Mom hobbies~priddymomma

Me as McGonagall

Hey guys!  I’m getting totally excited about Halloween coming up.  We’re having a Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Halloween party on Halloween this year.  I have BIG PLANS, DUDES!!  I’ll share a picture or two afterwards.  My husband and I also got the chance to begin putting in some trails on our property.  I’m crazy excited to get to work on them.  Now we can enjoy so much more of our place!  Aahhh!  I’m crazy.  You can say it.

The Great Hall at the Halloween feast, complete with "live" bats

This week, I’m discussing mom hobbies.  Actually, I really want to cross off the mom and just call it “hobbies”.  The issue is that you won’t have the same kind of hobbies as a mom that you did when you were not a mom, so I guess the mom stays.  And at this point, I’m sure you can tell I am completely hyped up on caffeine while typing like a psycho.  IT’S TRUE!!  YAY!  (I’m running in circles only a little)

So…what was I talking about?  Oh.  Hobbies.  You need hobbies.  Going through life not excited about doing anything is super lame.  I’m excited about this party, for instance.  It is sort of a hobby of mine to throw elaborate parties.  Weird, but it makes me happy to see people surprised at the steps I took to set something up (and on a budget too!). 

I also like to sew.  I don’t make time for it often, but I always make time around Halloween.  I make my kiddos’ costumes (they want to be Elsa and Superman this year).  Not only do they turn out better than anything you can pick up in the store, but they are often times much cheaper.  And again, I have the excuse of sewing, which is great.  I sometimes make time before Christmas as well if one of the gifts is hand made. 

 

Confession:  No sew!  Princess Cheerio was 1, and I procrastinated.  Still not purchased costumes though (except the wings, because ain't nobody got time for that).

Singing is the hobby I make the most time for, but mostly because I can multi task as I sing.  I can sing while washing dishes, cooking, cleaning, and of course the old stand-by of singing in the shower.  I love to dance, so I try to make time for Zumba once a week. 

I love working in the yard, so I make sure I have time to do outside chores on nice days.  I like to read, so I plan my day around my book if it happens to be really good.  More than once I have turned down invites or activities because a book I have been itching to get my hands on is released that day or the day before.  IF THEY ARE TRULY YOUR FRIEND, THEY WILL UNDERSTAND!  I have no idea why I’m shouting.  Must be the coffee. 

OH NO!  My coffee is gone!  The horror!  Time for a refill. 

Drat!  Hubby turned off the coffee maker.  He will pay for this!  (I won’t remember by the time he gets home)

Crap.  Microwaved old coffee and burned my tongue.  Why doesn’t spell check recognize “microwaved”.  That’s a term, right?  Or maybe we can just call it “nuked”?  It recognizes that, but only because it is morbid.  Is there another term you use?  WHAT IS THE PROPER TERM??!

Anyway…um…I have no idea where I was.  Have a hobby!  Right.  I don’t even know where I was going with this whole concept.  That’s a lot like life.  Stop.  Breathe.  Okay.  New paragraph.  Maybe just ignore this one.  Of course, now you can’t because you read the whole thing.  Ha ha!  Sucks to be you.

If you don’t make time for your favorite activities, you will end up hating everyone and being bored out of your mind.  That is an opinion, obviously.  When you were a kid, you were probably pretty happy most of the time.  I believe kids are happy, because they spend large amounts of time doing exactly what interests them and not worrying about what they should be doing most of the time.  If they want to spend hours building legos, by gum they will!  And should something like hygiene or chores get in their way, a meltdown will occur.  Grumpy adults are just the grown up versions of these kids, meltdown included (hence the grumpy).  We would all feel a lot better if we took time to play our legos. 

See ya next week, Cheerios Parents!  Peace!

P.S.  Please take a moment of silence for 9/11.  Take a moment to appreciate the magnitude of what happened that day.  God bless.

Being more than just a mom~priddymomma

Hey guys!  Hope you all are having a fine week.  I'm late posting again!  Sorry!  I’ve put in long hours catching up on some long neglected yard work.  I also found some poison ivy.  Happily, I didn’t discover it with my limbs.

This post is for the ladies.  I’ll be discussing being more than just a mom.  Sorry to all our male readers.  I would love to give you some advice on being more than just a dad, but unfortunately I’m not qualified, gender-wise.  Hopefully you will find that some information in this post pertains to you as well. 

Parenting is one of the most rewarding experiences in the world, arguably the MOST enjoyable.  It is also one of the hardest.  Just like any activity in life, you can overdo it and burn out.  You must take breaks to recharge if you expect to perform at your maximum potential.  It is a very important job, and you do your best if you are relaxed, recharged, and refreshed. 

The trouble is that modern parents are often so busy that they struggle to find time to spend with their kids, let alone finding time for a break.  It just isn’t a priority.  My number one piece of advice is to MAKE time.  Jot it down in your appointment book and keep it as faithfully as you would for one of your kids’ appointments. 

My second tip is to get enough sleep.  Being tired adds to frustration and chaos, and your body needs time to repair itself and to fight off illness.  Yes, moms notoriously have little sleep, but what I’m telling you is that if you have the opportunity to sleep, seize it.  Being well rested will make a huge difference in your life, and in your kids’ lives.

 

SO not a mom...

“But Heather!  This is great advice and all, but I thought this post was about being MORE than just a mom!  You are just giving me parenting tips!”  Am I?  If you have a spare moment to yourself and you are exhausted, what are you going to do?  Uh-huh.  You bet your booty you will be napping.  “Me time” does not equal “sleep time.”  And new mothers, it doesn’t equal “shower time” or “pee time” either.  You need real legit “me time”. 

After you have cleared room for yourself in your schedule (and even an hour a week will do wonders), do something that makes your soul sing.  Taking a fitness class might be your idea of joy or maybe your idea of hell.  Don’t force yourself to do something you won’t enjoy.  That is a crappy way of giving yourself love.  Take the opportunity to do something worth it for you. 

Here are some suggestions:  bake, cook, garden, read, take a long hot bath, sing, swim, bike, run, play with your dog, go for a walk, hike, draw, play a video game, dance, sew, craft, meditate, go bird watching, try a new food, shop, hang out with a friend, play a sport, scrapbook, grab a coffee, watch a movie, catch up on your favorite tv series, plan your dream vacation, paint, check out an art exhibit, visit the fair, assemble a puzzle, etc.

In order to be more than just a mom, you have to learn to know yourself outside of being a mom.  It is perfectly okay if you have no idea what you enjoy anymore.  Great!  It means more experimenting and intrigue as you take yourself on dates to get to the bottom of who you are when you aren’t surrounded by children.  Yes, your kids may be everything to you, but that doesn’t mean they are everything you are.

Childhood hobbies~priddymomma

Hey guys!  Hope you have had a lovely week.  My family had the opportunity to visit the State Fair on Monday.  Fair season is definitely one of my absolute favorite things about summer.  My husband and I met during high school marching band, and every time we visit the fair, it takes me back to a time when we were first falling in love... 

 

Our band uniforms were sexy.  You can say it.

Enough of that mushy stuff!  You didn’t come here for that, I’m sure.  You came instead to read about what hobbies I encourage in my kiddos!  (Sure you did.  No arguing.)

I home school my kids, and I don’t currently have them enrolled in anything like dance or karate (though I’d like to enroll them in both eventually). 

 

 

My son loves to read and learn facts.  One of his more recent interests centered around pumpkins.  I thought it was kind of strange and out of season, but go for it!  We ended up working together to plant a pumpkin patch, which is doing really well and should yield 24 or so pumpkins eventually.  He can tell you all about the life cycle of a pumpkin, and all without me teaching him a thing.  I love the library.  

My daughter is interested in bugs and being outside.  When she isn’t looking at plants and insects through a magnifying glass, she’s trying to convince me to take her outside so that she can do just that.  She’s very observant (and argumentative).  She also loves to draw. 

 

I believe that kids will pick up on what their parents really love to do as well as going on to develop their own interests.  Cheerio Champ has lately developed a keen interest in the music of Andrew Lloyd Webber.  He can blame me for that, and my latest interest in “Jesus Christ Superstar”.  Both of my kids enjoy yoga (blame me) and tai chi (all hubby’s fault).  They have music and reading in their blood.

 

exercising with dad in our home gym

I guess to summarize:  I encourage my kids to follow their hearts.  That’s a great hobby/life goal.  If they get it into their heads they want to be acrobats, while I’ll probably have a heart attack, I will encourage their dream and do the best I can to support them as they pursue it. 

To be fair, they DO often fight over our hula hoop...

What hobbies do you encourage in your kids?  What hobbies have they picked up that they can blame you for?

See ya next week!