Journaling: I was really nervous about doing this challenge "Mom of the Year". In my mind I haven't done anything extraordinary to be chosen as Mom of the Year. But with the encouragement of others I've realized that I'm a better mother than I thought. One of things that makes me a Mom of the Year is that fact that I'm a Stay at Home Mom who is married to a Navy man who is gone 90% of the time. Tom left during my pregnancy with Thomas and didn't return until Thomas was nearly 5 months old. During the first month after Thomas was born I had help with me but for the following 4 months I was on my own in a new state with no friends. The fact that both Thomas and I survived that time is testament to my worthiness. After Tom returned home he was home for weeks at a time with weeks between that he was gone. But during that first year he was mostly home after that first deployment. Since Thomas wasn't around a lot of adult conversation and I'm not much of a talker with kids he wasn't developing his language skills as quickly as other kids his age did, so despite my shy demeanor I joined a playgroup and jump in full force going to as many as I could make in a week. Although learning this new dynamic of acquaintance but not good friends was really tough for me I stuck it out so that he could have the interaction he needed to learn and grow as a person. During Thomas' second year Tom was gone a large majority of the time. Essentially I was a single mother who didn't have to worry about paying the bills as well as being a mother. It made relating to other moms, even other military moms, really difficult and kept a dark cloud looming over me even in the furthest part of my mind. It's hard to be a mom, harder to be a Stay At Home Mom with minimal adult interaction, and even harder to do it without a husband at home. I have to admit that even though I'm happy with the way our lives are it's a much harder job than I let on and I'm proud that I'm doing it to the best of my abilities at the time. I am definitely the glue that keeps our family together and I do it all without complaining. We have our rough days but we always get through them and I'm happy to be the mother I am but I'm always ready for improvement.May 7, 2009
"Mom of the Year" challenge
This LO came via a challenge in my Cafe Mom group ScrapNMoms (if your on cafe mom and not in this group, JOIN!! it's fabulous!). This was the first challenge for May and we were challenged to create a LO explaining why we deserve to be Mom of the Year. At first I found this really difficult because I didn't do anything spectacular to be given such a title but with the encouragement of the others in the group I figured it out. So this is my LO and the journaling is underneath the photo so please take a look and enjoy. This one is close to my heart!
Journaling: I was really nervous about doing this challenge "Mom of the Year". In my mind I haven't done anything extraordinary to be chosen as Mom of the Year. But with the encouragement of others I've realized that I'm a better mother than I thought. One of things that makes me a Mom of the Year is that fact that I'm a Stay at Home Mom who is married to a Navy man who is gone 90% of the time. Tom left during my pregnancy with Thomas and didn't return until Thomas was nearly 5 months old. During the first month after Thomas was born I had help with me but for the following 4 months I was on my own in a new state with no friends. The fact that both Thomas and I survived that time is testament to my worthiness. After Tom returned home he was home for weeks at a time with weeks between that he was gone. But during that first year he was mostly home after that first deployment. Since Thomas wasn't around a lot of adult conversation and I'm not much of a talker with kids he wasn't developing his language skills as quickly as other kids his age did, so despite my shy demeanor I joined a playgroup and jump in full force going to as many as I could make in a week. Although learning this new dynamic of acquaintance but not good friends was really tough for me I stuck it out so that he could have the interaction he needed to learn and grow as a person. During Thomas' second year Tom was gone a large majority of the time. Essentially I was a single mother who didn't have to worry about paying the bills as well as being a mother. It made relating to other moms, even other military moms, really difficult and kept a dark cloud looming over me even in the furthest part of my mind. It's hard to be a mom, harder to be a Stay At Home Mom with minimal adult interaction, and even harder to do it without a husband at home. I have to admit that even though I'm happy with the way our lives are it's a much harder job than I let on and I'm proud that I'm doing it to the best of my abilities at the time. I am definitely the glue that keeps our family together and I do it all without complaining. We have our rough days but we always get through them and I'm happy to be the mother I am but I'm always ready for improvement.
Journaling: I was really nervous about doing this challenge "Mom of the Year". In my mind I haven't done anything extraordinary to be chosen as Mom of the Year. But with the encouragement of others I've realized that I'm a better mother than I thought. One of things that makes me a Mom of the Year is that fact that I'm a Stay at Home Mom who is married to a Navy man who is gone 90% of the time. Tom left during my pregnancy with Thomas and didn't return until Thomas was nearly 5 months old. During the first month after Thomas was born I had help with me but for the following 4 months I was on my own in a new state with no friends. The fact that both Thomas and I survived that time is testament to my worthiness. After Tom returned home he was home for weeks at a time with weeks between that he was gone. But during that first year he was mostly home after that first deployment. Since Thomas wasn't around a lot of adult conversation and I'm not much of a talker with kids he wasn't developing his language skills as quickly as other kids his age did, so despite my shy demeanor I joined a playgroup and jump in full force going to as many as I could make in a week. Although learning this new dynamic of acquaintance but not good friends was really tough for me I stuck it out so that he could have the interaction he needed to learn and grow as a person. During Thomas' second year Tom was gone a large majority of the time. Essentially I was a single mother who didn't have to worry about paying the bills as well as being a mother. It made relating to other moms, even other military moms, really difficult and kept a dark cloud looming over me even in the furthest part of my mind. It's hard to be a mom, harder to be a Stay At Home Mom with minimal adult interaction, and even harder to do it without a husband at home. I have to admit that even though I'm happy with the way our lives are it's a much harder job than I let on and I'm proud that I'm doing it to the best of my abilities at the time. I am definitely the glue that keeps our family together and I do it all without complaining. We have our rough days but we always get through them and I'm happy to be the mother I am but I'm always ready for improvement.
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3 comments:
This is a gorgeous layout, touching story, and a fantastic photo of you and your son that fits so well with the journaling and the story you tell. Fabulous!
omg! wow! i KNEW you could do it! and you blew it out of the water! wow again!
Wow... I am crying. This is PERFECT. You really are a mother of the year Tammi, and don't ever forget it. Your family is very blessed to have you.
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