Here I am just a couple weeks before Christmas and I feel like I’m down for the count. My kids are sick, my baby literally breaks my heart when I have to drop him off at preschool and my house looks like even Santa threw up with all the wild holiday everywhere!
I joke about the insanity—but it’s not all roses. I’m actually REALLY looking forward to the two weeks of the year that everyone disappears from working and I can try and get my life in order and ready for a whole new amazing year.
Let’s talk about Hudson for a second. I really find it hard to think I’m unstoppable with him. I have to talk the kid up the entire drive to his preschool and even then he breaks down EVERYDAY on me. Nine out of ten times I crawl back in my car and bawl my own eyes out after wondering if I’m doing the RIGHT THING by putting him in pre-school after. Both my boys learned so much at that school. It’s a great school. But why does he sink his tears into my heart every day?
Today was a lot better. And I think I know why. Cause his big brother was there to root him on. And potentially that they are ALL out of the house and I can fumigate! SICKNESS is the WORST! (Well, considering my husband is now down…maybe I just sit in the car and write this blog post like I always do when I need my little ‘hiding place from all the insanity’ in my life!)
FOCUS. That word and FAMILY are really the topic this time.
You see, Boston is a star. He really is. I know. EVERY MOM says that, right? And yes, EVERY KID is a STAR and deserves to be told how wonderful they are! But my kids (mainly Boston because he’s older but Hudson is right on track to be the same…) my kids LOVE on the outside. I don’t know if that was something they learned from me or their experience in pre-school. But either way, Boston is so caring when someone is hurting. (Even if it’s HIM hurting his little brother.) But, they really are great siblings.
You know when all those bells and whistles are going off in your mind and on your phone there is no sense of security in anything you’re doing. None. It’s run, chase tail, laundry, live, repeat. It’s so fun and I really LOVE living on the outside…but I’m looking forward to some quiet. Even if it’s my form of quiet. My boys deserve that side of me. I’m the queen people pleaser and I always try to do something for someone else—but man alive—who takes care of moms when the family is all in the petri dish?
Maybe my kids are my medicine. Truth be told, yesterday I totally hated to do it—but I really wanted Hudson to experience Santa and yesterday was the ONLY day I could schedule it. I felt like such a jerk making Boston leave the house—but I had to get that holiday picture. That shiny piece of perfection JUST so I could pop on social media and say yeah—my kids are cuter than yours! Little did you NOT see the pure insanity it took to get them to look that cute. Absolute freaking insanity, y’all. Words can’t even explain it.
But that’s my medicine. My kids are what cause me to slow down. Or as Boston likes to say, “take a chill pill mom.” So my chill pill lesson is that you MUST put on your oxygen mask first before I take care of the rest of the world. That means – if I miss deadlines, cancel meetings, whatever…I have to do it for the sake of my kids. I OWE that to them. And in fact, it takes crazed moments like this that remind me to slow down.
There is a lot we can learn from our kids. And actually kudos to my kids for reminding me the teachable lessons on this one. Oh—funny story too! I told Boston that I was proud of him for pulling it together for the 10 seconds in the pic and his response?
“Mom, considering I am one of PEOPLE’s Sexiest Men Alive—I have got to ALWAYS be on. I have a reputation to uphold.”
I replied: “Seriously kid, where on Earth did you get that from?”
He goes into the kitchen, grabs the People Mag and opens up to this page.
I’ve created either a monster—or the Sexiest Man Alive. Let’s just hope the two of them turn out just fine no matter what they are! But 25 years down the road if he shows up with a magazine with a picture of HIM as an ADULT? I will say what I say every time a photo comes out polished and looking perfect.
I MADE THAT.
Disclosure: I have been compensated by, and received information and materials from, Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc., McNeil Consumer Healthcare Division, the makers of Children’s MOTRIN®. The opinions stated are my own. This is a sponsored post.
Editor Note: It was honestly one of the coolest experience a mom and her son could ask for. Yes, I was compensated cause clearly Children’s MOTRIN is a brand. But the fact that they put some seriously incredible emotion into this campaign for me personally? I’m the lucky “CHOSEN” one!
Make sure to visit My Unstoppable Mom to create your own My Unstoppable Mom book cover that celebrates your unique power as seen through the eyes of your kids. For every book cover created, Children’s MOTRIN® will donate a book to a family in need, through its partnership with Scholastic. Boston created a book cover for me during our trip to New York City a few months ago to spend the day with Kelly Ripa!
Between November 2, 2015 and December 17, 2015, the makers of Children’s MOTRIN® invite legal residents of the 50U. S. & D.C., aged 18 and older, to create a storybook cover on MyUnstoppableMom.com. Each eligible submission will trigger a donation from Children’s MOTRIN® of one (1) book to a family in need, via Reach Out and Read, with a minimum donation of 10,000 books ($17,500 value) and a maximum of 25,000 books ($24,000 value), through its partnership with Scholastic. See Official Rules at website for complete details. For information visit Reach Out and Read.
This post originally appeared on Real Mom Media on December 15, 2015.
