Lesson Learned from My Mom

This Saturday is Mother's Day,so I figured what better way to celebrate and honor the day than by sharing one of the best lessons my mom ever taught me? So this week, I wrote about my mom...

Being a mom isn’t easy. Ask anyone who has been one. There is no “secret” technique out there for guaranteed success or some long-lost book telling us how to do everything right so our children are raised perfectly.  So in an attempt to do the best job I can with my six year old son and four and a half year old daughter, I’ve taken one lesson to heart that my mom displayed every day of her life as my mom, it’s simple…savor the small stuff! Sounds easy enough doesn’t it?

When I was pregnant with our first, like many women, I had a romantic idea of what my days would be like as a mother. I dreamed of staying home with my children, taking in every moment as I watched them grow! But like most Americans over the past decade, that dream couldn’t be realized, and now my husband and I are both working full time, just to make ends meet. Since there are so many moments I miss on a daily basis, I strive from the second I am with my kids to savor the small stuff. Small stuff like singing along to songs on the radio while cooking dinner, playing “I Spy” on the way to and from preschool (you’d be amazed how many pink colored things my daughter can find everyday!), doing small art projects like making kites out of construction paper and take-out chop sticks, and my favorite time of all - laying down with them at bedtime while they tell me all about their day!

Yes, motherhood has been full of second guesses and leaps of faith, but that’s how life is. Plans change, you adapt as best you can, and take what you can get! While I may not get to be at home with my children as much as I like, or be able to take vacations every summer with my family, everyday- whether it’s a small, shy smile from my son when I tell him that I love him or an elaborate story my daughter has made up about her day (which typically involves telling me that she ate bugs at school and became a real princess on the playground) - I truly, savor the small stuff!

           My mom capturing a small moment with her grandkids while waiting 
                                   for me one random afternoon!

                              My mom with all her grandbabies in 2011