Memory Making - A Guest Post

Today I've got a guest post over at Crafty Crunchy Spicy about making the most of these early days with the kids while fighting those occasional feelings of inadequacy that we mamas can get. Check It Out!

Am I Doing This Right?

Today's guest post is by Rue at Crafty Crunchy Spicy. I think many of you moms will relate to the sentiments she shares. Enjoy!
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Am I doing this right?

This is a question I have been asking myself since my daughter was only 15 minutes old and I nursed her for the first time.

In fact, as a first-time mom, I was kind of obsessed with this question for the first year of her life. Is she eating enough? Why doesn’t she nap like she is supposed to?  Is that eczema or a yeast rash? How the heck do you tell the difference?! Is this much drool normal?

It wasn’t until her first birthday that I began to ease up and feel like I was finally getting the hang of this “mom” thing. She was healthy and happy, and we were having so much fun together.  I was feeling more confident and happily dealt out advice to my friends who had newborns.

But before too long, a whole new wave of parenting concerns hit me. Tantrums? Sharing? Playground etiquette? Whoa. I felt confident that I could meet my daughter’s basic needs for sleep and nourishment but this was a whole new ball game. My work as a parent was just beginning—and I was only dealing with a 17 month old, what was it going to be like with a 17 year old?

Of course this wasn’t a completely new realization. I knew from the time I held that positive pregnancy test in my hand that God wasn’t just blessing me with a baby, he was entrusting me to play an important role in another person’s life. I would have the joy and challenge of being a part of her whole life, not just her time as an infant. 

And I hate saying it, but I have to acknowledge that the biggest parenting cliché out there is true. It goes so fast—at times too fast for my liking. But more and more I am excited about going through this all with my daughter at every stage of her life.

As my daughter grows and changes, I know each phase will bring with it different joys and challenges. What I am learning is that each phase is also an opportunity for me to grow and change as well.

Am I doing this right?  I hope I’m always asking myself this question as a parent. Not with the anxiety that was always lurking in the back of my mind during that first year, but with the willingness to self-reflect, to make sure that I’m not running on autopilot and that I’m getting as much as I can out of this whole parenting thing.

Rue is a first-time, stay-at-home mom. She is a relatively new blogger who writes about craft projects, natural parenting, and her life as an expat. Check out her blog at http://craftycrunchyspicy.blogspot.com/.

Calling All Guest Posts! Time For A Vacation

Hooray! It’s almost time for fun! I need fun…oh, how I need fun.

We all just got over some colds…Abram has regressed in his nighttime sleep…the husband was working some late hours recently…so we’re all pretty exhausted. We need a vacation, and I am beyond ecstatic that we are getting one.

Fun…I see you. You’re so close I can almost touch you. I’m almost there…just a little further…

While on vacation I want to be as ‘unplugged’ as possible and concentrate on my family, so I thought this would be a great opportunity to publish some guest posts.  

If you’re interested, send the following to me at panoramicplayground @ gmail.com by May 20^th for consideration:

·        Your (not previously published) post of a reasonable length (mine are generally around 400 words or so) on a topic that fits with my blog (family, kids, childhood, life stories – you know what I like!)

·         A pic or two that fits with the post, if you’d like

·         A short author bio (and a link to your blog, if you have one!)

Ever since I started blogging back in September, I’ve been eager to have guest posters. I don’t know why; there’s just something about the whole community atmosphere that excites me. I loved being a guest on The Mommyhood Memos, and I love reading guest posts and getting introduced to other writers.

 Thanks for reading, and I hope you all are having fun (or at least looking forward to having fun) too!

A Very Special Day For Me

As most of you know, I just started blogging a couple of months ago, and it has been such a new and different experience for me. I was hesitant to start a blog since I have a tendency to be a very private person, but the more I thought about how important it is to build relationships in this life, the more I realized how great of an opportunity it could be.

When I'm browsing around on the Internet, the best articles I come across are the ones that are personal and moving, and that allow me to relate to a stranger in a way I never thought possible. That's what originally attracted me to blogging - the encouragement you receive when you find someone who has the same struggles, or the same dreams and desires.

This is why I'm thankful to have come across The Mommyhood Memos. Adriel writes about motherhood and raising little ones with such beauty and eloquence - I knew I had found something really special in her blog.

And today I'm so honored to be a guest blogger on her site - The First Year: Mama's Greatest Journey.

I hope you'll check it out and let me know what you think! And I hope you will all continue to join me in this beautifully complex journey we call life.