Friday Five: What I Love About Being A Mom

If you've been following my blog since it began, way back in October of 2011, you might remember my two Friday Five posts - Five Things I Said I'd never Do As A Parent and Five Things I Never Thought I'd Google. I had intentions of it becoming a weekly thing, but life got in the way so I stopped at two.

But I'm back and at it again. I don't know why this topic popped into my head. Maybe because it can be way too easy to focus on the negatives of motherhood when you're dealing with poop and messes and laundry and dirty dishes on a daily basis. But instead of focusing on all that I'm going to talk about the...

Five things I love about being a mom

Can you believe she's fast asleep in this photo?

1. Kissing my kids after they've fallen asleep Is it wrong that my favorite part of the day is sneaking into the kids' room after they've fallen asleep and giving them an extra goodnight kiss? They are so sweet and lovable and cuddly when they're fast asleep. Then my husband and I can have a glass of wine and congratulate each other on making it through another day!

2. Making new friends In college it's so easy to make friends. They're practically built right into the dorms. It starts to get a bit more difficult when you join the workforce and your co-workers are various ages and in different stages of life. But once you become a mom you immediately join this wonderful group of women. Motherhood isn't all about the kids. It's also about finding a community of moms that you can relate to, commiserate with and share funny stories about your kids.

3. Understanding my mom more My mom passed away almost 5 years ago. I found out I was pregnant with Finley a year after her death so I never got to experience my pregnancies with her or watch her be an awesome grandma to my kids. (I have no doubt she would have been the best grandma out there.) I was very close to my mom so it definitely makes motherhood a lot more difficult. But I'm so happy that I get to experience it and understand a bit more of what it was like for her. I just wish I could share those feelings with her. (And maybe apologize for a few things!)

4. Laughter I laugh every day with my kids. (I won't tell you how often I cry, but I definitely laugh.) If you're having a bad day, go tickle a kid. I dare you not to smile when you listen to their giggles.

5. Excitement Christmas and birthdays are always fun, but the excitement wanes a bit as you get older. As soon as you have kids it's like you're a kid again, too. And it's not just holidays. We all see cars driving down the road every day. But to an 18-month-old boy that can be the greatest thing he's ever seen, ever. I love the way Grady exclaims "Car!" (with some sort of Boston accent) every time we go somewhere. Sometimes I forget that everything is still very new to him and when I hear him yell, "Car!" it reminds me to slow down and enjoy things with him.

What do you love about being a mom? Bedtime? Snuggles and cuddles? The silly things your kids say?

Since being a mom isn't always sunshine and rainbows and kittens running through fields, maybe next Friday I'll do a post on the five hardest things about being a mom. I can guarantee numbers 1 - 3 will pertain to potty training.

Now it's time to feed the kids, read some stories, give some goodnight kisses, and then high-five my husband for making it through another week! Hope you all have a lovely Friday night! 

ParentMap Lectures: Nurture Shock

ParentMap is hosting a series of lectures this spring on topics ranging from marriage, parenting, teens and bullying. The lecture that caught my eye in particular was Nurture Shock: New Twists That Shape Children's Success by Ashley Merryman. Ashley Merryman is the co-author of a book called NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children.

A friend of mine (who is a veteran parent) recommended this book to me a year ago. I was sucked in from the beginning. It's a fascinating look at the way we are raising our children. I actually need to go back and read it again since I was living a very sleep-deprived life with a 2-year-old and 5-month-old at the time. But even in my sleep-deprived state, I loved it and got a lot out of it.

Check out the website for more information on the other lectures. There are a few others that I'm interested in attending. I will be skipping the teen lectures since I'm choosing to ignore the fact that I will ever have a teenage daughter (though she acts like a teenager at times). ;)

Details ---
What: Nurture Shock: New Twists That Shape Children's Success Lecture
Where: Washington Cathedral (12300 Woodinville Redmond Rd. Redmond, WA)
When: March 1, 2012 7 p.m. - 9 p.m.
Cost: $20 for single lecture or $99 for the series of 7 lectures
More Info: The ParentMap website

Friday Five - I'm Not the Parent I Thought I'd Be

Before we become parents we have these ideas in our heads of what it will be like, what kind of parent we'll be, what kind of parent we want to be. And then the kid comes. And you throw it all out the window. Or at least that's what I did.

I'm sure there are things I said I would never do and I've never done them. I can't think of those things at the moment though. I can't remember much anymore. And I'm going to blame it on the kids, like I always do.

However, I did manage to remember...

Five things I said I'd never do as a parent

1. Leave the house with the kids in a less-than-presentable state. Ha! Big huge HA HA! Seriously, I don't know why I ever thought this. Kids are messy. Kids don't do what you tell them to. You want to go to library story time wearing a tank top in 40 degree weather, carrying your blankie and with your very curly hair matted down in the back. Sure, you win this battle. But I get to win the next one. Okay?

2. Talk about potty training on Facebook. I apologize to those of you I may have secretly judged for your status updates revolving around your children's poop and where it ended up. I really had no clue how flipping exciting it is when your 2-year-old FINALLY pees in the potty. Days and days of struggles to get them to even sit on the toilet and when they finally go in the toilet, you want to tell everyone you know - your mom, your dad, the check out lady at Fred Meyer. Yes, it's that exciting. Now I understand. No more judging from me!

The signature thumb in the mouth hand down the shirt move, made famous by Finley.

3. Tell embarrassing stories about my children. Just check out last week's Friday Five and you can clearly see that I have no problem telling the world that my child has a problem keeping her finger out of her nose, though she has kicked the nipple habit. Kids are hilarious. And they do hilarious stuff. It has to be shared. I just hope that Facebook isn't around when she's older so she never knows I share this stuff about her. Please don't tell.

4. Bribe them. I'm not sure I even thought about this before having kids. But if I did, I'm sure I thought bribery just wouldn't be necessary. I'd have it all under control and the kids would do just what I told them to. But, seriously, sometimes it's all you can do to maintain your sanity. I've done it. And I'm not ashamed. "Eat one more bite of carrots and you can have dessert." Now, really, is that so bad?

5. Bathe my kids once a week. Ok, so it's not that bad. But sometimes they only get bathed twice a week. (I'm still waiting for kids to evolve to be more like self-cleaning felines. Wouldn't it be nice if kids started licking themselves clean? I'd have so much more free time.) Anyway, kids don't really get that dirty. And I'm exhausted some nights. If they don't stink, they don't need the sink (or the bath tub, you know what I mean).

What about you? What are the things you said you'd never do as a parent? Wipe your kid's face with your spit? Say "Because I said so!"? Use the TV as a babysitter? I'm pretty sure whatever you said you'd never do, I've done.