Lately I’ve been deep in thought about this whole motherhood thing. I’m 5 and a half years into it. With a new year comes new focus. Everyone is trying to figure out how they themselves can be better and how they can better others. At least I like to think the latter happens for most people.

A few weeks back I read a post over on Momestary.com blog. The woman completely filled the page of her blog post on Jan 6 with what was in my heart on that day. You can check out her post here: http://momastery.com/blog/2012/01/04/2011-lesson-2-dont-carpe-diem/

I’d like to say that I love everything about motherhood. It’s all I ever wanted since I was 4 years old. But its not always pretty. Which brings me to the realization that often what I’m going through or the “secret” feelings I have in my days about parenting, well, simply I cannot be alone. There are other moms and parents thinking and feeling the same thing. There are fathers who come home from work and feel the same way that my husband says he feels. Smothered. Like he was never given a chance to come up for air. After 5 minutes of being home the other night he turned to me and said, “Welp, I’m done after 5 mins. You’ve had em for 9 hours by yourself. You think you can take it from here?” He was completely joking. He knows that I would have thrown the nearest heavy object at him if he wasn’t. (We don’t really throw things at each other people!)

I later in that same week found this blog post over on the gypsymama.com. Check it out here: http://thegypsymama.com/2011/10/for-the-days-when-you-want-to-quit-motherhood/ Proof that I am NOT alone! And proof that if you too have these feelings at times, You aren’t alone either!

My husband and I have had many conversations about parenting. We believe that there is parenting from mountain tops and parenting from within the forest. Currently, we are in the phase where we are deep in the forest. In fact, we are staring at 3 trees extremely close. Sometimes too close.  It’s hard to see around these trees that are in front of us at times. Sometimes its hard to breathe.  I know that I am not alone in this feeling.

I love that the current church is strategizing and learning how to come alongside of families and parents and partner with them in the raising of the next generation. But I cannot shake that perhaps there is something missing in directly encouraging  and impacting parents. They need to know that they are not alone. That they can do this! That like all things in parenting, everything is a phase, and whatever awful thing your kids are doing that you think they will never stop doing, will pass. Sometimes I wish the church would also realize that parents have a one up in the world of reaching other parents before the church does.I have found that parenting is an automatic common ground with another parent whether I know them well or not.

Sometimes parents just need to be told that their doing a good job. They need to hear “You’ve got this thing.” I don’t’ care if you’re a churched family or not, all parents need to hear that they are not alone and that they are doing a great job. They need to hear that as a family unit, God has great big plans.  I wish I could bathe parents in peace and rest.

Much like running a race or playing a sport, cheering fans can be game changers. Not to mention that being one of those cheering fans is almost as equally rewarding as being one of the players on the field. You begin to take on an ownership. A team commrodary. I’ve often heard runners say that they heard someone cheering from the sidelines just when they were about to throw in the towel and they got a big push to finish because of that cheering fan. It’s like everything comes into focus and the Why in what we do as a parent becomes clear again.

So if you see a mom or dad that is struggling or they have that look like “I just want to tie my kid to a chair and return when they are asleep,” give em’ a pat on the back. Even if they look like they’ve got it under control, tell them their doing a great job. Find the common ground. Every parent wants to succeed. Become a cheering fan for parents and I’m pretty sure that its a small step in the right direction of changing the game of great parents that produce some great kids. Great Families! Go ahead. I dare all those that are parents to invest in the next generation (your kids and your kids kids!) by investing in the next generations parents.

Go team Parents! You got this thang!

10pm rolled around last night and my brain came up with this! I really do have deeper thoughts than grapes and cheese, I promise.

Cute, right?! These were my test grapes so please ignore their ugliness.These are super easy, tasty and healthy. Winning! To begin, cut a grape in half at an angle. Match up the angles to make a heart and put a toothpick through it.

Grab a brick of cheese and slice a piece like you would to eat. Cut that rectangular piece into 2 squares. Cut triangles out of the squares. Assemble and Wahla! I plan on making these and taking them to my sons class Valentine’s Day party in a few weeks. I think they will be a favorite.

5 years ago today, I experienced the deepest of love at first site. My son Evan James was born. As he laid on my chest, fresh into the world, he ever so contently looked into my eyes. There was no raging cry. There was no squirming. Just simple love. To this day, he is the same. A very happy and content boy. He doesn’t need frills and exotic things to get him excited. He’s just content and sweet. He loves snuggles and has the most tender and soft heart. Don’t get me wrong, he’s got a lot of boy in him! He loves to run and play and get sweaty and smash bugs. We’re confident that he’ll take care of us in our retirement years with a Major League Baseball salary with that arm of his and his batting abilities! He is my most inquisitive kid. He ponders and truly wants to understand why something is the way it is. He is full of wonder and hope. He loves his Heavenly Father, but he also has a ton of questions he wants answered so he can know Him fully. He is patient. He is my child that I can tell him to do something and without fail, he does it with one ask. He is a hard worker. He is careful and his love is unconditional. He’s an incredible big brother! He already is a jaw dropping good guitar player at just 5 years of age and if you need something fixed, he’s not afraid to give it a try to fix it with some tools. Evan is extra special to me because he made me a mom for the first time. He was the gift that came to take us back so we could be reminded of how to love the world like God loves the world. We are so glad God gaves us YOU, Evan! We love you baby boy!

Summer brings warm weather. Duh! I think we’ve all been experiencing that lately. I love Summer! There’s so much fun to be had– from vacations to playing outside to swimming and much more. However, safety should also be a part of summer fun to help avoid accidents.

State Farm Insurance has lots of quick and easy resources and tips to make sure everyone stays safe, whether it’s playing in the backyard or piling into the car for a road trip.  Some important tips include:

Home Safety

• Check your wood deck or concrete patio for possible deterioration

• Be sure to follow and enforce proper rules and safety measures around your pool

• Click Here For More Home Tips

Auto Safety

• Get your car serviced before you travel including a check of the engine and other systems such as the air conditioning and cooling, the tires, brakes, lights and windshield wipers.
• Keep an emergency kit in your trunk – jumper cables, tools, water, emergency flares, and a flashlight and gloves – just in case.

• More Summer Auto Tips Here

More info about safety tips for your summer can also be found at www.StateFarm.com.

Giveaway

REQUIRED ENTRY:

1.  Leave a comment with your best summer safety tip.

BONUS ENTRIES:

1.Follow MomWithAMinivan through Facebook and  Twitter and leave a comment on this post

2. Like State Farm on Facebook and leave a comment on this post.

You have until Thursday (8/11) at 11:59 pm ET to enter the giveaway. I will choose a winner at random using the “And the Winner Is…” plugin, and send the winner an e-mail. The winner will have 48 hours to respond with his/her contact information or I will have to choose another winner. Happy entering!

Disclosure: I received the same gift package that the winner will be receiving to facilitate my review. I did not receive any compensation to write this post. The opinions are all mine!

As I sit here on day five of swim classes and watch my two 4 year olds swim unassisted laps, I’m in awe. How could this happen in just 5 short lessons?! We, my family and I, have been working with them on swimming all summer. You know the classic parenting lines to beginner swimmers: “Keep your mouth closed!” “Kick, kick, kick!” “I’ve got you.You are safe” “Reach with those arms!” “Stay on the side until I get there.” “Way to go!” All great things for us parents to say. But honestly, my kids were no where near the swimmers they are now this entire summer until swim classes. Why? What was the difference? I was saying all of the right things to teach them. I was patient and encouraging. I took several splashes to the face for the sake of teaching them. I’ve come to one conclusion that has made all the difference: Ms.Jillian. Ms.Jillian is my kids swim teacher. I was a little concerned about how my kids would respond to being in a pool without the safety of mom or dad or someone they know. Man,was I wrong! Here’s the reality that stares me in my face today: Ms.Jillian has said all of the same things I have said to my kids about swimming. My kids needed someone else to show them and say the same things  before they “got it.”

Life lesson here for me as a parent: Sometimes my kids need the voice of another in their lives.

My  kids will not always hear or “get” what I am saying every time. As a parent, that’s a hard one to swallow isn’t it?! But whether Ms.Jillian knows it or not, she is in a partnership with me as a parent. She too wants my kids to know a life saving skill.  There will be things that your kids need to hear, talk through and/or be influenced on by another trusted  individual. You as the parent certainly will always have influence on your kids lives. No doubt about it. Even the worse of parents have an impact on their kids whether they know it or not.  For me, I want to set my kids up for success in the department of being able to trust another adult individual to talk through life things with, when they don’t really want to “hear” what mom and dad are saying. I want to think that my kids will always listen to me and always learn what I teach them. Sometimes though, it  takes a partnership with a Ms.Jillian and her voice in my kids lives for me to be the best parent I can be to my kids.  It’s the partnership of having the same goal in mind that makes all the difference.

Partnership: a cooperative relationship between people or groups who agree to share responsibility for achieving some specific goal