Summer Days Drawing Near.....

The kiddies are in their last few, literally, the last few...tomorrow and the next day, both of which are half-days. They are looking forward to summer break, but both have mentioned how sad it will be not going to school and being in class.
My little man said that he is feeling nervous about moving into 1st grade next year, he is afraid of how challenging the work will be. So we talked about what we could do over the summer to help him build his confidence, so he listed of some things he wants to work on and I told him that we will practice, but I assured him that he will do just fine and that if any ounce of me was worried about it, I would let him know. My sweet pea is vocal about any concerns and issues and sometimes I don't realize that just because my little man isn't being as vocal as his big sister doesn't mean that all is okay.
He is my shy man and reserved, so this was a great reminder to myself that I need to remember to ask questions even if he doesn't bring the issue up. I was thankful for the talk and I actually enjoy our bedtime discussions.
I believe I've mentioned before that bedtime routine use to be in our bed - the kids always wanted to hear the same books and they wanted daddy to read a story and myself to read a story, so we would all gather in our bed and read the stories. The kids would fall asleep in our bed and later in the night we would move them into their own beds. Of course, at the time, I always wondered how long were we going to be doing this bedtime routine and would they ever actually fall asleep in their own beds?
And then one night I realized that they started going to their own rooms at bedtime, wanted different stories, we talked about different things and subsequently we started the dream seeds, which I blogged about here and then it hit me, they are falling asleep in their own beds and I didn't have to enforce it or even suggest it.....holy bananas...I couldn't believe it! Sometimes they grow right before your eyes and you see it and other times, it is subtle and you don't realize it until the moment has passed. I cherish the bedtime discussions I have with each of my children now, most of the time the conversations varies from which is the better power ranger, the red or green....to deeper questions on how to handle a friend or an emotion, but regardless of how silly or serious the conversations get....I listen. And tonight, it was the excitement of summer drawing near and later bedtimes to the realization that some friends we may not see on a daily basis and a new school year brings new changes.

So, what is in store for your summer break?

"And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.” - F. Scott Fitzgerald

Are you "Mom"-enough.....Are you kidding?

I'm guessing by now most have seen the eye-grabbing magazine cover of TIME? Yes...No, well sorry I'm not going to post the image, but if you have not seen it...then I suggest you Google it or I will just say it showcases a mother breastfeeding her preschool-aged child (who looks rather older than three or four) with the mighty title, "Are you Mom enough?"
So, my initial thoughts were really? Now, I will preface that I have not read the article, I'm not really interested, I've read about attachment parenting when I had my first child, I took some of the recommendations like baby wearing and I breastfed both of my children during their first year of life and I'm pretty damn proud of myself, considering I was pretty grossed out by the idea prior to having children. It was only until I had my first that it seemed like the natural thing to do, little did I know how challenging my first child was going to be when it came to breastfeeding as she didn't want to latch, but we worked through it and proved to be the greatest bonding ever.
Yet, even if you follow the attachment parenting recommendations, why on earth would you pose on the cover of a widely circulating magazine with your child like that? I mean, come on....that image is going to haunt that child for the REST of his life, especially in the "digital age."

My second issue....why the title? The media is insisting that there is a war on women, so of course let's include the now war on mommies....I mean really, let's ask all the moms "Are you mom enough" if you don't breastfed your walking/talking preschooler, come on TIME, seriously?
Here's a thought, how about you cover issues that really concern moms or families for that matter. If we are being honest about it all, we live in a nation that doesn't support mothers, we give the least amount of time for maternity leave, and if there is maternity leave, moms are lucky if it is PAID maternity leave, not to mention the sick days we have to take when a child is ill or creating the false idea that somehow women can be it all without sacrificing something. (And I'm sorry to burst the bubble if you are a woman and somehow buy into the "I can have it all" fantasy) it simply doesn't happen because at the end of the day, something has to give and most often that something is "us," if not relationships or work. We put it all on our shoulders and seem to think the weight we carry isn't going to break.
So, instead of trying to push a further divide among mothers on yet another issue, how about an article on how moms make it work. Because one thing I've learned is that motherhood is not at all what I envisioned, it is challenging, it is rewarding, and it is empowering. Look at it....I am a superhero, a villain, a fighter, a healer, a communicator, a translator, an entertainer, a manager, a peacemaker, a teacher, a personal chef, a friend, and so forth. Being a mother is the best thing I could be and for the record....I am mom enough....and so much more.

“New mothers enter the world of parenting feeling much like Alice in Wonderland.
- Being a mother is one of the most rewarding jobs on earth and also one of the most challenging.
- Motherhood is a process. Learn to love the process.
- There is a tremendous amount of learning that takes place in the first year of your baby’s life; the baby learns a lot, too.
- It is sometimes difficult to reconcile the fantasy of what you thuoght motherhood would be like, and what you thought you would be like as a mother, with reality.
- Take care of yourself. If Mommy isn’t happy, no one else in the family is happy either.
- New mother generally need to lower their expectations.
- A good mother learns to love her child as he is and adjusts her mothering to suit her child.” 
- Debra Gilbert Rosenberg