Our Mommyhood

Posts Tagged ‘being a mom’

By Dana, Guest Writer, My 3 Little Ducks (@my3littleducks)

I love the ending of a good movie. Not the normal movie ending, but the tasty little tidbits that some directors give after the movie ends; a glimpse into the future of the characters you just fell in love with for two hours. The best movie ending EVER was The Hangover . If you have seen it you know exactly what I am talking about; what made it great was that everything was in “snapshot” format.

I feel like I walk through my day in that format taking snapshots of my kids, animals, friends, family, nature, etc. Just like all moms, I am absolutely my kids’ biggest fan and their own personal “crazy” paparazzi.

What if someone took snap shots of me during the day? What would they be? What would the caption say?

I’ll tell you what they would say…

Last month’s caption would have read:

Mom finds pile of dog poo at bottom of stairs in the AM and then pukes on it when trying to clean it up with a dust pan. 

Seriously… That did happen, and it did suck!

Because I was living, or at least trying to live life at the time I didn’t even think of it as memorable moment until my amazing friend was having a bad day and she called me and said “I just a had my-dog-pooed-on-the-floor-and-I-puked-on-it day.”  I was sad to hear she was having a bad day, but laughed because she referenced my bad day.

Who was there to capture that priceless poo moment? No one; even Colin, who was the only one up, didn’t see it go down.

What about all of those great times my friends and I sat around my table laughing, chatting and laughing. I would love to have pictures of that. Those great snapshot pictures where someone is leaning back laughing. Someone is pouring a glass of wine and someone is slapping the table because they are laughing so hard.

As mom’s we do so many things throughout the day that are sometimes bizarre, usually always needed, but most of the time never shared with anyone else except that lucky stranger that saw it go down. But almost always another mom would love to hear about, hopefully did the same thing and now can laugh about it.

Go SHARE!! SHARE with each other!! Tell stories, make fun of yourself, and laugh at yourself.  It takes a village to raise these amazing kids we all have. The biggest thing I’ve learned from my village of women is that we need each other. We need each other’s baggage. We need to laugh and cry together.

Whoever your village is, go take care of them! They will always take care of you.

by Megan M., Contributor, All A Bunch Of Momsense (@taxmegan)

Can we be honest here for just a minute?

I’m jealous.

You see, I have quite possibly the worst fashion sense ever.

Not really, but sort of. I’m totally a jeans and t-shirt kind of girl. I don’t wear make-up most days. I have to force myself to have my hair cut with some semblance of a style so I don’t live in a ponytail.

I’m really just lazy, which is reflected in my appearance more than I’d like it to be. Oh, and I spend all my money on my kids, which means I don’t have much to spend on a wardrobe for me.

I don’t need to look like a top end model; I just want to look like a grown-up. I have some solid pieces that work great, but I need to build on that. I need to convince myself that some lip gloss and mascara won’t eat into my morning twitter and coffee time too much. I have got to remind myself that I’m worth a few dollars and a few minutes!

So here’s the deal. I need to know how you do it. I mean, how do you mom’s who look so good manage to, well, look so good?

What great shops do you know about where a mom on a budget can pick up a few pieces?

What are your can’t live without products and pieces?

How much time do you give yourself in the morning to pull your look together?

Talk to me, ladies. I know you’re out there. And if you are in MY boat? Let’s ride this out together. We are worth it!

By Honey B., Contributor, The Honey B (@thehoneyb)

If you’ve ever read my blog, you’ve probably met my Mom. At least the blog version of my Mom- but I promise you that she is just that weird in real life, too!

So I opened a magazine today, and there was an article titled, “Are We All Destined to Become Our Mothers?” I didn’t actually get to read the article due to a fit of hysterical laughter. But the title made me stop and think. And I came to the realization that yep, I’m doomed. I don’t even have kids yet, and I’m already my mother!

It’s the sneaky little things. Like when the words “Store brand is just as good as name brand”, and “I’ll bet you a dollar you can’t tell the difference” came out of my mouth. Or when I first muttered the words under my breath, “Skinny B****” at some model-esque woman who asked for size 00 jeans at  Gap. Or when I told my dogs, “I don’t care if you don’t like what you are having for dinner, eat it or I’ll rub it on you.”

Ahh memories.

For better or for worse, I think we all have some of our mother in us. Some of us have it deeper down than others, and some (like me) have it right at the surface.

That can be a blessing and a curse, of course. I struggle with many of the same things my Mom does- my ever changing weight, my desire to shop without limitations (like money!) and being married to someone who doesn’t always understand the need to rearrange furniture on a quarterly basis. But the blessing is that I know that the best furniture is the stuff you had in the other room, that children/husbands/dogs don’t really care what brand food you made as long as you made it, and that shopping, like bathroom trips, are best done with a friend (like Mom).

And besides, after 28 years of hearing all sorts of Mom-isms, I’m kind of looking forward to telling my unsuspecting children my personal favorites: “The Mommy with the best-behaved children in the library wins a prize” and that “Yes, your brains will leak out if you pierce your ears before you’re sixteen” and “No I’m not lying, ask your father.”

What is your favorite Mom-ism that you’re carrying on to the next generation?

By Michaela, Contributor, Mama Michie’s Musings (@MamaMichie)

As a child I dreamt of being a ballerina when I grew up… later on I wanted to become a pediatrician. When it came time to go to college I studied German, with the intent on getting some sort of business degree… then I moved to Germany after my first semester.

While in Germany I went to school and got what the Germans call an Ausbildung… I became an Industriekauffrau (an industrial clerk)… had a desk job… it was okay, but it wasn’t great. I had to opportunity to manage my (then) boyfriend’s mother’s house wares boutique. That was fun and just when I thought I was starting to get somewhere and bring in more business, we broke up and I moved back to the states. I went to work at a retail store with the hope of working my way into management.

That never happened. We moved and I moved to another retail job… and then I took the job that brought me to tears on many days and nearly gave me an ulcer… I worked in a call center for a major credit card company (I’m sure most of you have one of their many, many cards in your wallet). I hated that job. HATED it… but it actually didn’t pay too bad, so I stuck with it longer than I thought I would.

When Noah was born though, I started my most demanding job yet… the job of being a mother… it doesn’t have a Monday through Friday work week and you’re on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. The pay is crap and you don’t always get recognized for the work and effort you put into doing your job, but it’s the best job I’ve ever had.

I’m going back to school to finish my degree over here, since the schooling I got in Germany doesn’t amount to much over here. I still have to decide if I want to end up with and Early Childhood Education Teaching degree or a degree in Digital Media.  There’s also a part of me that would like to start making soap and have that become my full time work from home job. *sigh*

I think it’s a little sad that I am 32 years old and still have no clue as to what I want my career to be when I “grow up”… I’m happy to say though that I’m already the one thing I  have wanted to be more than anything else… I’m a mother and as far as I’m concerned that’s the best job I’ll ever have!