The Year of the Mom

The Dilemma:

It seems as though, throughout history, we go through this cycle; a battle, as women. You stay at home with your kids and you're "just a stay-at-home-mom." You work hard on your career? You must be neglecting your kids. You don't put your children in organized activities? They are missing out on valuable opportunities and life skills. You put your kids in too many activities? You're a "crazy soccer mom."

The Realization:

It's tough, as a woman, to balance these roles. It's tough as a parent period - if you are one, you know what I mean. It's hard enough to raise your children and hope you're not going to screw them up without everyone else judging the choices you make. So this year, I'm going to share my choices with you. Right? Wrong? We'll find out. I'd like to think that I make the choices that are right for my family, though they may not be right for yours.

The Declaration:

Here we go: I am officially declaring 2015 the year of the mom!

I love being a gym mom. I love seeing them set and accomplish goals, supporting them through good times AND bad, and I even love driving all over the state! But this year, I want to share the journey of goal setting, support, and growth beyond the gym, in addition to continuing to share my in-the-gym experiences. I spent a lot of time this fall trying to figure out what was most important to me in raising my children, and besides the obvious answer of "values," it really came down to experiences. Chances for them to learn new things, try new things, and grow as individuals.

I'm going to be up front about the fact that I have a full-time job, and am working really hard to balance time between work, kids, husband, and myself - I get that this won't be an easy journey, but that's what makes it fun, right? Or at least a place for me to grow, along with my kiddos.

The Plan:

Each month I want to make a conscious effort to embrace my kids' interests, passions, and expose them to some new things along the way. The categories I chose were:

• Field Trip - We'll take a trip as a family to a location that we don't normally visit - new places or old favorites. 
• Learning - We'll take some time to learn about that interests them academically. 
• Making - Time for hands-on activities!
• Service - Here I wanted to focus on doing something good for others. 

Stay tuned for what we have planned for January!