5 on Friday: Giving Back and Hands Free Mama

It's a lot easier to have a prompt for writing! Here are my five things:

Giving Back: One of my goals for the summer is to consistently model giving back to others and provide authentic opportunities for Evie and Henry to help others in our community. Earlier this week, Evie helped me make "Blessing Bags" for the homeless. Nashville allows the homeless to sell a newspaper on street corners and the vendors wear identification - the newspaper is a dollar so I enclosed one in the bag. Evie always has a HUGE interest in these people and asks us lots of questions about why they are outside all the time. I decided Blessing Bags would be a great way to start giving back since Evie is interested in helping these people. We filled the bags with toiletries, snacks, pens and note paper, a dollar bill and a short note reminding them that they are a Child of God and that we are thinking of them. Evie and I were so excited to take the bags to the homeless from the safety of our car. I am all about helping others but our safety is important too. We drove to all the hot spots for homeless in our area and could not find a single homeless person. It was a bit frustrating! We will try again soon and perhaps it would work better to go in the afternoon. Plan B was to make brownies for the retread workers in Carl's shop. They have a hot, dirty job and love to a sweet treat. Evie and I made the brownies and I was chatting with her about the importance of being kind and that these workers had been doing such a good job and how these brownies would make their day. Evie seemed to be taking all of this in so well and then she asked me if we could make some brownies for Daddy since he is doing a good job too. We will keep working on giving back to our community!

Pool Play Dates: I took the kids to the pool twice this week by myself to meet friends. It's practically an Olympic event to cover every square inch of their body with sunscreen and then lug them and all of their stuff to the pool. Not to mention keeping them both alive at the pool. Evie does really well. Henry thinks he can swim and attempted to jump off the diving board until his mean old mom grabbed him by his floatation device. I'm telling you one mom per kid might be the best strategy for the pool.

 

Summer Parenting:  Henry has cried almost every minute of the day since Tuesday. One of my friends commented that perhaps it was his 2 year molars coming in. Poor Henry is such a second child. No wonder, he has been so cranky! A little Advil and he is doing much better. I have decided that full-time Motherhood is not for me. We all do better with some spaces in our togetherness. It's been a wild two weeks without any alone time for Mama. I met some friends out for dinner tonight and had so much fun. We were like giggling sorority girls all over again with a game of Never I have Ever. I learned so much about my fellow moms. Never Have I Ever changed a flat tire was my choice and was surprised to see that most of us have not ever changed a tire. I am so thankful for all my Mama friends and cannot imagine parenting without them.

Shrimp and Grits: I LOVE dressing my kids like little kids but it can be expensive. Shrimp and Grits is my favorite kids line. I adore it all and have been patiently waiting for their summer sale. Wednesday, was the big day and I was online at 11 EST along with every smock-loving, ruffle wearing, seersucker Mama in the South.  May 29 has been on my calendar for weeks with the words SALE to remind me of the big day. The site crashed and moms were commenting left and right about how irritated they were about this. I'll admit to feelings of disappointment for not securing all of those precious outfits at deeply discounted prices but it was not the end of the world. It was shocking to see the extreme frustration that moms were feeling over a slow website. I had to scoot off to a play date so I had to wait until nap time to purchase my items. There are way bigger problems than crashing websites for children's clothing which leads me to my next item of business.

Hands Free Mama: Have you read this blog? I highly recommend it and this is part of the reason why I am writing two blog posts at 11:00 at night while my children are sleeping. Computers (especially my iPhone) have become too big of a part of my life. Everywhere, that I go from weight room at the Y to the lifeguards at the pool - people are glued to their phones. I am glued to my phone! It's absolutely not necessary for me to check my email at stoplights - I am a SAHM not a physician on call. My Facebook status is not as important as the status of my laundry room or the status of my children's heart. Blog reading is fun for me but it is not nearly as much fun as living life with people that are in my town. Anyway, I have been convicted about my computer use and have vowed to cut down tremendously to enjoy life with my kids. They do not need me every minute of the day just like I do not need them every minute but they need a mom that is focused and fun not glued to the iPhone. These days are long  (some days feel longer than others) but the years are short. I still love Social Media of every type and still check it way more than necessary but it's my personal goal for my myself and family to decrease my dependence on that little gadget. My kids are just way more important! Check out Rachel - you might learn something new! I have already learned that it is incredibly freeing not to carry that darn phone everywhere I go. Instead of being In Case of Emergency - it has become an extension of me. Join me if you'd like, use your phone but enjoy your life! Watch your kids play at the park, feel the wind in your hair and engage in conversation with the person next to you. I promise that you will not regret it!