Is everybody ready for summer, especially all you parents out there???

Tis the season for you folks who have children. It is almost time for summer freedom, although if you’re in Toronto, these past few days post summer solstice have felt like anything BUT summery. Regardless of what mother nature is doing for us, the time is drawing near, your kids will be out of school! Whoot whoot, ring the freedom alarm.

This week I’ve been such a writing and editing machine, that I didn’t even have the ability to post from Wednesday until today. So, I will be playing catch up on this rainy day, and will give you some Sunday reads, four to be exact.

First up, post is this past week’s Milk N Heels Motivational Monday piece, and if you haven’t done so yet, go to their website and purchase the second edition paper issue that features MOI, and some other bad ass moms, momming the shit out of their lives! There’s a little interview with me, and a couple of articles that you can only read in the actual physical magazine. In the meantime while you wait for yours to arrive in the mail you have these blogs!

xo SB

Being a mom has its ups and downs, nobody said it would be perfect, or easy. Nor is it written anywhere that you have to be in love with being a mom every single day of your parenting life. That is unrealistic and ridiculous. So, if you happen to be a mom who thinks this way and puts an unrealistic amount of pressure on herself, stop that right this instance. Like no more. Release yourself from that silly unrealistic expectation. Because being a mom is just like any other job you have had, some days are good days, and some are not so great days. There are days when being a badass, superhero mom you may want to stay in bed all day long, keep the daylight out and just be. Be quiet. Be sad. Be tired. Be alone. Be nothing.

There are some days when you don’t want to answer one more question, or pack one more lunch bag, You might even really, really wish somebody else would pick the kids up from school and take them to their 100th soccer game of their young lives. Motherhood can be a grind, and it can feel like each day is exactly like the day before and that you’ve lost your identify. That everybody only knows you as “so and so’s mom” your name a faded memory. I bet your partner doesn’t even call you by your actual name anymore. I know in my house if Yannick calls me by my name, or vice versa, it’s almost like the gloves come off. In my house calling each other by our full birth name is grounds for asking; “do you have a problem with me?” So maybe not being referred to by your actual name isn’t what’s got you upset or overwhelmed. Maybe, just maybe it’s because at this time of year, being a mom is like being in a marathon; you can see that finish line, it’s oh so near, but it still seems SO FAR AWAY. The finish line for you working hard mommas is summer break. The time when sleeps in happen once again, and for two full months you don’t have to pack a single lunch or sit in your car at after school pick up. Freedom.

Mommy Freedom.

Listen, it’s totally cool and normal to be pining for these days. It’s absolutely so okay that you’re burnt out, and in desperate need of not doing mom things. Momming is a lot of work. And it might not be so bad if being a mom was one thing, but it’s not. It’s a lot of jobs all rolled into one, and I don’t know many people who are holding down six-ten full time positions and doesn’t desire a little “for the love of God leave me alone” time every once in a while. So, if you’re feeling this way right about now, don’t fret, and certainly do not spend any energy feeling guilty about it, because summer is right around the corner, and your mom rest is coming at you. You’re almost at the finish line, you’re just about to cross it, so slow down the pace if you must, but don’t throw in the towel now Super Moms you can do this, I know you can!!! Cross that line to Mommy Freedom!!

xo

Shantelle