I don’t want to be JUST mom enough!

If you’re a parent, you’ve most likely seen the newest cover of TIME Magazine which shows a mother with her 3 year-old son breastfeeding while standing on a chair, with the headline “Are you mom enough?”.  I first took notice of it last Thursday when just about every other post on my Facebook News Feed had the picture of the cover on it with a tag line question such as “What kind of mom do you want to be?”  While most mothers reading this were uneasy with the picture or disagreed with attachment parenting, the majority of mothers were just plain disappointed with TIME putting out such a story, creating what is commonly referred to as “mommy wars”, especially so close to Mother’s day.  Some mothers were so upset that they didn’t want to comment on it one way or another.  While I understand their reason for concern, I think there’s nothing wrong with a healthy debate and conversation on parenting styles.  And so, buying into the hype, I went and purchased my copy the day it hit newsstands.

What I really want for mother’s day this year

Mother’s Day card (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As a blogger, I’m always checking out a lot of other blogging sites and local mommy sites. The trending topic these days is “what is your ultimate mother’s day gift?” Most people have answered with something along the following lines: Hugs, snuggles and kisses from my kids. Or, spending the entire day with the kids. And while I generally agree that hugs and kisses from my son are amazing and spending time with both my husband and my son are my favourite days, it’s not what I want for a mother’s day gift.

I mean, I receive the hugs and kisses daily. I’m a stay at home mom and I sneak them in (wanted or not) at least 100 times a day if not more. I also love my husband to death, and I’m very fortunate that we get lots of time together either at night after Kyle’s asleep and on weekends.

What I REALLY WANT for mother’s day this year is: ALONE TIME!*

For the good of Momdom

My beautiful and talented friend, Yasmine, has graciously offered to write a guest post for my blog; offering a new perspective on all things motherhood.  A wife and loving mother of one of the cutest little boys I know, here is her story:

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When Maya said she was looking for a guest blog I quickly deleted her email. Too much pressure! Then I was on the subway and thinking about a topic Maya hasn’t covered on this blog. I realized she would never cover it because I don’t think she faced this issue… So I decided to write for all the moms-to-be and new moms and old moms for that matter. I had to write this for all of Momdom.

I was part of Maya’s mommy group and one of my most vivid memories is sitting down at our first gathering and someone saying:  Is anyone else headed for divorce? When we all started chuckling (except maya*). I felt the weight of a future custody battle lift off my shoulders.

The best group I ever joined

One of the best things that I did with Kyle his first year was joining a mom’s group. We came together as each one of us knew one person, who knew another, and so on, until there were 8 of us (some months later, a few other mom’s joined as well). The youngest (my son Kyle) and the oldest baby were only 2 months apart in age. Our weekly get-together’s were full of stories, discussions, giving / taking advice, listening, laughing, and of course lots of crying, playing, hungry and sleepy babies. In fact, of all the activities I did with Kyle, this was his favourite. He didn’t need my constant attention as he was able to run and play with all his friends* and I was able to socialize without feeling guilty. Ok, maybe it was my favourite too!

Top 10 things a stay-at-home parent of a toddler can’t live without

My favourite part about New-Years is all of the countdowns and “top 10 / top 100” lists.  So here’s my top 10 list of things a stay-at-home parent of a Toddler can’t live without.

I would love to hear what tops your list for staying sane!

10. TV.  Specifically, Treehouse and Disney Junior.  Kyle’s current favourites are the Mickey Mouse Club, 4 square and roll play.  Both channels are also available on-demand :)*

9. Three-wheel stroller for walks outside in the snow during the LONG winter months.

8. Music to jam out to and dance to (instruments are an added fun). Kyle is currently perfecting the “knee-bend” dance and has surpassed his dad’s dancing ability.

Blog = Web Log?

As I was driving to dinner with the “girls” from my mom’s group, it hit me.  I want to start a blog.  Now, I’m not the type to freely weely go around and give advice, so the thought of writing a blog never seemed appealing.  I also never really thought I would have anything interesting to write about…( Great, I just lost half my readers).  I’m just your average Joe but without the English skills and wittiness that make blogs exciting to read.  I also tend to write like I talk which according to my high-school English teachers does not make for good writing.  (Just lost the other half – come back! I take it all back, I’m an amazing writer and studies show your life will improve if you read my blog!*) I also had to double check with the girls at dinner that it is in fact called a “blog” – which turns out actually stands for “Web Log” – who knew?  Needless to say, up until 24 hours ago, I never picked up blogging.