Mommy of Many®

Oh Dear Lord! There’s more to all of this than I thought!

So, with yesterday being Day 1 of my new commitment to my overall health, I put on a t-shirt and yoga pants and drug out my nikes. I stood in the kitchen, ready to get the kids off to school and then embark on my big walk, when my 14-yr. old said, “Mom, your underwear is cutting into your bum.” Nice! Here is the conversation that followed;

Me: Yes, Mariah, I know. What would you like me to do?
Mariah: When you wear yoga pants you can’t wear underwear.
Me: What?!

She simply laughed at me and walked out the door. Well, I have friends who workout regularly, so I sat down with my phone and shot a couple of texts explaining my dilema;

Me: is it true that you don’t wear underwear with yoga pants?
Friend one: Mom’s should ALWAYS wear underwear (by the way I really appreciated this answer!). Buy boy-cut panties.
Me: what about today?
Friend one: Deal with the panty lines.

Friend two: it’s called a thong!

So there you have it! Not only did I have to get my head around the commitment to workout, I had to learn the ins and outs of the fashion behind (or should I say, under) the whole thing.

Now, make no mistake, I know the rules of underwear (top and bottom) for everyday and special event clothing, but truly did not think about the whole thing when it came to putting on workout clothing and heading out for a walk.

Well, now I know and so do you!

Have a great day~

We all have our “Boxes”. These are the things that make us uncomfortable and make us want to hide from what we must face. Sometimes having a box is a good thing. But, as parents we need to be careful of trying to place our children in our boxes. We should not put our fears and unease on the kids. I’ve been forced to learn this lesson over some of our schooling issues. It’s a good lesson! Through parenting and watching my children grow, I’m being forced out of my box and am learning to see my children’s strengths.

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Saying “I’m sorry” can be a powerful tool. There are those days when parenting can get the best of us and we raise our voice or put the kids off or become unfocused. Going back to the kids and simply saying, “I’m sorry” and “I love you” can make all the difference.

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It’s been a couple of tough weeks around here and I’ve had to face up to the fact that part of the problem is that I wasn’t taking my own advice. When summer began and the kids came home, I stopped writing the Morning Memo, stopped writing a detailed schedule and didn’t do a very good job of enforcing the chores. I, somehow, thought that everything that I had put into place would just keep running itself. WRONG! So, now I’m picking up the pieces and getting back to business. In letting things slide, I’ve realized that some of my kids’ behavior also slid. Geesh! Everything is connected!

Thanks for listening to the show and for visiting the site. Have a show idea? Use the “contact” button to the right.

Good night~

 

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This week’s show is sponsored by Aveeno Baby!

I learned a valuable lesson this week! I often get so locked into the plan of the day that I can’t enjoy a nice surprise or change of plans. When I realized that I had forgotten to write down plans with one of my sisters I had to decided that visiting with family and enjoying the yard and the kids was more important than well-laid plans. Guess what?…..it all worked out beautifully. With a little flexibility and a big breath, I was able to enjoy my company and still get the things done that had to be done.

Be flexible! It’ll all work out!

Thank you for visiting MommyofMany.com and for listening to the show.

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A little P.S.-If you HAPPEN to think that dreams are important and that a Mommy of Many and military spouse (of a deployed service member) should have a dream come true AND you can help get Mommy of Many to be able to see Rod Stewart in concert in Irvine, Ca. on August 1st…….for goodness sake!…….use the “contact” link and let’s make it happen!

I’m a planner. I want everything laid out in detail so that I don’t have too many surprises. You can imagine that I have surprises and schedule changes all the time, but I, sort-of, build those in. You know the kind, you’ve sat down to write the budget and the baby gets into something icky and you have to set the budget aside and give him/her a bath. Those, I deal with pretty well. But the other day, I’d planned out the day around work schedules and activities and recording my show. So, I get everyone out the door and get everything set up and my phone rings. The second I looked at my phone I knew I’d made a big mistake. It was one of my sisters and she was at the door. I had TOTALLY forgotten that she had planned to come down to visit! My mind began to race! I was happy that she and my niece were here, but I was frantic about what I was going to do about the show and how my whole plan was blown. I took a big breath and said a little prayer and decided there wasn’t anything I could do. It was my fault for not writing our plans down in my calendar! So, I thought that I better just enjoy this time with family and figure it all out later.

Guess what-It was great! All my fretting and anxiety over my foiled plan-of-the-day were for nothing! I went outside with them and enjoyed the San Diego Saturday. My kids came home and ran around in the yard with their cousin, we made a nice dinner and ultimately, my show still got done.

So Lesson# 7 is; Be Flexible! Don’t get so boxed into your schedule or plans that a nice surprise can’t be enjoyed.

Have a great day~

Today’s the day that I get to have all of my kiddos back together. I know I’ve talked about how this first year of having kids away at school has gone and the different changes in family dynamics, but today I get to shout with happiness that all my kids are home! JJ’s plane will be here in a few hours. The boys are SUPER excited! They have been counting down the days for the last 2 1/2 weeks. They’ve made all sorts of plans about what they will do with him, show him, tell him. In my last podcast, I talked about the excitement that families feel when their deployed mom or dad is coming home. I have to say that the little boys are just as excited to have JJ coming home.

Honestly, I’m a little nervous. I am not getting back the same boy that I sent off to school. I was able to visit him in October and I remember that there had already been some changes in him. He came home for Thanksgiving and Christmas and we could see that he was calmer and more introspective. I have not seen him since January but in phone calls I can hear changes in his voice and his tone. He sounds like he’s comfortable with himself and with life and tuned in to the ways that God is working in our lives.

I am bursting with pride! I’m also very excited that the little boys will have a male role-model in the house for the summer. It’s going to be so good for them to have someone to play games with them, take them on walks and bike rides and to instill some of his calmness on them.

Alright, alright, I’m not expecting miracles! They are going to get riled-up and play too roughly and yell more loudly than I want. But underneath it all, I’ll know that they are learning from their brother who has gone away and learned about himself, his faith and how much his family loves him.

I’ll let you know how it goes!

Have a great day~

This week’s show is sponsored by Aveeno Baby!

Happy Mother’s Day! I hope that each of you moms get a special day. If you don’t have any special events planned, be sure to spend a little time remembering some of your special mommy moments.

Since it’s a Mother’s Day show, I decided to talk about a couple of “Mommy issues” I’ve encountered over my years as a mom. I give you permission to chuckle at me as you listen. Sometimes the things we end up doing as parents can be funny!

Thank you for visiting the site and for listening to the show. You can always email me at Jen@MommyofMany.com or use the “contact” button. Please take a minute to visit our sponsor, Aveeno Baby.

Have a great day~

 

 MOM 29 [14:52m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (173)

This week’s show is sponsored by Aveeno Baby!

In this show I talk about the importance of giving detail to our kids when assigning them a task.

Thank you for visiting the site and for listening. Don’t forget to visit our sponsor!

Have a great day~

 

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This week’s lesson is that as parents, we need to remember to give out positive physical contact to our older children as well as our little ones. When we have babies and toddles, preschoolers and grader-schoolers, it seems to come naturally, but as the kids grow and stop coming to ask for hugs or to sit with us (or even on us), we need to approach them and give them a hug at the end of the day or when they walk through the door after school. It can make a big difference in a teen or older child’s attitude to just be hugged.

Thank you for listening to the show. I welcome your comments or questions. You can email me at Jen@MommyofMany.com.

Have a great day~

This week I talk about Lesson #3 in the Learning Lessons Series, which is that children of all ages need consistency. Over the years I’ve seen that things run a lot smoother if the kids know what to expect. Surprises are great, but not in our everyday lives. We want to know what the routine is and so do the kids. laying out a good routing for the kids has saved me from hearing a lot of yelling and whining.

Thanks for listening! I appreciate your feedback. You can email me at Jen@MommyofMany.com or just use the contact button to the left.

Have a great day~

This week, I expand on Lesson #2 of the Learning Lessons Series. From time to time, I am able to enjoy the quiet and simple moments with my kiddos. I have to remind myself that it’s ok to spend a day at home, with nothing planned. The overriding message that’s all around us as parents is the “GO! DO!” While planning events with and for your children is not a bad thing, we can easily get overwhelmed with a full calendar and forget that spending a day in our own yard is enjoyable.

Thank you for listening to the show! I would love to hear your ideas on how to slow down or the tactics you implement in your home. You can email me at Jen@MommyofMany.com and until next time, I’ll be here, doing the Dance of the Children!

I decided to take the Learning Lessons series of posts and turn them into a series of shows. It’s always nice to be able to talk about something that I’ve written about because it gives me the chance to expand the idea.

Thank you for visiting the site. I’d love to hear your ideas and what lessons you’ve learned as you’ve gone through your parenting. You can email me at Jen@MommyofMany.com or simply click the contact button to the left.

You have, most likely, read my blog from a few days ago, when I attended the funeral of the 3rd grader from my children’s school. But, because I received a great response to that post I felt compelled to TALK about what I thought about and how it all made me feel. So, this show is an extension of that post.

Thank you for listening and for visiting MommyofMany.com. I look forward to your comments and questions. You can email me at; Jen@MommyofMany.com.

Good night~

Yesterday I attended the funeral of a 3rd grader from my children’s school. It was a little boy who had previously been in class with Tristan. It was incredibly sad to see the family come in behind the little coffin. The kids go to a Catholic school and the funeral and Mass were held at the parish church affiliated with the school. Many of the students and teachers attended. As I sat there saddened by the loss of a little boy, my mind started to wander. I started to think about what, exactly, I was sad about.

I realized that the saddest part for me was knowing that if I were to lose one of my children, that I’d have missed out on enjoying some of the things that are often “annoying”. I’d miss the clean and folded clothes that have been stuffed into the laundry basket so that they didn’t have to be put away. I’d miss a little voice begging me to sit down and read a story, even though I’m trying to make dinner, fold clothes, wash dishes, write a blog post or take a shower. I’d miss “on-demand” nursing. I’d miss the warmth of a little body climbing into my bed and squishing in-between my husband and I. I’d miss special requests at dinner or snack time. I’d miss the long, drawn-out explanations of ideas from curious and growing little minds. I’d be heart-broken to realize that I hadn’t enjoyed being a mother and instead focused on the annoyances of doing this job 24/7 for years on end. And right there and then I made a decision to ENJOY my children. To love them for the time I have them, dirty hands, food on the floor, whining and all. I’m making a vow to love them the way I want to, despite people who think they should be more disciplined, quieter, cleaner. Despite people who think my family is too large or too poor. I’m just going to love them and enjoy them and hope that I get to keep them for a long, long time.

I learned a valuable lesson yesterday! I learned that I need to appreciate what’s been put before me.

So, now, instead of worrying about the paperwork that’s piling up or the laundry that’s never going to be done, anyway or the messy playroom, I’m going to pack up my 3 youngest kiddos and take a walk to the beach.

I hope you each find a way to appreciate your loved ones today and to vow to love them in your own way, without being hindered by other’s opinions.

Have a great day~