What prompted you to write this book?
A phone call from a fellow author and friend, and a desperate need to share the journey of motherhood with other moms.
What have been the most challenging and most rewarding parts of being a mom?
What has been and will continue to be the most challenging part of being a mom is finding the me in mother. We're designed to lay everything down for our children, putting their needs before ours. We're last to sit, last to eat, last to sleep. Yet we can't care for our children if we aren't caring for our own physical and emotional needs. Rewarding? Successfully soothing a crying baby, drooly smiles, building perpetual wooden train tracks, constantly seeing a big and daunting world through small and simple eyes.
Who has been most influential to you as a parenting role model?
My mom. She's classy, confident, humble, gracious, giving, consistent and spontaneous all in one heart.
How does your faith impact your daily life as a mom?
I've had to re-structure the way I talk to God on a daily basis from a large chunk of quiet time, to quick prayers and praises delivered moment-to-moment. With each prayer I send up, I hear God say, "I've chosen you for an important career called motherhood." Suddenly things don't seem so tedious.
The new series "Mom2Mom" - what makes this unique?
The authors of the Mom2Mom series are writing from where the rubber meets the road. They've watched teenagers struggle for independence. They've navigated the waters of single motherhood. They've witnessed toddlers shoving Cheerios up their noses. Where many books require time to read and digest, Mom2Mom enables readers to gain a quick sense of sanity from short, inspirational, real-life stories. Most books on motherhood are like a 5-course meal--they take an infinite amount of time to read and it's only when you finish that you realize you've had way too much. Mom2Mom is one of the few series' I've seen that offers a buffet of inspiration for you to graze on anytime, leaving you feeling satisfied (not stuffed) after every read.
What challenges are unique to your own model of motherhood?
I'm challenged daily with meeting the needs of kids in completely different age groups. My preschooler wants to build tall block towers. My toddler wants to knock them down. My infant wants me to open the all-day bottle buffet. When I finally find time to move the wet clothes into the dryer, I notice a shredded diaper that went through the wash. It's a infant-sized diaper, stuffed into a pair of 2T footed pajamas, and carefully deposited into the washing machine by a 4-year-old. They're more efficient than the Ford assembly line. I have as many personalities running around my house as I do types of sippy cups. It's a blessing as much as it is a challenge.
What does Mother's Day mean to you?
My favorite part of Mother's Day is the undivided attention I get from my family. I love that everything stops and we just enjoy time together. To me, it's more important than flowers, brunch or gifts. I live for the holidays where our family turns inward and nothing else matters.
What is the most important lesson that you as a mom want to teach your children?
Wisdom has nothing to do with intelligence. Once we become ignorant enough to understand that, we are wise beyond belief.
What is your most challenging holiday as a mom - and how do you overcome this?
Christmas. We make big plans-bigger than our kids can handle. By the time we get home on Christmas Eve, the kids are self-destructing and we're headed into nuclear meltdown mode. The next morning we're up at 5 a.m. tearing apart the house in search of batteries because the stores are closed. The sweetest Christmas moments aren't when we're opening gifts, but when the wrapping paper is in the big black garbage bag and we're all sitting around looking at each other remembering what the day is really about. If only I could remember that when I'm sharking parking spots at the mall the week before Christmas.
What is the best 'tip' you have gotten as a mom you want to share with another mom?
Forgive yourself and move on. Mom-zilla moments happen. Kids forgive. We need to forget.
Describe yourself in one word as a mom - and why you chose that word to describe yourself.
Committed. My kids are my life-my flesh, my blood, my heart. When things are good, we're celebrating together. When things are bad, we going down as one.
If you had a television series created about your personal adventures as a mom - what would you call the program?
"People in glass houses shouldn't have boys."
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