Confessions from a Thirty Something Momma

So imagine this scenario:  You have an important test coming up. You study for it. You participate in hands on activities to help you understand the subject. You even look up online articles and read magazines. Confidently, you show up for your exam. You sit down, ready to tackle the questions and conquer this exam. You read question number one. You stare and blink. You read again. With confusion, you realize this seems a bit like a foreign subject. This question wasn't at all covered in your studying. You shrug it off to a random occurrence and move on to question number two. You stare and blink again. You re-read again. You think, "wait a a minute, what's going on here?" You begin to skim over the remaining questions. You swallow hard and your heart starts pounding. It seems you've been spending your time studying for the wrong test! Sometimes, as a parent, I feel like this. Especially as the parent of a toddler. I read books. I've worked with other ch...

I worked in an office for 5-1/2 years. And we had a pretty cool water cooler.  It wasn't one of those typical water jugs sitting on a stand with a spout below. It was a system that filtered and cleaned the water and even heated it too... it had buttons on the front and the water came from a line ..not a jug. While at work I drank lots of water. I'd go to the break room and fill up one or two glasses at a time to take to my desk. Along the way I might pop my head in someone's office, chit chatting about the latest movie, or asking about some event they had going on. Then I'd head back to my desk and precede to work. As a Stay At Home Mom [SAHM] I find one of the biggest adjustments for me was losing my water cooler experience. I am an extrovert. I thrive on conversation. I get energy just from being around other people. I may have even been that person in the office that you hope doesn't stop at your desk for that 5 minute chat cause you gotta really get some wor...

I've been told a few times, by my Mother specifically, that I've been "grouchy" lately. That's her nice way of saying I'm being rude and short tempered and have been for a prolonged period of time. And I suppose it's true. Originally I figured it was due to the overwhelming and exhausting days transitioning to being a full time caretaker for my children. Other times I thought it was PMS. Most days I defended it as not having enough coffee. But if I'm honest, I can begin to admit the truth. It's been staring me in the face for a few days now.  It's a two-fold problem actually. The first part is that I am not in full control of anything or anyone. Part of parenting is "training" up your children. Training. Not controlling. Trying to control my children is akin to taking a novice horse rider and strapping them on top of a wild untamed horse. It can get really ugly, really quickly. And my natural instinct isn't to train- it's...

Determined. Joel was not even 10 months old when I realized this was one of his more defining traits, if not the most defining trait he had. Even as a baby, when he wanted something, he gave his 100% towards accomplishing that goal. I was in awe when I saw him pull to stand in his playpen, fall down, and try again. Over and over and over he did this. It seriously took him a week or less before he had mastered this skill. On he continued to cruising and then walking at 10 months. He was running by his 1st birthday. Before you roll your eyes thinking this is one of those, "my kid is an overachiever" blogs, I will assure you this is not. My kid is determined. My kid is passionate. My kid knows what he wants. My kid knows HOW he wants things done. My kid is VERY sure about what he wants. My kid is STRONG-WILLED. I can tell you I was not prepared for a strong-willed child. I was the kid who was picked on at school and insecure for more years that I can count. I was the...