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I was born in the house of desire. The warm home where longing is born on loop and why women know the tug, pull, burn, crush and the way it crawls up our bellies to our hearts, to our throats more truly than those of men and so we are blamed for desiring, wanting too much, dreaming the impossible, nonsense, where' the logic, can't get no satisfaction because the male centered world we live in has forgotten (or hidden?) the truth: The uterus is the beginning. The life-maker herself. The womb & act of creation. All wild things spring forth from here including babies and also every other screaming flame and packet of seeds calling us on and on into becoming. Whispering more. Hook and anchor into the same true self. Do not be ashamed of her wisdom and frivolity. Do not be stoic in your wanting. The uterus knows. Read More about Elisabeth and her work with mothers here. 
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 Parents worldwide are holding dear to their children and sanity; by the thousands, we are flocking to local and national parks in search of some understanding from Mother Nature. Here in California, we are following in John Muir’s footsteps who wrote: “Let children walk with Nature, let them see the beautiful blendings and communion of life and death, their joyous inseparable unity.”
While we may have prolific hopes for our family hikes this fall, in actuality they often turn out to be quite a struggle. Toddlers beg to be held and the older kids yearn for their favorite toy or device left back in the car. Here are a few tips and tricks that have reshaped my family’s hiking routines over the last few years to make our family time in nature less stressful and more enjoyable. My kids are 5 1/2 years apart. When I was pregnant with Eleanor the most common question I pondered and was asked, "Do you think they'll play together?" weighed on me. When our lives merged together the age gap wasn't an issue because they had separate lives: Oliver was in school and Eleanor was at home; they had different friends; they had different interests. But COVID changed their time apart, they are constantly together now. I grew tired of keeping their activities separate and desired more of a bonding learning experience. We started a morning learning lesson together and it quickly became our favorite time of the day. Here are the kid-approved activities that have cultivated more learning and connection between my kids, and I hope they'll serve yours in the same way.
 The quarantine has made me reevaluate a lot of my relationships and crave deeper connections. We've stepped away from situations that produce casual conversation, like school drop-off and grocery store greetings; for the past months, if I am in a conversation with someone it has required a significant amount of forethought and planning-so the conversation better be good. They have been good. I have intentionally placed more effort in making my conversation more fulfilling for me and my conversation partner. I have been expanding conversation topics and digging into pieces that are revealing and inspiring. I am coveting the conversations with my girlfriends now more than ever.
 You can give a child the entire toy aisle of Target and they will still want your attention. Attention seeking is one of the top motivators for negative behaviors. Right now, parents worldwide are preoccupied with pandemic-stricken news and an oversaturated struggle to tackle work and life balance leaving children frustrated and longing for attention.
When I started brainstorming ways to tackle negative attention-seeking behaviors, I sought out Nicole, founder of Meetings and Motherhood. We come equipped with years of experience balancing work and child-rearing at home backed with degrees in Child Development and on-the-job counseling with emotionally struggling children. We’ve come up with 5 opportunities to build in 20-minute attention pockets throughout the day to proactively address negative attention-seeking behaviors in your home. Let’s dive in!  In the mama world, there’s a debate going on. I’m here to squash it. It’s about mom tribes. The most essential component of mothering success and sanity. Many moms theorize that it’s impossible to have a blended working/SAHM mom tribe. Nope, not true. Here are 6 guidelines to build your tribe and sustain it for decades, yep-decades, I interviewed mom tribes that have been together for a WHILE.
 Monday morning drop-offs. There's no amount of caffeine, uplifting kids tunes or Pinterest-worthy lunch menu items that can stave away the case of the drop-off blues. You get into the weekend flow with slow mornings and leisurely activities then BAM! back to Monday.
I've just reintroduced the drop-off routine with my second and it is tough. I know that nearly 10 minutes after I'm gone her tears have dried and she is dancing around and eating berries (proof in text pictures), but the drop-off is HARD. To wrap myself in comfort on the car ride away, I have come up with a few mama mantras to conjure a positive spin on my day. Here they are: Photo by Sai De Silva on Unsplash In the back of a rental car whizzing through France, I wrote the passage below. We were on a trip with my mother-in- law and after days of awkward interactions and hiding behind a self-made wall of negativity I had blamed on her, I realized I had built this wall and it was ugly. Ugly for me and my kids to see. It hit me like a ton of bricks: I had a control issue and it had tarnished my relationship with my husband’s parents and my parents. Writing how I saw control and how I wanted to abolish it was incredibly cathartic.
I have never been a control freak but when I had my first baby the need for control was palpable. I had to know everything and make every decision. Control hardened me. Now that I’ve seen it all I can do it try to combat it, try to be more open and see the hardships that have grown from it. Control does not make me a good mom. -------------------------------------------- I want to be a good mom. After I had my son, Oliver, I aspired to fit an unattainable mold of a good mom; I wanted to be as caring as Mother Theresa, with the grace of Princess Diana, the body of Jessica Alba, and the wisdom of Oprah–everyday, all the time. I read parenting books, hand-made countless cognitive inspiring baby activities, prepared the most wholesome baby food; I worked my ass off to show my husband, my family, on looking strangers and my son that I was created to be the most incredible mother to ever live.
I was one dimensional. I was exhausted. I was losing myself. After having my second, Eleanor, I realized that I was trying to do everything and be everything for my children, and now with two I couldn’t keep up. I still try to be everything for them, but I have taken a step back and thought of a way to feel more successful as a mother EVERY DAY. I realized all my exhaustive efforts were fueled by an abstract motivation-Good Mom. But what is that? When I began to question my motives I yearned for a definition, something tangible, maybe even a check-list to anchor me down when I began to spin out of control grabbing for the vision of mother idol that had been built in my mind by my husband, my family, books, friends, tv shows, social media, child development courses, and comparisons with other mothers. I was creating a vision based off all my external influences and had neglected my own voice of mother’s intuition, so I stopped spinning, sat quietly and asked: What is important to you? What will validate you as a good mother? I lived in this question, wrote, pondered and only discussed with myself. I derived a short list. I found three things that I committed to do every day that will fulfill my definition as a good mom. But first, I made rules for my short list. Rule #1: The action must be attainable every day. I wrote down, “Uphold a clean room and household” and quickly erased it. I actually marked it out with a bold red marker. I decided that I couldn’t do that every day and cleanliness is not an action that contributes to my definition as a good mom. I also envisioned myself trying to live up to this self-imposed expectation and immediately became cranky and stressed. This definition should free you from these feelings as its motive is to keep you connected to your true mama essence, Ommmmm. Rule #2: The action must connect with your own personal values. The reason for building your own personal definition of a good mom is to make you happy. I decided my definition had to align with my values as a person; otherwise, I’d just feed into the external vision of motherhood that drove me crazy. I question: What are your values? How can your definition grow from that? What do you want to look like as a mother, everyday? Rule #3: The action must be simple and take 5 minutes or less. Life is busy for everyone. Not just for moms, but especially for mom. I decided the actions which make up my definition must be simple and take five minutes or less. This way I can commit to doing them at least once a day, possibly more than once. Ok-so here’s the definition I prescribed myself to be a good mom. 1. I will look my kids in the eyes every day. 2. I will read to (or with) my kids every day. 3. I will feed my kids at least one green thing every day. Check, check, check. Done. Voila- I’m a good mom. I have committed to fulfilling these three things every day. Of course, I will continue to pack a healthy lunch, dive into hour long Pinterest searches for enrichment activities, have heart to heart conversations, give them embarrassing hugs after soccer practice, and wash behind their ears AND if I have an off day and my work is overwhelming and my husband is on a business trip and our dog has shit all over the house and I haven’t washed my hair in a couple days, I CAN commit to accomplishing my short list thereby going to bed every night (after an easy day or hard day) satisfied because I have fulfilled my own definition of a good mom. I want to add a brief caveat: my short list is NOT set in stone. It is flexible and open to be revisited. But a prerequisite is to go through the laws and abide by those prior to redefining. I’m writing this because I may not be the only mama in the world needing a code to settle into a heart-centered vision of motherhood. Maybe creating a short list will help another mama? Either way, this article has been beautifully cathartic for me. I appreciate a platform to share. Big Hug, Em  You’re exhausted, your body is in a unique state of transition (to put it nicely) and you have a perfect, tiny human needing your care and attention 24/7. Husband? What husband? In the busyness of the first six weeks home, medical professionals do mothers a favor by banning intercourse. Upon the postpartum run down, my doctor explicitly pointed this out to my husband with the tone and eye gaze of a high school principal. After my first son was born my husband and I walked around like zombies cycling through anxiety, sleep deprivation, baby joy and back to anxiety. We lost touch with our relationship because we had renamed our relationship, converting our label from “married” to “parents”; thereby, replacing all the marriage romance with the overwhelming responsibility of parents. This Thursday will be the six week postpartum anniversary for our second child and we have exercised a completely different balance in marriage and parenting this go-around, allowing ourselves to juggle these labels with much more grace. Here are 7 things we did differently. 1. Nest Cam Debauchery I'm writing this first because it is the most fun. Of course, the Nest Cam is not completely necessary, you can use any baby camera devise, but the Nest Cam is especially lust-friendly because your husband can sneak a peek at work or wherever he is. Some examples include: G- rated strip tease (while baby is sleeping) or intercom stating “great job, sexy mama!” 2. Everything But... Yes, 6 weeks, or longer if prescribed, is a long time to wait to have intercourse again but there are lots of other fun things to do with your spouse in the bedroom, and if your co-sleeping, on the couch, and if your in-laws are staying for a month, the car or bathroom. Now is the time to reflect on your high school days! Start with good ‘ol fashion make out sesh and see where it leads. 3. Nap Time is You Time Don't you dare fold the laundry while your baby is sleeping! Nap time is the most sacred time for you and your husband. Take this time to nap together, snuggle, have a non-baby related conversation, or cook together (which I've read is an aphrodisiac possibly leading to ideas discussed in #2). Whatever you do, do it together. You'll be happier, more connected parents when the baby wakes. 4. Sexy Sitting Between feeding, facilitating optimal sleep positioning, and skin-to-skin time, get your ass ready-Girl, you're gonna be sitting A LOT. Why not make some of your sitting time a little sexier? You can watch a sexy show, we became addicted to Californication- good grief David Duchovony is delicious, and looks like my husband a bit, Ha-back to #2 :) You could also read a love scene abundant book or Cosmo magazine always has spicy articles. The point here is to remind yourself that you can still be beautiful, strong and sexy as a new mom. 5.Hot Dad Alert! Bringing your adorable baby home is one of the most incredible times in a woman's life. It is also the most terrifying time in a man's life. It's hard for guys. They don't know what to do and they have moved down a rung, or two, on the priorities poll. If you see your partner trying to making an effort to help out, PRAISE him with "thanks, babe", "you're a great dad" or "you look so hot wearing the baby carrier". This is mutually beneficial; he feels good, you feel good, and it is likely to happen again. In my opinion, positive praise is vital to a high-functioning parenting partnership. And when you are both happy working together to take care of the new babe it contributes to your marriage. Good luck out there new mamas! Take care of yourself, your baby and don't forget about your marriage. xoxo, Em |
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