About My Parenting Journey

I figured since we will be doing this thing for 31 days, and you all will be reading my voice the whole time, I would share a little of background info.  I've got all the fun and casual details on my Meet the Messy Mom link, but I would still like to give everyone a little peak at my mom credentials. 

My three kiddos are all lovely and talented of course, but in very different ways.

My oldest son fits the stereotype of a little guy with glasses. He enjoys reading, writing, geography, and math (where did he come from!?)

 I also have a daughter who is deaf. She goes to school for the deaf and works very hard, but she has a long way to go before she is caught up even among her peers with hearing loss. At four and a half years old she is just learning to talk. It’s all for good reason obviously, this isn’t about comparison and it is not a shameful thing whatsoever. I just want to be transparent with you so that you know that when I talk about Teachable Parenting I have an invested interest in special needs from one end of the spectrum to the other.

Last but not least, I have a two year old boy who keeps my heart rate pumping and did I mention he is two, and he is a boy? Yeah, I don’t think I need to elaborate too much on the parenting challenges I face there. 

Even with the differences they all have one thing in common. They are strong willed.

I am not dissatisfied with the personality of my children, in fact I wasn’t the one to even label them strong willed in the beginning, but that’s what I’ve been told that they are at some point or another. I usually hear it around toddlerhood

 He’s strong willed isn’t he? 

Second runner up to You sure do have your hands full. 

Followed by Such a busy little guy.

Or the sympathetic Is it nap time? 

I don’t want to sound bitter. I have said, and stand by my statements, that parenthood is the best thing that has ever happened to me or my marriage. It’s been the most amazing 7 years of my life so far.

Let’s pause for a moment on that number. SEVEN years. You could look at it like I have been training and studying childrearing daily 24/7 which would mean I should have at the very least a Master’s Degree right? Then the fact that I have 3 of children that just makes me even more qualified to be on top of this mom thing. I mean, when I went in for my prenatal appointments with my last child the Doctor was like this is your third healthy pregnancy? I nodded yes and he said well then let me step out of the way, you should probably be telling me how it’s done! You would be surprised how many people got wide eyed at the announcement of my third like I had reached a whole new peak of the mountain that only few travelers dare to venture toward. Seriously.

Now on the other hand three is not that many children. I have LESS children than most of my friends or my mom or mother in law. And seven years is not really that long. In mom years I am 7 years old. Forget the Master’s Degree I am in the first grade of motherhood. First grade! I have just begun!

In other words I want my reader’s to know that as I share all the wisdom of these books for this series it is not to imply that I have achieved this high status as a caregiver and now I am ready to show everyone how it’s done. I am just your average mom dragging my daughter out of the play land against her will or realizing my son slept in his clothes and wore them to school the second day in a row. That last one happened one time, the other thing happens all the time. Anyway, my hope in this 31 days endeavor is that maybe we could learn together, laugh together, and have grace for other moms and ourselves.

 If your new to Messy Mom please introduce yourself. I’d love to know where you are from, how many children you have and what ages they are, along with their social security numbers and genealogical history. Totally kidding about that last part, but serious about making this an interactive community. I can’t wait to dive into the next 26 days with you!