New Winner...Well, Almost

So my last survey asked if you felt like you get enough sleep. My vote was a big fat NO! Most of us voted no, but I was happy to see that there are a few of you out there that seem to be getting your beauty rest and a few more that sometimes are getting enough shut eye.

The reason I asked was because I recently read (in one of my fav books) about how important it is to get the right amount of sleep. It totally opened my eyes to a lot of the problems that I was encountering in my day to day life. Debra Sansing Woods says in her wonderful book It's Okay to Take a Nap and Other Reassuring Truths for Mothers Everywhere, "The reality is that being short on sleep makes me far less than my best self. In other words, when I'm exhausted, I tend to be impatient, critical, and just generally grumpy with my kids." Oh man, I want to just read the rest of what she has to say about it, but it would totally make me go over on my allotted blogging time for the day. (I think I'm already over anyway, Oops!) Anyway, what she had to say made such an impact on me that I vowed to try and go to bed every night at 10:00pm. I've only done it, oh maybe once or twice since then, but I'm still working on doing just that. Why? Because it really did make a noticeable difference in my days when I was able to get the right amount of sleep at the right time. I highly recommend your trying it too. See if it works for you. Oh, and I also highly recommend getting this book. It's filled with great advice for all of us mothers.

For one of our lucky BOMs, this book is this month's prize. I might even be able to get it signed by the author. Yeah! I'll announce the winner soon. Stay tuned...

SUPERMOMS

I just can't get over how amazing and inspiring all of your wonderful comments from the last post were. A big thanks goes out to our BOMs...Lauren, Rachel ,Jenni, Teryn and Lyndsay. Oh and thanks to Lynae for asking the question that got the results.

I found from reading your comments, that again, yes, we really are all in this together, and we're all undergoing the same trials and struggles as mothers. How wonderful to know this, and to have a reminder that our babies are only young for a little while and that we must do all we can do to enjoy and relish every single moment. I really liked that everyone seemed to keep echoing the thought of not being too hard on ourselves. We DON'T have to feel guilty for not getting it all done. It just really isn't a realistic thing and no, not one of us is a superwoman, but yes, each of us is a "supermom." (A note on that...have someone call you that once or twice and your mommy self esteem will be soaring. An old friend came to visit my family about a month ago. He hadn't seen me since college and I think it was a little weird for him to see me running around with my four kiddos. He kept calling me "supermom" and kind of joking about it. I decided to take it as a compliment.) Yes, that's what we are...SUPERMOMS. Anyone who is a mom has to be super. That's just a given. So maybe we don't do it all, maybe we have to squeeze in our scripture reading and prayers and maybe there are piles of sand on the floor, but just remember to let go of the guilt, do all you can to prioritize, set a schedule and routine (huge helper) and be loving to your littles. You know, I think it all falls into place from there. It will never be easy, but we CAN do it. Yes, we can.


If you haven't read the comments from the last post, do it and do it now. ;) Really, there are some great thoughts there for you.

Who Has Time For All This Anyway?

This week's post comes from a question from one of our BOMs. She is the mother of three girls, and I think the oldest might be four by now, hmm, maybe still three. I can only imagine how busy she is day after day after day. Her question is "How do busy moms do it?" (See the comment on the post "Sisters." ) How do you fit in your spiritual daily needs? We all know that they are necessary in order to stay on track and be able to handle our mothering duties with joy and love, but sometimes it does seem impossible to fit it all in.

Now, I know there are some of you out there that this isn't a challenge. You seem to just do it and handle it better than the rest of us. Really, I know who you are. I've seen you in action. So the question is how? Help us out. What is the secret to making it happen?

The forum is now open.

Happy 4th of July

Enjoy today with your families. Celebrate your freedom and teach your children why we have it. Start a tradition. Live a tradition. Be proud to be an American. God bless America.