Ten Reasons Why I am Rocking Motherhood Challenge
Geeze, I am not even sure where to start. It seemed easy enough to write this. Truth is, it is incredibly hard to come up with 10 reasons why I am rocking motherhood… even though those 10 reasons (and more) are staring me in the face.
Many thanks to Alicia Knust of Adventures With My Littles for tagging me on her post. The challenge consists of creating my own post with my own 10 reasons. I, in turn, tag Shayli Cottman of Beautiful Lifestyle 582, Suzana Vucajnk of Total Plan , Laura Driskell of Little Bit of Learning, Ashlea Myrthil of Mommy Wife Lifestyle and Lauren Lillie of The Lillie Bag to come up with their own reasons.
The inspiration behind this challenge is to open up our own eyes to all those everyday things that tend to get swept under the rug but that when summed up, gives us a glimpse of our own worth and contribution as mothers.
Challenge Accepted!
1. My kids are happy.
While I don’t believe I am directly responsible for their happiness, a happy child is almost always the result of the love, support and encouragement they receive from their parents. And loving, supporting, and encouraging them is actually my responsibility and an honor to provide.
Don’t get me wrong. They can be grouchy, whiny and mop around for a century sometimes, but so can I.
2. I have raised 2 incredibly weird teenagers. And a budding 7 yr old teenager-in-training.
And by weird, I mean they are great! They don’t give us any major trouble, other than forgetting to take trash out on time, or leaving their water bottles at school, etc. I was a teen not too long ago. OK, maybe it was a long time ago. But I remember how I was ha ha
As teenagers go, mine are amazing. They make going to parent teacher conferences feel like a treat. Every single one of their teachers offer comments like: “Your kid is doing great in class.” “Very hard working, kind, respectful and well mannered.”; “Your kid is a pleasure to have in class.”; or “They are the kind of kids that make us teachers be happy to get up and come to work everyday.”
*Both teenagers are headed to college in the fall and I couldn’t be prouder of their hard and consistent work.*
My teenager-in-training is also amazing! She might talk a bit too much at school. And take unnecessary bathroom breaks (I think she just needs a break from people here and there 😉 ). But she is witty, uber smart, loving and sensitive. And she keeps us all on our toes.
Yeah, we are very lucky. and we know it.
3. I read to my little one every single night.
We started doing this many years ago and we both love our nightly reading routine. Books are an integral part of my everyday life (Go to my About page if you want to learn more.). I didn’t read as much to my older two and I believe that is why they took longer to turn to the Dark Side (meaning, become bookaholics like Mommy :D). With my little, however, reading to her has not only being an incredibly bonding routine but also key in her being such an advanced reader and do well in school.
Now that my teenagers are older and avid readers themselves, we make it a point to share what we are reading with each other. They have made some amazing suggestions to me and I, them.
4. I am teaching them to be self-sufficient
As a mother, it is very important to me that my daughters pursue their dreams and interests and that they know their worth. That means they need to have the necessary life skills to handle all that life throws at them, without needing a husband to take care of them. Because I don’t want them to be forced to do things because they are women. I want them to be able to choose what to do.
But that is not all. My son is also been taught to be self sufficient. Yes, he is a young man. But no, he will not be dependent on a woman to do things for him. Not only does he know how to do house chores; he actually does them. He can feed himself, clean after himself and takes care of his little sister even better than my other teen, whom is a girl ha ha. Young men should be able to choose what to do as well, and not be trapped in whatever social conventions dictate is gender-appropriate.
5. I keep our culture alive.
I am from Puerto Rico and my oldest 2 were born in Puerto Rico as well. However, we have lived in the United States for many years now and my little one was born here. We are a culturally mixed family and it is extremely important to me that we remember our Latin American roots.
This is not only done in our kitchen, where I frequently prepare traditional dishes that we all love. We also talk about our country’s history, current affairs and even speak the language (my husband doesn’t speak any Spanish, unless you count swear words ha ha). Another thing we do is celebrate holidays “Puerto Rican style”
My kids are been raised with our traditional values, which encourage families to stick together like glue, even when the children grow up. I also raise my kids to always respect their elders and they know that there are unacceptable ways to talk to adults, no matter what.
How could anyone truly love their life and the paths taken, if they forget where they came from?
6. I keep the kids alive and well.
I feel like this should’ve been #1. No easy feat, honestly. And a mother should always be praised for keeping her kids alive and healthy. Even though I am not with them at all times, I make sure that when we are together, they are safe, protected and breathing. Isn’t that amazing? 😉
7. I feed them. Sometimes.
Don’t get me wrong. They eat every single day. They are more than well fed and don’t know what is like to miss a meal (unless they get up late for school and skip breakfast!). However, I loath cooking so my husband takes over sometimes. Well, more like, when I meal plan, I make sure I include plenty of meals that are my husband’s specialties. And some days, we just make the kids cook for all of us.
8. I am “The Warden”.
Inside joke: On Saturdays, when I get up (usually after everybody else, my husband tells the kids: “Get moving, the warden is up!”) It is not meant as an insult and I don’t take it as such.
I have a very strict policy of working as a family to keep our home from turning into a pigsty. And when I say strict, I mean we ALL have to work at it. I do not live alone; therefore I won’t clean alone. While such rigidity might sound like a drag, I believe it is essential for all us to be involved in the care of our home. It gives us more pride and creates awareness of how much housework is needed to keep our home, and our lives running smoothly.
9. I embarrass the heck out of them. For fun.
Don’t you ever feel like dancing like a crazy person or singing very loudly in your car? Especially when their friends are in the car with you too? Or at a red light, when the person in the car next to you can see you? No? OK, well I do 🙂
Another thing I do is go on and on in Spanish, usually when someone does really dumb stuff on the roads, etc. I do it quickly, and use a ton of weird words and phrases that I mostly use with my closest friends (my kids’ uncles and aunties), sort of like our very own, private dialect, which not many understand anyway. But my kids do. And they usually laugh with me. They kind of love it.
Not the singing and dancing. That is just plain embarrassing (nevermind that I actually know how to dance; as in, I trained forever as a ballet dancer, etc).
10. I get an insane amount of unsolicited hugs, kisses and “I love Yous”
About a week ago, my teenage daughter and I were talking about a book we both read. I read it first and then she read it by my recommendation.
In the book, the main character is a girl, about my daughter’s age. Her name is Sam. This girl marvels at hugging her Mom and telling her she loved her for what felt like the first time in ages. This completely baffled my daughter. She said she couldn’t even picture not hugging me or not telling me she loved me for one single day, let alone for many months or longer.
This is my reality every single day. All 3 kids are very loving and sweet. Even the teenagers, who could spontaneously jump into or create a group hug. Or say “I love you”, sometimes for no reason. I usually say I love you too, followed by “What do you want”, or What did you do” but only jokingly. In reality, I know how very blessed I am to have them, and I appreciate their love, always.
#rockingmotherhood
Such an incredible challenge! It gave me pause and helped me realize how much I really rock motherhood… even though I make so many mistakes daily!
Not sure if YOU are rocking motherhood? Ask yourself these questions:
- Do you make mistakes?
- Do you try your best to correct them?
- Are your kids well?
- Do you love them to pieces, even if you sometimes need a break from them?
- Is their well being, the motivating factor behind your decisions?
- Do you say no to them?
- Are there set rules, or required behavior, manners, and expectations in your home?
- Are you raising them to be an asset to the community?
- Is “Do unto others…” the base of your parenting?
- Is love the force that keeps it all together?
If you have answered yes to all the questions above, then you are doing a fantastic job, and rocking motherhood. Parenting in general is no easy feat, but if you are putting in your best effort, doing it with love, and with the individual AND the community in mind, then I have no doubt that you are killing it, even on those days when it feels like nothing is going well.
Now, tell us, how are YOU rocking motherhood?
Please, tell us all about it in the comments!
