Mom-Mondays
I’m a whole lot better at mommy-hood with others by my side.
Others like you.
Which is one of the reasons I started Mom-Monday – a day for mom-stories, tips, articles and inspiration. To join in, all you have to do is add your URL to the link list below and put my button anywhere on your site. It’s as simple as that; no post necessary. Just an easy way for moms to come alongside other moms!
To find out more about Mom-Mondays, you can read the first Mom-Monday post below. You can also click on the Mom-Monday label on my sidebar to pull up all the Mom-Monday posts.
I hope you’ll join in!
The First Mom-Monday…
I mentioned before that I’ve been writing a book for moms. One of the things that inspired me to do this was the encouragement I saw among moms in the blogging world…
One mom would post about her child being sick, and she’d be flooded with words of hope and comfort. Another mom would post about the birth of her newest baby, and she’d be showered with congratulations.
I love when people come alongside each other like that.
We moms need it.
And I want to do something around here that will spread more of that encouragement.Which is why I’m starting what I’ll call Mom Mondays.
At the beginning of every week, I’ll post something related to mommy-hood, with the hope that it will entertain, inspire, or encourage you as a mom. It might be a personal story, a parenting article, a tip or idea, or it might be a guest post or feature about one of you.
(In fact, if you have a mom-tale or mom-tip you’d like to share, email me and let’s talk.)
I’d love it if you’d spread the word about this to others, too.
So before you add your link to the list, simply post my button anywhere on your site. You can:
-add the button to your sidebar
or
-write a post on Mondays related to parenting and add my button to your post (it can be anything, from sharing photos, a story, a tip, etc.)
or
-simply use the button on your site at the end of whatever post you have up on Mondays (i.e. “head over for Mom-Mondays”)
And let’s make this interactive. Comment and share your thoughts, a story, or your heart. And stop back by so you can chime in again and we can bounce things off each other.
If you’re not a mom (or if you’re a dad), you’re more than welcome to join in. You never know what comment or story, what thought or idea, will inspire who, whether you’re a parent or not.
So…
To kick things off this week, I thought I’d share something that happened to me not too long ago. Even though it starts off sounding like a story about cooking for kids, it’s not. It’s really a story about how the words of one person can make a difference in the life of a mom…
You might remember I posted about my picky eaters a while ago. Not long after that, I came up with a plan to try to help the situation.
Every week, my kids are responsible for going through our recipe books, picking out one meal each that they think sounds good, then being the “head cook” for that meal during the week.
This plan has meant setting aside time to help them read through cookbooks.
And it’s meant longer trips to the store.
And a messier kitchen on the nights they cook.
But it’s also meant finding some dinners that they really like. And that they probably wouldn’t have tried so cheerfully if they weren’t the ones who’d picked them out and cooked them.
A little while after we started doing this, we all went to Starbucks one morning.
We brought a couple of cookbooks with us because we were heading to the grocery store afterwards and needed to pick out what we were going to make that week.
My kids flipped through the pages, looking at the pictures, asking questions, and deciding.
And deciding.
And deciding.
Until finally, they made their choices.
“Good job,” I said, “These are going to be tasty.” I marked the pages and groaned inside as I scanned the long list of ingredients. Because even though the new plan was helping to expand my kids’ tastes, it was turning out to be a lot of work.
And that’s when the woman at the table next to us stood up and came over.
She put her hand on my shoulder and leaned down. “You’re a good mom,” she said.
I smiled, confused. “Thanks.”
“Is this something you do all the time, with the cookbooks?”
I didn’t know she’d heard us.
I explained to her what we’d started with the meals.
“I think that’s great,” she said. Then again, “You’re a good mom.”
I could barely respond.
Honestly, I felt like I might start bawling.
Her compliment meant a lot to me.
Because it was affirmation that sometimes the more time-consuming or inconvenient choice for us as moms is the best choice for our kids.
And because, sometimes, when we’re wondering if all the effort we put into things is worth it, we need to be reminded that it is.
I was so thankful for that woman’s words that morning, and for the fact that she took the time to come over to me.
Because it made all the difference in the world.
It really did.
Genny,We get so busy as mom's making sure our kids know that we appreciate what they are doing right, that we forget how important it is for our choices and actions to be validated, too.Simple acts and words of kindness mean so much.
I love the idea of Mom Monday. I will keep reading.
What a wonderful reminder for us to slow down and really interact with our kids! I will be back for Mom-Mondays! Fun!
Your story inspired me to take the time to listen to and do special things with our kids, even when it's inconvenient for us. How wonderful to receive affirmation when inside you felt the way you did. Thanks for sharing and for having Mom Mondays. What a great way to connect!
Thanks for sharing your story – the lady was right – you ARE a good mom. Not only was the lady right to encourage you as the mom – but she reinforced to your children that you deserve respect and encouragement for doing what a mom does – she teaches, encourages, follows through and is there for her kids through the good times & the bad time.*HUGS*Tina "The Book Lady"https://www.familyliteracyandyou.blogspot.com
Genny, terrific post, the whole "why" of what we do this wonderful "job" for, thanks,
Genny's story provoked this story from a neighbor dad about my two daughters: I was thinking of this weekend taking my championship swimmer 9-year old Madeline white water rafting—scary, I grant you but you have to accept the maturation and when the time is right, I was able to sit right with her through another big stage of development. Or the roller coaster rides we experience at new parks, teaching her to play various card games and board games (that she is super good at). Finally agreeing to get Maddy her own cell phone just in case she should ever need it to help keep her safe. Just yesterday it seemed I was dropping Maddy off for daycare across the street from my Capitol office…Then there is Cameron, who will start Kindergarten next week. Walking her to school and how difficult it will be for me. I, too, will pretend to be strong about it behind my glasses yet will be barely able to speak. Or rushing a sick Cammy to the doctor in the rain in the middle of the night, scared because as an ex-medic I recognize she was well past simple respiratory distress. Then just last month, being assaulted with pointed questions about whether Cameron will get shots at a recent medical exam knowing full well that she would. Cooking dinner for both Maddy and Cammy and it is a school night—just us while their mommy is away for a night because of a trial, getting them both up and ready for school the next day and finally heading to work, usually late because of it. Later, I decided to embark on a surprise and exclaimed to them: “Girls, get Gus and jump in the car, we are going for a special ride where we will have frozen yogurts you pick out how you want yours!”Flash forward to last night both girls quietly hanging out on the couch together. One is reading the other playing a game, no television allowed. A few minutes later, Cameron leans down and hugs Gus to give him a kiss while he playfully lies there in complete adoration and glowing in the attention. Then bedtime arrives and unprovoked, both girls tell me separately the same thing: Thanks for being the best daddy in the whole wide world.
Once I discovered both my and my families' spiritual gifts and love languages, I finally understood what God created me to be! It is an amazing thing! Glad you discovered your gifts:)
Thank you for this post. I hope that I can strive to be this kind of mom to my little one! What a wonderful thing to do!
Thank you for your post! Its always great to hear how other moms are doing things! Kristlewww.forgetthedognotthebaby.blogspot.com