Do you ever just stand in your kitchen and stare at all the crumbs on the floor? Mind you, this is about five minutes after I’ve swept the floor. I spend a lot of my days staring at these crumbs wondering how it is possible that the floor is never clean. See by day I’m a stay-at-home mom. Between the hours of 8pm and Midnight I am an online college instructor and doctoral student. Somewhere in between mom’ing and working I sneak a few hours of sleep in. My day is spent with three out of my four littles once my oldest gets on the bus. So, I spend a lot of time in the kitchen area staring at these crumbs and musing about how metaphorical they are. That’s me, musing away, while my daughters are fighting each other in the background over a Barbie doll. Ah, motherhood. Motherhood, like these crumbs is messy and always there. Being a mother never ends. Before you have children, you think that mothering ends at bedtime. But, then there’s always that inexplicable need for a glass of water, someone who’s had a nightmare, even though they haven’t fallen asleep yet, or someone who decides they now need to poop instead of going to bed. In the end, my point about these endless crumbs and motherhood, is that the job is never done. And, by the way, let’s face it, our homes will never look the way we want. Let’s appreciate being a mom instead of worrying about those crumbs, they’re not going anywhere. xoxo

Life is so messy (and if yours isn’t- cheers! I raise my overfilled wine glass to you). But, I have a feeling every mother has a bit of mess in her life. On any given day I feel as though I am walking a fine line between having it all together and being a hot mess. Everyday I feel like I’m Nik Wallenda walking a tightrope across a volcano, except with four kids hanging off of me. That’s the kind of fine line I’m talking about. In all seriousness, it is a delicate balance. There are days that I amaze myself and other days when I say, “what the heck am I doing?” Except I don’t say heck. It’s not glamorous. In fact, it is downright ugly sometimes. Just today I pulled over on the side of the road on my way to school drop off to clean up a nose bleed (on picture day, because a regular day wouldn’t do) and had another child vomiting that I had to pick up at school. The best thing you can do is roll with it. Try not to forget that you are raising a human, or humans, who although might seem exactly like you, are individuals with their own thoughts, ideas, instincts, ambitions, emotions, preferences, and temperaments. And, these dynamics can be a lot to balance at times. This motherhood thing is tough business. Remember the best thing you can do is stay true to you and your children. You’ve got this. xoxo

Being kind to yourself. Why is this so hard for mothers to do? We are kind to our children, our spouse, our family, the clerk at the grocery store and the stranger on the street. But, why can’t we be kind to ourselves? As mothers we have this strange belief that we need to be everything to everyone at every moment. A great mom, wife, daughter, friend, employee all while balancing the million things on our to do lists that life throws at us. If I could implore mothers to do one thing it would be to stop the self doubt and constantly asking ourselves if what we are doing is right or if it is enough. You are enough. In this fast paced world where we are expected to do it all, stop and remember that you are only one person. We are all navigating motherhood together. And we are all on a journey that is distinctly our own. Only we understand it. We all have bad days where we can’t wait to put our heads on the pillow at night and we all have good days where we feel like we are slam dunking life. Most days fall somewhere right in between. So remember, in the midst of this crazy journey to give yourself grace. xoxo

Good morning!

If the sun is up, so are my children. Or even if the sun isn’t up. Three, four, five AM, you know what I’m talking about. Coffee first…. anecdotes, random musings, and recipes to follow. I hope that if you are reading this post, you will continue to follow me as I get this blog up and running! I am a perfectly imperfect modern-ish mama, and I am looking forward to sharing my story with you! In the meantime be sure to follow me on Instagram @Modernishmama    xoxo