In celebration of Mother's Day later this month, I invite you to indulge in a little momlove, a series of guest blog posts by the best of the best. I've invited some of my very favorite blogger moms to share a little bit of their wisdom and experience here.
Meet my friend Danielle.
Balance is a word I have as my family mantra.
There are times when I have cut TV and electronics out completely from our lives that are accompanied with heavy sighs and loud protests. Then, before I know it we’re back to too many hours a week of video games and Disney shows. There are times when I have used the mama card to demand an all organic, no sugar, no fast food, no processed food diet for my family, to suddenly realize one day we’ve ordered fast food three times that week.
There are times I feel like a failure as a mother. I have felt embarrassment over something my daughter has repeated in a playgroup, the copious amounts of dog hair on the floor, the eyebrow raises when I mention due to my husband being a corporate gypsy we have moved just a few times over the years, “Well, isn’t that hard on your children, moving so many times?” I answer, “Yes.” As always, I feel that terrible guilt roll over me like a wave.
Then I have to remind myself that my daughters have learned another language living abroad, they have seen and experienced parts of the world others might never; climbed pyramids, rode a bike across the Golden Gate Bridge, viewed the Paris skyline high up upon the Eiffel Tower, had high tea in the Brown Hotel in London, had lunch at the feet of the Statue of Liberty and toured Betsy Ross’ house. I feel these experiences have shaped them into adventure-loving, adaptable, confident young girls. Then I feel like I am doing something right.
It’s about finding balance. Time to cuddle, time for hard love. Time for just one more TV show, time for lights out. Time for ice cream and time for more veggies.
I am not perfect, I don’t claim to be, but I do strive for balance, some sort of normalcy and order. Do I get it right every day? No. No, I do not. But I will keep trying to balance what I think is good for us, like organic strawberries over conventional, and cheat on the other things, like frozen yogurt three times this week. Oh well, c'est la vie, right?
Danielle is a beautiful, talented and lovely friend of mine. She's also a mom I look up to. She's got it together. She has two brilliant and gorgeous daughters. She and her family have lived all over the U.S. and abroad. They travel, live life to the fullest and are always in the middle of a new adventure. Check out her blog, Splendid.
Danielle is a beautiful, talented and lovely friend of mine. She's also a mom I look up to. She's got it together. She has two brilliant and gorgeous daughters. She and her family have lived all over the U.S. and abroad. They travel, live life to the fullest and are always in the middle of a new adventure. Check out her blog, Splendid.