Jun
1
She Loves Me Like A Rock
by Leslie
It’s a wonderful opportunity to meet some brilliant mothers; to celebrate, learn from and be inspired by our differences, while drawing strength and support from the common ground we share.
This month’s This Is Motherhood feature columnist isn’t just any mother; she is my mother.
She took me completely by surprise when she submitted her piece. It hadn’t occurred to me to invite her to participate. But I’m glad she did. I think she wrote something incredible. I’ve read it over and over and still find myself choking back tears. Maybe it’s because I’m her daughter and I understand the meaning of the words she chose. Or maybe it’s because I’m now a mother that I understand.
I hope you’ll read her column and let us know what you think, right after the obligatory This Is Motherhood interview.
Leslie: As most of my readers know, our family is part of our nation’s fastest growing demographic: we live in a multigenerational home. What’s it like living with me – your adult daughter – and my family? How has it affected your role as mom?
Georgina: I have to sit back and let you be the mom in the household. When you were growing up-especially as a teenager–I always felt that I had to be a very strong figure in your life. Now I see you being the strong figure in your kid’s lives. I am enjoying it.
Leslie: You’re more than mom, now. You are also a grandmother. Has your view of motherhood changed since the birth of your grandchildren?
Georgina: My view of motherhood has stayed the strong view I have always had. Life is all about your children. It has always bothered me when people look at children and say “there is the world of tomorrow”. They are the word today and we overlook their values and opinions too easily.
Leslie: What has been your biggest challenge as a mother?
Georgina: Life has really thrown our family into some heartbreaking and tough situations. I think that my biggest challenge has been to try to keep us family. That is when we are our strongest.
Leslie: What is your proudest mommy moment?
Georgina: I think my proudest moment was when you realized that you were worth more than you were told. I watched you crawl out of a tough situation and stand on your own–then you went out and found your dream–having your own family and children.
Leslie: If you were given a day completely to yourself where you could do whatever you wanted – money is no object – how would you spend that day?
Georgina: I would spend it at HOME!!! Where else is there?
Please go and read this months edition of This Is Motherhood!
May
1
The Mother Of All Months
by Leslie
It’s a wonderful opportunity to meet some brilliant mothers; to celebrate, learn from and be inspired by our differences, while drawing strength and support from the common ground we share.
I am delighted to introduce you to this month’s feature columnist, Pam of Bubbles Writes. I can’t remember exactly how I came to read her blog, but I know she had me hooked after just two posts. She’s laugh out loud hilarious and one of the bravest bloggers I’ve read. I absolutely adore this woman. She inspires me. I feel proud to call her a friend. And I’m so glad to have the opportunity to shine my little spotlight on her. So, please check out her column after our little getting-to-know-Pam interview.
Leslie: Why do you blog?
Pam: I started blogging as a way to keep track of important events in our family but then the fame and fortune of it all became addicting and now, well, I must write to feed the masses (better known as my 4 loyal readers).
Leslie: If your blog were a food or beverage, what would it be and why?
Pam: A big messy plate of nachos w/ extra jalapenos. It’s a gooey mess of goodness with lots of heat.
Leslie: You are the mother of three boys. How has motherhood changed as your family has grown?
Pam: Before I remarried and had small boy, it was just my two boys and me against the world. With the new Dad and the small boy, we feel like a real full circle family. I’m grateful to have a partner to help shoulder the responsibilites of parenting. Because each of my boys came seven years apart, we are enjoying (or enduring) vastly different milestones and stages with each boy all at one time. As I wrote about, while one child is embracing full on manhood, another is getting his first pimple while another is mooning over Hannah Montana and laughing at The Suite Life. It’s a family full of very different demands all at once and I’m definitely a better Mother for having a partner to help.
Leslie: What do you want to teach your children?
Pam: To find happiness whenever possible, to find the lesson in every experience, to listen to their hearts and follow their paths with integrity and kindness. Also, not to flick their boogers on the walls of their rooms.
Leslie: If you were given a day completely to yourself where you could do whatever you wanted – money is no object – how would you spend that day?
Pam: I would rent a beautiful condo on the beach with a full wait staff, lay on the beach with a great book, have my every wish granted (hello cabana boy) and sleep for days. Also, could I have every size 10 Manolo Blahniks ever made delivered to the condo? Man that sounds superficial and vain. I should probably have said that I’d hop a cargo plane to a third world country and volunteer to rebuild cities and teach the villagers to turn dirty sewer water into clean drinking water.
When I first put the word out that I was searching for columnists for This Is Motherhood, Pam was one of the first to sign on, calling dibs early on the month of May; don’t miss her edition of This Is Motherhood to see why. And be sure to visit her blog, Bubbles Writes.
Apr
1
It’s a wonderful opportunity to meet some brilliant mothers; to celebrate, learn from and be inspired by our differences, while drawing strength and support from the common ground we share.
I am so proud to introduce you to April’s featured mother: my very good friend, Amy Hicks.
I was absolutely delighted when Amy agreed to write about her motherhood experience for This Is Motherhood. Although she doesn’t have a blog…yet (hint hint, double hint), she has a wonderful way with words. What is more, she’s an incredible mother, a generous friend and a beautiful, open-hearted individual. She is down-to-earth and genuine, and makes the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever eaten in my life. I’m grateful to know her, and I believe you will be, too. So be sure to click and read her column after this friendly little interview.
Leslie: What is the best parenting advice you’ve ever received? What is the worst?
Amy: I don’t know that I have ever received a best or worst piece of advice. I think that I have just kind of plodded my way through and have done the best that I can. Over time I have learned that no mother is perfect and that has allowed me to relax a little and not be so up tight about every little thing. If there was one thing that I could tell every new mother it would be that we all have our own way of handling motherhood. There is no right or wrong way, just what works for you. I think that new mothers would ease into the whole experience a lot easier if they didn’t feel like everyone else knew what to do except for them.
Leslie: What do you want to teach your children?
Amy: More than anything I want to teach my children to respect themselves and others. I think that everything else that you wish for your children will follow if they can just learn respect. Also I want them to see that their father and I are more in love today than we were when we got married. I think that it is incredibly important for children to know with out a doubt that their parents love each other.
Leslie: As a mother, what product or item can’t you live without?
Amy: Actually, my husband and I just bought a Kia Sedona mini van. I absolutely love it and can’t believe that we spent the last three years carting my son around in my teeny tiny little car. There is so much room and we will have no problem installing my daughter’s infant car seat in just a few short weeks. The mini van…I love it and could not live with out it!
Leslie: If you were to write a book about your motherhood experience, what would it be called?
Amy: If I Only Knew Then…A Woman’s Journey into the World of Motherhood
Well that or
If I Have to Tell You One More Time…A Tale of How One Mother Flipped Out
Leslie: If you were given a day completely to yourself where you could do whatever you wanted – money is no object – how would you spend that day?
Amy: I would go to some deserted island where the only other people there would be my personal team of servants whose only job it is to serve me and not talk. I would spend the day relaxing on the beach, getting massages and eating a case of Leslie’s Famous Buckeyes. Now that would be Heaven.
Please click on over to read Amy’s edition of This Is Motherhood, then come on back here to shower her with comment love!
Mar
1
Motherhood According To Suz
by Leslie
It’s a new month, so that means there’s a new edition of the feature column:
It’s a wonderful opportunity to meet some brilliant mothers; to celebrate, learn from and be inspired by our differences, while drawing strength and support from the common ground we share.
I am really excited to introduce you to this month’s featured mother: Suzanne Gale of The World According To Suz. I’ve had a crush on her and her blog pretty much since she started writing it. I did a little something resembling a hurkey (which is a whole lot for a pregnant lady like me) when she agreed to write this installment of This Is Motherhood, because she is the coolest. If we were to have a cool kids virtual sleepover, Suz would be the one helping me put your bra in the freezer. She also happens to be an incredibly talented writer, so you really must click and read her column right after this warm-up interview.
Leslie: Why do you blog?
Suzanne: I blog for a few reasons:
*One: keeps me writing on a regular basis. Writing is what I like to do, but it’s rarely feasible to be able to sit and work on a novel for hours a day. A couple hundred words each day, or even every-other-day, is more my speed right now.
*Two, being a blogger is the closest I will ever come to being a rock star or performing before a large audience. I’ll write something and then just can’t wait to see the comments; I’m a comment junkie. I see new comments and I think Yay! People are paying attention to me!! (Wow, that was probably too honest… please don’t think less of me…)
*And last but not least, I blog so my friends and family who live far away can sort of keep tabs on my family. They like to see pictures of the kids posted.
Leslie: If your blog were a food or beverage, what would it be and why?
Suzanne: Mashed potatoes with Pop Rocks on top. It’s kind of smooshy and comforting, but then has a funny, tickling element to it. And it rots your teeth.
Leslie: If there were a movie made of your life, who would you choose to play you? Who do you think your children would choose for you?
Suzanne: I’ve had a few people tell me that I look like Cameron Diaz. I would be just fine with her playing me; then people would think that I was taller and had straighter teeth in real life. Plus, we already know from Charlie’s Angels that she can pull off the martial arts moves. We would have to put some fight scenes in the movie, just for dramatic effect. My children would probably pick a character from Star Wars or Sponge Bob to play me, because those are about the only actors they know.
Leslie: Would you rather have the ability to read other people’s thoughts or the ability to plant thoughts in their head?
Suzanne: I’d like to have the ability to read people’s thoughts, but I’d want to be able to shut if off at will. I don’t think I’d like to hear things about myself all of the time. I mean, how depressing would that be to be talking to someone and they just keep thinking wow, I wonder if she knows about that zit on her forehead. She has to know. How could she not feel that one?
Leslie: If you were given a day completely to yourself where you could do whatever you wanted – money is no object – how would you spend that day?
Suzanne: I’m a sucker for time spent with my husband. He is a funny guy, and just fun to be around. I’d like to fly off with him to somewhere warm. Just spend the day hanging out, being outside. A massage would be nice, too. Oooh, yeah, I’ve always wanted to do one of those couples massages on a beach somewhere. That’d be the best.
Now, click on over to read Suzanne’s edition of This Is Motherhood and be sure to visit her blog The World According To Suz!
Feb
1
It’s a wonderful opportunity to meet some brilliant women; to celebrate, learn from and be inspired by our differences, while drawing strength and support from the common ground we share.
February is the month of love, what with Valentine’s Day and all. So, it only makes sense that the featured mother for this installment of This Is Motherhood is someone I am completely in love with: the fabulous Karly of Wiping Up Snot fame.
I was excited to sit down with Karly – you know, me at my computer and her at hers, completely separated by distance and time, but whatever. There was sitting! And communicating! And the result was the following interview.
Leslie: Why do you blog?
Karly: This is a hard question for me to answer, because my answer changes with my mood. Mostly I blog because I’ve been stuck in my house with two short people for a long time and if I don’t hear from another adult soon I’ll just die. The interaction is definitely my biggest reason for blogging. Writing also helps me cope, though. Some things just eat at me until I get it written down and then I feel like I can just let it go and move on.
Leslie: Many of your readers have commented that they enjoy reading your blog because you tell the truth. Your writing is very honest and real. How do you determine what you will share on your blog? Where do you draw the line in terms of privacy?
Karly: This is going to sound totally lame, but I don’t really put a lot of thought in to what I should or shouldn’t share on my blog. I just pretend that nobody that I know in real life is reading and I write what I need to say. I’m actually struggling with this lately, because I know for a fact that quite a few of the men my husband work with have been reading my blog. (My readers who remember that picture of Cleatus and “the hurricane” will find it humorous that his nickname at work is now Hurricane.) This makes me think twice before I blog about Cleatus. He is a pretty minimal player in my blog and I think he prefers it that way. As for privacy, I’m not really concerned that someone is going to hunt us down or anything, but I do use nicknames for the kids and my husband so that my blog doesn’t turn up should someone google their real names. I do use my real name, though.
Leslie: If there were a movie made of your life, what would it be called and who would be cast in it?
Karly: Pass. 
I never know how to answer this question. Obviously, the actress playing me would be hot and Cleatus would be played by Paul Walker. And there would be a lot of “adult” scenes, because mmm, Paul Walker.
Leslie: Let’s do some word association. I’ll give you a word and you tell me the first thing that comes to your mind. First word: Laptop.
Karly: Couch
Leslie: Gout
Karly: Old People
Leslie: Vinegar
Karly: Douche
Leslie: Mess
Karly: Clean
Leslie: Love
Karly: Cleatus
Leslie: If you were given a day completely to yourself where you could do whatever you wanted – money is no object – how would you spend that day?
Karly: I would probably get my two favorite shopping buddies (my mom and my aunt) and head to a big mall for a day of shopping. I love shopping. It is a sickness that runs in my family (see above re: shopping buddies).
There is so much I could say about Karly and how great she is, but this is her spotlight; her writing speaks for itself and I don’t want you to miss a word of it. So, quit wasting time here! Check out Karly’s edition of This Is Motherhood. Then, visit her blog. Just remember who sent ya and that I’ve got dibs. That girl is mine!
Want some time in the spotlight? There’s room for a few more. I’m still accepting submissions.
Stuff I Do
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Stuff You Should Do
You know, Stuff.
