This week, May 15-21, is National Prevention Week. That means it is time for SAMHSA’s annual “I Choose” project. This photo represents my ‘why’. I got sober because I wanted to live. I have stayed sober because I have learned that sobriety offers so much more than sobriety. I continue to choose sobriety every day…
Category: Motherhood
Prevention Plans
I talk a lot about the difficulties relating to my addiction, recovery, being an ACoA, and also being a recovering codependent and enabler. As the years have gone by, and as my family has grown, my personal recovery focus has shifted from focusing solely on myself, to me taking care of myself so that I…
Appreciating Diversity.
How can things like vacuuming cracker crumbs two billion times a day, accidentally stepping on squishified bananas, playing peek-a-boo and throwing cakes in the pan periodically throughout the day, while the faint sound of random nursery rhymes loop in the background from deep inside of the toy box from a toy that just won’t die-…
Hot Mess, Party of One.
October and November were uncharacteristically difficult for me. Like really crappy. I mean we all have stress, and we all have our fair share of ‘lifey’ kinds of things that are always happening. Hell I know and have been praying for some families who are really struggling with some serious things right now. But I…
Baby M Attacks.
What If.
When we feel accepted, embraced, and loved, regardless of our imperfections- we feel more secure by default. We feel welcome. When we feel like we aren’t being judged, we tend to feel a little bit more comfortable too. We learn that it’s okay to embrace and love the absolute -ishh out of ourselves. These…
Chipping Away at Bitchdom.
So a few days ago we were at the park. I looked over my shoulder when I heard a family approaching. One mama and five energetic kiddos. The smallest girl, who couldn’t have been older than 7 years old, was dragging an infant around the park. Guessing baby was around 6 months old. I watched…
Ease Up.
When I committed to the non-judging of other moms, I meant it. I just think I might have to cut myself a little bit of slack too. Definitely not conceptually new for me personally, but certainly something mommitment has me thinking about more regularly. So I might be a perfectionist when it comes to the…
My #Mommitment Changed Everything.
I took a pledge. I made a commitment. I am a part of a movement. A mom-movement dedicated to kindness and non-judging of other moms.. known online as #Mommitment. Since discovering the original article on Twitter a few months ago (you can read that here: http://www.nextlifenokids.com/2015/01/tired-of-mom-wars-why-im-making.html) and making my own personal pledge, I have found that nothing…
Don’t Remember That Either, Honey.
I scroll through my Twitter feed and I cannot even tell you how much I love seeing families reunited, mother’s and father’s regaining visitation or custody rights, or parents reconnecting and celebrating with their children after a period of being estranged. It is such a joyful thing to see. That is huge people! Huge! Nothing…
Happy Mother’s Day
Mother’s Day. It seems like no matter who you talk to, everyone is either happily & thankfully celebrating, silently grieving, or a little bit of both. For me, it may be a little bit of both, but mostly I focus on thankfully celebrating the gift of motherhood. Of course on one hand, I grieve for…
A Mommy Confession #Mommitment
Mommy confession for today: I made my son oatmeal for breakfast this morning. I purposefully made his oatmeal in an empty sour cream container that had previously been washed and used as a small container/bowl etc. This gave me the option of throwing it away when he was finished eating, instead of washing it. I am…
#Mommitment
A few months back I was having a tough week with the judgy stuff; feeling it laid on pretty thick at the time. Ironically, I also had Facebook friends who were posting about feeling it as well. We were simply feeling ostracized for one reason or another. I felt compelled to write a post about…
You’re a Great Mom.
If I fall asleep during this post, I guess it won’t get published like I had hoped, because I wanted to share what is on my heart this morning. It is 9:05 a.m. and I can barely keep my eyes open. By all mom standards, it is one of those days. I am listening for…
Clarification.
When I read this I just had to share with you guys. I think it is important to have clarification on this issue. 🙂
You CAN.
Tonight the boys and I watched a documentary on Netflix called “Stuck”. We knew it would be sad and probably tough to sit through. The thumbnail showed pictures of tiny, adorable little humans (children) from around the globe, and the short description warned us that the movie would be about the complex dynamics of adoption and…
SAMHSA’s Prevention Project
The “I Choose” project, which began in February 2013, will continue through National Prevention Week 2014! This project is an easy way to make a difference, be a positive example, and inspire others. By participating in the “I Choose” Project, you can help spread the word that our choices make a big difference in our…
Big Life Change.
I think that the type of feelings that I have been feeling lately could be similar to the ones that people have when they are experiencing “Empty-Nest Syndrome”. (is that a real thing–an actual syndrome? ) Hmm. I might Google that later. (Sidenote: If “selfie” has been officially added to…
Stop Rushing.
Simply ‘being all there’ and taking each day- one day at a time. If you think about it, rushing doesn’t really ever produce anything of best possible quality anyway. Breathe deep, and take it all in. This is something that I have to constantly remind myself of. Whether we are tying shoes, washing dishes…