Motherhood Taught Me......

Well, here we are, three and half years after I embarked upon the journey of a lifetime, literally. I wish I could say that reading all the books prepared me for my journey of motherhood, but the truth is, it felt like a rude awakening. If you’re expecting your first child I don’t say this to sound negative. I am that person that rejects all negative advice and only wants the best. I want think, speak and see the best in every situation. This applied to motherhood as well. Everyone has a different journey, some are harder than others, but we each are given a grace for OUR journey. Here are a few things motherhood taught me:

1. Embrace the imperfections. As a person that sets goals and gives it my all, motherhood taught me that things will OFTEN times not go as planned. It took me a LONG time to realize that this is something to embrace instead of fighting it. I felt like a failure as a mom at first. I remember feeling like I wasn’t doing this right when I had complications breastfeeding my firstborn, my daughter. It was a ROUGH journey, but it was my introduction to embrace imperfect.

2. The world I knew before doesn’t exist anymore and now that I have a little person to look after the life I once lived is now enhanced in every beautiful and challenging way. I felt like I walked through a door and it shut behind me and disappeared. This new world of motherhood is all consuming if you let it. For me, I found a new identity still with my dreams intact. You don’t have to lose yourself in motherhood, you just find out who you are in the midst of it. Often times its a better version as the love you now exude transforms you.

3. To slow down and enjoy the moments. These moments are simply some of the best moments of your life. I know it, I can feel, no has to tell me, the joy unspeakable is contagious and addicting. It’s the smell of flower I never want to go away. Its my favorite scent and while I want it to stay, it HAS to pass me by. Motherhood is not something to idolize, its something to enjoy, to experience.

4. Be present. This world has changed. I am apart of the generation the remembers what it was like BEFORE the internet. The internet has made us more distracted. Whether you agree or not, we have more attention on our phones and online. The problem with this is these little people grow so fast and to me time sped up when I had children. As stated in number three, really try hard to cherish every moment. Take the photo, then put the phone down. Sometimes, don’t even take the photo, the beauty of that moment may best be shared in your memory.

5. Be intentional about family time. From making weekly dinners to daily prayer times with your kids, I’ve learned that THESE are the big moments of my week. Being a stay at home mom has given me even more focus to create these moments. They are the glue to building solid and fruitful relationships with those that matter within our homes.

These are just a FEW of the MANY lessons I’ve learned. I may do a part two as my children grow because each age is different. I’m in the one to three year age range now and I’m even learning more now that I have a son and a daughter. The two are so different. What has motherhood taught you?

Little Girls Guide: Potty-Training Tips & Tricks (Stress-Free & Fun)

We are here. The day I knew was coming but tried my hardest to put off until the VERY last minute. Olivia’s early childhood teacher told me at her Parent Teacher Conferences that she must be potty trained before going into EC3, which is her 3rd year of early childhood. Honestly, we were just being lazy about it especially since after long days and her coming home from school, we just wanted to eat and relax, send the kids to bed and be done. We finally decided (well, I guess you can say we were forced) to face Potty-Training HEAD-ON! Here is our tips and tricks for Potty-Training the STRESS-FREE way:

1. Set a date on the calendar that includes 3-consecutive days that you can be with your child in the home. Prepare read, or have food and movies to make it enjoyable for all parties involved.

2. Find their favorite color panties or underwear and them decide which one they want to wear and let them put them on.

3. Make sure to have the essentials ready in your home. We recommend a potty seat cover, instead of a fake potty. This encourages and trains the kids to go to the actually potty and get use to how it works and what it looks like. We like this Potty Seat Cover because it doesn’t throw off the decor in the home (we put one in the upstairs bathroom and the downstairs bathroom).

Image from Amazon.com

We also purchased a step stool that matched the seat so their legs aren’t hanging down off the seat. My daughter will sit in peace when she is comfortable and I found that this step stool helps for not only when she washes her hands but when she is sitting on the potty.

Image from Amazon.com

4. Find some rewards for when she really gets going to encourage her to continue. Instead of giving her candy, we saved up all the toys from the kids meals when we went through the fast food drive-thru. Mostly from Chic-Fil-A because they have the best toys. After a while, I had a whole bag full of “surprises” for when she went to the Potty on her own or told mommy when she had to go “Potty”. She loved it.

5. Be patient with her, be gentle. If you’re stressed out about potty training or yelling at her because you just want her to go, just imagine how she feels. Her whole life she’s had someone take care of this for her, now she’s having to figure it out for herself and how to communicate that to those that help. She needs to see you as a safe place. This is a major transition for her and a vulnerable place as well. Take it one day, one moment at a time. She will get it. Let her know that “It’s okay” “She can do it.” “I’m right here with you.” “We can get through this together.” “Mommy is proud of you.” “You’re mommy’s big girl”.

6. Every 15-20 minutes ask her if she has to go potty. Put her on the potty every 30 minutes. Some people say every 15 minutes, but I’ve found 30 minutes works for us. If you need to do every 15 minutes, I hear that works for a lot of people as well. Just plan on this being the focus for 3-days straight. You can do it mom.

7. Make sure you have help, either from your husband/spouse, or a friend/family. Just in case there is an accident or something happens, you will have someone to not only help with the clean up process but to talk to as you go through this process with your daughter. The support is much needed and maybe even their encouragement will help as well for her to hear it from two different sources.

8. Have lots of clothes and undies ready to go because accidents will happen definitely for the first day. As the second day comes, less accidents and by the third and final day you should be on your way. Some people allow the child to walk around with no undies on, but I want my daughter to feel what its like to go so she knows that she doesn’t like that feeling and will tell me when she has gone to the potty.

9. Change your verbiage. Olivia actually taught me this. Apparently at her school they have stopped saying “potty” and now say “rest room”. She said, “it’s restroom mommy, I have to go to the restroom”. LOL. This surprised me and made me proud. But she’s right, that’s what its called and is the the big girls way of communicating. Mommy had to catch up.

10. Celebrate each time she goes. In addition to the “surprises”, we gave her a high fives and made a really big deal about how awesome she did and how proud of her she was. Yes, it gets redundant after a while but THIS will forever be planted in her mind as a good thing to do.

11. Download the app Potty Toilet Training. It has resources such as setting interval reminder, tracking what happens when she goes, stickers, games and more! Definitely helped us.

Cheers to your journey with your little girl! She will get there and you will be excited, proud and sad all in one. Your baby is growing up! Good job mom! Feel free to comment any suggestions you have for Potty Training as well!