Encouragement

I know it’s a bit hypocritical to say what I’m about to because I write for a mom blog, but just hear me out when I tell you, “Stop reading so many parenting blogs!” Wait, what? Let me explain. As a typical new mom trying to figure out this whole parenting thing, I was usually up late (and early!) nursing my son and would sometimes see a parenting article pop up on my Facebook feed that seemed interesting. Over time, I couldn’t NOT at least scan them to see what they were saying. I thought that if I didn’t read one that applied to me that I would miss something important. In the early months, I devoured them and took them...

My son, Hudson, came into my life with a sensitive heart and a needy personality. Needing constant contact, love and attention. To be completely honest, this quality of his drove me insane. If I wasn’t holding him, he was crying. If I didn’t co-sleep, he wasn’t sleeping. I never showered. I never slept. I never left the house. Yes, yes, all of this sounds pretty typical of a newborn baby but three years later he is still that same sweet and sensitive soul. Needing constant hugs, affection and acknowledgement. Even now as I am writing this, my little man is asking “can you hold my hand, Momma”? This is his favorite and most common request of me. When he’s...

One of the first things I did after hearing "It's a girl" was to go shopping for clothes, of course! Being a girl mom often means having to stop yourself from buying ALL. THE. THINGS. And there are so many fabulous things. Living in the South only amplifies the need desire to have a picture perfect, smocked and bonneted little girl. But at some point in the terrific 2s, many of those sweet little girls develop opinions and want to pick their own clothes.  At which point we moms have a decision to make: Set the standard from the start that mom picks the clothes or make like Elsa and "let it go". I decided early that this was a battle...

One of the toughest aspects of parenting for me is making decisions. All day every day there are decisions to be made. A million decisions. Thankfully, a lot of them are easy to make. Deciding what my son should eat or wear happen without much thought. But so many parenting decisions feel like they carry a lot of weight and they don’t have a clear right or wrong answer. For instance, next year we will be thinking about kindergarten and there are so many questions and decisions we will have to make surrounding this one milestone- is this school better than this one, should we move to a better school district, should we consider a private school, could we home...

My heart is broken, and so is my marriage. They weren't broken all at once by some horrible act. Little pieces have been chipped away over time. Sometimes, I wish that giving up was an option. It's not, and I don't really want to, but I'm exhausted, and hope seems so out of reach. How do you cope when you are fighting for your marriage and your spouse seems to be going through the motions? But then, am I really fighting for us? Or fighting against him? Am I so used to being let down that I am expecting it, and jumping on any opportunity to complain? Or are we working on practical ways to bring us closer together? I really don't know....