Welcome to Momming is Hard. I'm Sarah.
The internet is already full of beautiful perfect people with beautiful perfect families and beautiful perfect pinterest-worthy crafts.
So, if you are looking for paleo recipes, extravagant birthday parties, mason jar and pallet wood crafts (don't even get me started on that crap), perfection, 6-pack abs, tips on how to ALWAYS have a clean home, mommy shaming, scrapbooking tips or weird-ass/"creative" recipes, look elsewhere.
This is where you'll find things like messes, mistakes, encouragement, freedom from perfection, honest thoughts on being a mom of toddlers while growing a business, and just basic real life stuff.
Everyday my husband walks in through the door and my children run full speed, trying to cut corners which never works given that corners are made from walls and walls can hit you in the face if you run into them. They brush it off and keep on running, all the while yelling his name over and over with the level of excitement that makes me assume he must be made of ice cream covered in sprinkles and presents. Every day between 5:30 and 6:00pm, my husband is greeted with enthusiasm and joy. The kids run into his long arms and squeeze him with with all they have. They tell him they love him and they tell him they missed him.
"Be honest, you are a messy person in general." I could tell he was watching the words slowly leave his mouth as if they were being physically written in the air like a painfully cliche airplane sky writing proposal. I'm sure he was wishing he could grab those words, pull them back and shove them into his mouth before they reached my ears. If the regret of speaking that phrase didn't kill him, my "oh, heeeeeellllll no" stare would probably do the job.
Okay. Have you heard of the this? Let me sum it up for you. These two Christian sisters who used to be christian singers but are now stay at home moms and have no nutrition background, wrote this book with the cheesiest-ass name ever: Trim Healthy Mama. Moms from all over are hopping on the plan because they can "eat cake every day!"
For a long time, it was really hard to get out and go on adventures (and by "adventures" I mean leave the house in general) with our kids because they were so little and curious and literally always went in different directions. My friends would invite me to go to the park with them and I would hesitate because I knew it would be exhausting and not fun at all. It would not be the play date they imagined because I'd spend the entire time wrangling my free-range children. Ultimately they would convince me it would be easy, after all they would be there too. Then about 30 minutes into our park date, we'd all be exhausted and it would take every thing we had just to bribe them with a granola bar to get in their car seats.
My college roommate just had her first baby boy and it has me dreaming of dinosaurs and monsters. She is going to be the most amazing boy mom ever and I giddy with excitement over getting to meet him later this week.
We're a big book family over here and I am totally that aunt/family friend who will always give books instead of toys, but I don't care. To quote Kathleen Kelly in You've Got Mail, "When you read a book as a child, it becomes a part of your identity in a way that no other reading in your whole life does.” I don't think there is any greater gift we can give our children than the love of reading, so today I want to share with you my all-time favorite books to gift little boys
Every single day, I feel unqualified to write or talk about how hard momming actually is. I look around at friends with twins, or triplets or 4 kids or 6 or 7 kids and I watch them thrive as mothers. I watch their children fall in line like ducklings when their mama calls them. I watch their children play nicely. I see those healthy, well-balanced meals they pin or share on Instagram and I can't help but think "what is wrong with me that I can't even handle two kids?"
Do you remember when you just had one baby, and he or she was just that: a baby? Relatives and loved ones from all around were lining up to watch them for you so you could have time together as a couple and still prioritize your marriage after having kids. Then, right about 8 months into that child's life, fewer and fewer people wanted to help you out. Apparently babysitting isn't as fun and convenient once a child starts crawling. Then, you went ahead and got yourself knocked up again and now that you have 2+ kids, the offers stopped coming and whenever you ask they are all of a sudden busy all the freaking time. Convenient.
I love having a daughter, but it also scares the bejezuz out of me because, HOLY CRAP I HAVE A DAUGHTER! There is an added sense of pressure having a daughter. This girl is a mirror into my soul and I have to be extra careful about every step I take and every word I say, because that will shape how she feels about herself.
Do I brunch? Me? (Uncontrollable laughter here) No, my brunching days our behind me. This morning, I scarfed a cup of coffee in record time in attempt to fuel up before the gremlins arose from their peaceful slumber so they could ask me to do things for them that they can do on their own. Then I changed 5 bazillion poopy diapers and finally got to that big pile of laundry and then spent naptime writing new resources for my auction clients. No time for bottomless mimosas and French toast over here.
Has anyone written the book "What To Expect When You Don't Know What The Hell Is Going On" yet? I'd buy it. I'm still waiting for that moment when all the mommy wisdom will infiltrate my brain. I wish it would come soon because I have two kids and I don't even know when I should take them to the doctor for a cough or when they're "fine, it's just a cough." There's such a fine line between "meh, you're fine" and "you are dying and I should have taken you in so much sooner!" When do we start to know these things?
Maybe not the "World's Best Auctioneer," but I'm certainly "One helluva Auctioneer."
This month I celebrate my 10 year anniversary as being an auctioneer. When I was sitting in class at auction school they told us that only 5% of people who attend auction school will still be working in the industry 10 years later. I am proud to not only be in the industry, but to have built a business that I'm proud of as a fundraising auctioneer where I have gotten to work with hundreds of nonprofits, schools and organizations to raise millions upon millions of dollars to make this world a better place.
Even after 10 years and hundreds of happy clients, some haters are still going to hate...