diapers, eating 80% organic,  etc etc etc and I am proud that he recently at 16.5 months old had his first fever - which only lasted one night ( and I am positive that was due to molars coming in anyway). He is a healthy boy which is a blessing and I work hard to keep it that way.

Also like to think I am a fun Mommy- but with rules of course.

11. What is one( or more) Mom thing you feel you would like to improve on?

Meal Planning/ Grocery list planning ahead of time.

Being more "educational" for Elijah

Being less tired.

My daily appearance - less haggard would be nice.

12. Do you have a group of other Moms in your area that you talk to/ get advice from/ have playdates with?

Yes, Thank Heavens! I have a couple of groups of local friends and then my online community of Moms via, iVillage, Facebook, Twitter, momslikeme, blogs . All of which are PRICELESS.

13. Do you have "date night"? Paid Babysitter/Relative/Friend? How often?

no. Can't remember last "date" maybe Christmas party '08?

14. What is your WORST 

a) Poop

b) Snot 

c) Bedtimes

d) 5pm witching hour - making dinner meltdowns

e) Teeth Brushing

f) Other... please elaborate!

e) TEETH BRUSHING - its the worst part(s) of my day. Not MY teeth I love that...its Elijah that hates his being brushed.

15. Tips and Tricks or anything extra you'd like to share:

I am addicted to:

1. My Family

2. Tea

3. LISTS - i thrive on putting a √ next to something! or crossing it off

There just never seems to be enough hours. Or is it enough energy? Or is it enough Caffeine? We can't all be good at everything but by doing this I hope we can tap into each others strengths and learn a trick or two to make our lives easier and when Mommy is Happy - everyone is happy!!

THANKS IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR INPUT, I WILL SHARE MY FINDINGS WITH YOU ASAP!