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.
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!
Awesome idea Z! I copied a link to your post on my blog, so maybe some of my Mommy friends will help you out as well. I'll send you an invite to view it, not sure if you are on the list yet or not :)
ReplyDeleteZ,
ReplyDeleteDude, totally check out Noah's meds!!!!! I have a very close friend whose little guy was on S for 2 years and had horrid behavioral issues. They finally did there own research, took him off of it, and they have a completely different child. Crazy.
oh, and LOL, my word verification for that was HIPPI!
ReplyDeleteHA!
I am Sheila Neslin's friend and here are my answers.
ReplyDelete1. 5 kids, ages 5,4,3,1 1/2, and 5 mo.
2. 31 yrs.
3. SAHM
4. Hard to say, baby #5 sleeps with us so I get 8 hrs but slightly interuppted. I usually don't even remember waking up to feed.
5. I go to bed about an hour after the last child goes to sleep. The 1 1/2 year old is last at about 10 and I am down by 11.
7. Unfortunately I have a major weakness in this area. I love to cook but it only happens 1-2 times a week. I am a bad planner. We never eat out or fast food but we just do leftovers, easy quick things for dinner.
8. NO, Never other than neighborhood walks with kids occasionally.
9. No me time, I am lucky to get an uninterrupted shower. I find me time overrated although it is nice to have friend time and playgroup time, I prefer to have the kids with me. I don't believe in leaving them until they are older and I try to do things as much as possible the way they have been done for centuries like native americans. I don't believe Sacagewea left her kids for some alone time but I do believe in having play groups and communities.
10. I think I am good at finances.
11. Meal planning, house cleaning, less haggard
12. somewhat. We homeschool and it is hard to find others in the same boat.
13. No, we spend time after kids go to bed and shower time in mornings sometimes. Sorry if that is too much info.
14. My worst is poop. My 3 year old was potty trained at 2 and did great until we moved and had a new baby in the same week and it has been 5 months and he still poops in pants at least twice a day along with 2 in diapers.
15. I am addicted to breastfeeding, feeding 2 now. I am addicted to sugar but want to kick that habit. My family and lists also!
forgot grocery shopping, once a weekend with just baby then once or twice during the week with all 5 kiddos. I get lots of comments.
ReplyDeleteI emailed you all my answers. Just wanted to let you know that yoga is exercise! Oh, and I think you are a super mom...give yourself more credit.
ReplyDeleteThank you Thank you everyone! Keep 'em coming. Answers accepted on FB, here, zandipandi email or supermomifo email.
ReplyDeleteJulie> the Yoga Class I do is Gentle, yes it is exercise but I go more to chill out than work out! LOL. Thanks for the SuperMom comment, its a work in progress! Rightbackatcha.
Zandi
1) 2 - Boy 7; girl almost 6
ReplyDelete2)33
3) WOrking mom but firmly believe that SAHM's should qualify for pay!!!
4) Anywhere between 6 - 8 hours per night
5) On the nights I get 8 hours sleep it is because I ignored my house and chores and went to bed after the kids, otherwise I don't go to bed until around 11.
6)I cook 4+ times per week about 80% of the time. Depends on whether or not the DH is traveling.
7)Grocery shop about every two weeks and as needed in between - ALWAYS with the kids.
8)No I do not exercise regularly unless you count walking from the parking deck to my desk and back.
9)I do NOT have regular me time and it stinks!!!
10)I think my forte is that my kids get to experience lots of things. I cook with them, they go everywhere we go. If they have a question, we look in a book, we do arts and crafts and they don't watch a lot of TV.
11)I would like to improve on not caring so much about the little stupid things. If they make a mess, I would like to just be like it is ok, we can clean it up. Sometimes I yell and I always feel bad about that.
12) I have Facebook and my work friends who all have older children who give me lots of advice.
13) About once every other month my kids go to their grandparents for a night and that's about it. Babysittters are expensive!!
14) We are sort of past most of the things you listed and for each of my kids it is different. My daughter is SLOW and EVERYTHING. Getting dressed, getting undressed, brushing teeth... I am learning to deal. My son's issue is homework. He doesn't like doing it and takes forever. I hate having to say hurry up. WHen they were little I hated giving them baths - my husband does that.
15) I am addicted to facebook and solitaire on my phone. I used to be addicted to lists but only use them now for packing for our trips because the rest are just things I didn't do and should feel bad about.
Would just like to say that this is a cool idea and most often we are our own worst critics and that we should cut ourselves some slack because no one is perfect.
1. How many Children do you have? ( list their ages)
ReplyDelete3 children/ 10.5 year old boy, 9 year old daughter and 21 month old son.
2. How old are you ?
31 (just turned 31 today!)
3. Are you a working Mom or a SAHM?
SAHM/WAHM
4. Approximately how many hours of sleep do you get a night?
4 hours
5. Do you go to bed right after the kids?
Heck no. That is when I catch up on my homework, housework and Internet.
6. Do you cook 4+ times a week?
Ha ha ha ha!!! Nope. My hubby does most of the cooking since I never have the time. If I'm in charge of dinner we go out to eat or order in.
7. When do you do your Grocery Shopping? once a week? with/without kids? monthly? as needed?
Every 2 weeks we do a large grocery run. Other than that it's just to run in for more milk!
8. Do you exercise regularly? - if yes, give basic details
Ha ha ha ha....my exercise is cleaning and chasing a toddler
9. Do you have regular "me time"? If yes, when/ how often and what do you do?
What is me time? I rarely get to use the bathroom without interruptions!
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 rock in the area of loving my kids, supporting them, taking care of them when they are sick or sad. Basically I'm just a lover!
11. What is one( or more) Mom thing you feel you would like to improve on?
Making myself more healthy so I can do more with them and be around for them longer!
12. Do you have a group of other Moms in your area that you talk to/ get advice from/ have playdates with?
Nope. Most of my friends work FT so it doesn't leave me many opportunities to do things with them.
13. Do you have "date night"? Paid Babysitter/Relative/Friend? How often?
We are lucky if we get out of the house together without kids 3 times a year. It's hard to find a sitter and costly. I also don't quite trust my in laws with taking the toddler over night yet
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!
Teeth brushing! It is one area I slack in monitoring and my kids always try to get out of doing.
15. Tips and Tricks or anything extra you'd like to share:
Don't stress out and just do your best. Enjoy them while you can!!