My daughter’s in a small Christian school for kindergarten this year. She’s learning all about creation and God’s grace and beauty in all things. She’s taken to the lessons in a big way and it makes me kind of bummed that I haven’t been doing this all along. We say prayer before meals and I teach her about being grateful and thankful and appreciative for all our blessings. But we don’t talk about Jesus every day and she only recently understood that our pastor is not God. (Which was a pretty fun conversation to have.)

But in truth, I’m still wrestling with my faith. I had some issues during my teen years that truly made me feel like there were only one set of footprints at times. I still struggle with my views on Jesus and God and heaven and hell. Of course I believe in God, but when it comes time to explain to my daughter what I believe and why I believe it and how strongly do I believe it, I struggle. My faith is a work in progress and it makes me cringe when I’ve had really close friends ask me, “Are you Christian?”

I am Christian and I do believe in God and I pray almost every day. But is that it? I don’t know. I feel like I’m growing into my spirituality and right now it’s a couple sizes too big. But having kids, in my face, asking me questions, is helping me sort it all out in a way that might not have happened otherwise.

For example, my daughter came home and talked about the creation story. Seven days, God created the earth. In her five-year-old mind, she wanted to know where God went. “Mommy, where did God go after he created all the people?”

“He didn’t go anywhere,” I said. “He just…stayed where he was.”

“So where is he?”

“He’s here…he’s all around us.”

She looked puzzled. “But I don’t see him.”

“I don’t see him either. You don’t see him. You feel him.”

She looked down as if God was touching her arm. “But…”

“I know, sweetie. Sometimes it’s kind of confusing. But just know that he loves you. And is always looking out for you.”

My response seemed to comfort her.

As loyal readers know, I don’t talk much about religion on this blog. And when I don’t write about something, it’s usually because I’m still wrestling with it myself and can’t yet find the words. I’m getting much better, though. One post, one day, one question from my kids at a time.

Tell me – did having kids change your view on religion? What are you teaching them in terms of spirituality and faith?

I don’t know how I missed this song, or maybe I just didn’t pay attention to the lyrics the first time around, but how freakin’ perfect is it for this stage of my life? Waiting on graduation, waiting for my “big break,” waiting for my checks to finally be regular, waiting for me to find that “thing” that makes all this work click in my head and gives me the direction I need. Enjoy this song. I will try to be back tomorrow with a regular post!

Jordin Sparks – One Step At A Time

This is why I love the YML community. One of the fabulous mamas left this video on the Facebook page (join the conversation if you haven't already!) In it, a vlogger gets a question from a viewer who wants to know if she should keep her baby, at 19 and pregnant. Check out her response below:  

by Amber Wright of TheYeyoDiaries.com

Motherhood is a beautiful journey. But it can also be very lonely at times and right now happens to be one of those times for me. My closest friends are loving and supportive, but almost all of them are single and none of them are moms. There’s so much about  my life that they can’t relate to now that I have a child. And when you become a mom, what you crave most is for someone that simply “gets” what your new life is all about.

The concept of remembering to freeze teething rings, decoding the mystery of vanishing pacifiers, and dealing with the stench of poopy diapers is so foreign to my non-mommy friends. Some days I feel like my life is a museum exhibit on motherhood and marriage. Visitors stroll through, marvel at the works of art, and then go home. I’m quite happy with my life and I don’t resent my single friends or their lifestyles in any way. Sometimes though, it’s hard not to feel like the “odd man out.”

To cure my current case of the mommy life lonelies, I have resolved to spend more time developing relationships with other women with lives that are similar to mine.  I reached out to a friend from college that had a baby around the same time I did, and we’ve gone on a few play dates. My blog has also served as a great platform to meet other married mamas in my area (I’ve only met one so far, but hey…it’s a start!).

Fostering new relationships takes time and you have to proceed with caution. But I think that’s why (at least for me) sites like the YML are so important. To read a post and see yourself in it, whether it be about how babies affect your marriage, your career, your sanity, or your whatever…means the world! When I read these stories and see all that we have in common, I feel less like a museum curator and more like a real person. And for that, I thank you all for sharing in the journey!

This past week I was just a bundle of pissiness. Is that a word? It is now.

I was frustrated by everything and I knew I was close to losing it. I knew classes started on Monday, so I had been going back and forth about whether or not I would try to get away, during my last free weekend for a while.

Well, my husband took one look at my mood and booked the hotel room for me so I couldn’t back out and waffle on whether or not I wanted to go.

I packed a quick bag, kissed the tops of my kids’ heads, and pried their little arms from my legs and went out the door. I got in the car and immediately felt weird. Like, when was the last time I got in the driver’s seat without first fussing at the kids to get in their seats? I put on my Beyonce CD (that has been on repeat since it dropped two months ago) and cruised first to the movies.

I saw The Help with my sister. Great movie, great message and I almost felt “normal.” But then I had an allergy attack and walked out of the theater with tomato-red eyes and what felt like the beginning of a sty on my upper eyelid. It was like my body didn’t know what to do with me being so far away from my house!

We then hit up Cheesecake Factory where she proceeded to tell me all about her new boyfriend (aww) and I dove face first into a plate of New Orleans shrimp. (Yum.)

After a couple other stops, I finally made it to the hotel room, where I promptly put my pajamas on, found a good movie on TBS, and watched it ’til I passed out.

It was nice. Great, actually. I was able to:

1) watch a movie with a message, without having to miss parts because someone (read: my kid) had to go to the bathroom, or they were bored, or wanted my attention

2) eat my food without my son begging for a piece, without my daughter complaining about what she will and will not eat.

3) sleep without waking up at 3 a.m. to get a kid a glass of water, or to assure them (for the 40th time) that there are no monsters.

I was just able to be…me. For 22 hours, I was just…me. And it felt so good.

I should really plan to have one of these getaways at least once a year. Last time I went away was when I was four months pregnant with my son.

He is now 3.

The mental break is priceless. Priceless. And I’m sure it’s going to make me a better mom this week.

• Working an 8+ hour day can be long and hard, too. Just because your spouse wasn’t chasing after a child all day, that doesn’t mean they’ll come home with untold amounts of energy.

• While it shouldn’t be an expectation or mandate by your spouse – making the home a calm and welcoming environment can do wonders for de-stressing from the day and switching gears. Doing things like having the television turned off for a little while during the evening can go a long way!

• Whoever cooks, the other one can help clean up the kitchen and wash dishes.

Today is Day 2 of the Student Parent Support Symposium and I am having a blast so far. There are so many innovative programs people are creating for student-parents – I am blown away truly.

One of the highlights of Day 1 was getting to meet some student-parents themselves. Tamar Carr, a senior at Ohio State, impressed me so much. She showed us this brief video she created to present the real side of young motherhood (sound familiar?). She made the video (along with some of her ACCESS friends) and entered it into a film festival, where they took home an award.

I wanted to share this with you because it shows that anyone, anywhere can do something that makes a difference. That’s the beauty of life. You don’t need a lot of money, and you don’t even need a lot of time.

So check out Tamar’s video and leave her a comment on her YouTube page. Tell her Tara from the YML sent you!

A couple of hours after my daughter (my firstborn) made her entrance into the world, I was sitting in my hospital room, alone.

I was overwhelmed with emotion at that point and I’m pretty sure everyone who walked into my room – the doctors, nurses, even the lady that comes around to take the newborn pictures – could tell I was having a hard time adjusting to my new reality: that I was responsible for the daily care and feeding of a tiny little baby.

My second day of motherhood I struggled through yet another breastfeeding attempt. One of the nurses came in afterward and saw my puffy face, still wet from tears over the fact that I just wasn’t getting the hang of this breastfeeding thing. Something that was supposed to be so natural.

She took my vitals and said softly, “Would you like to see a lactation consultant? I can page her for you.”

I huffed proudly. “No, I can manage.” My pride got in the way. I wasn’t about to have a stranger teach me how to get my own baby to eat. No, no, no. I was her mother. I could do it.

Or at least I thought I could.

The next day I was still failing miserably, and my 9-pound chunky baby seemed to look up at me with her big brown eyes as if to say, “Alright, Ma, you gave it your best shot. Call the lady.”

I swallowed my pride and admitted I was flailing. The lactation consultant was kind and patient and showed me a couple different holds that my daughter seemed to like. We were latched. All was well.

It was one of the best valuable lessons I’ve learned since becoming a mom, and to think I learned it on my second day in the role: Accept help. It doesn’t make you weak. It makes you strong.

There is no prize for doing everything all the time by yourself. There is no lifetime supply of extra-fudgy brownies for the mom who endures the most exhaustion, who sacrifices her “me time” over and over again to the point where she can’t even recognize herself or what she likes to do.

Nobody wins when you try to be Supermom. Not even your kids.

I’ve learned to let people help me when they offer. I’ve learned to ask for help even if they don’t offer. I’ve learned that the more people I can get in my camp, as part of my support system, the better off I’ll be.

So when you know in your heart that you could use an extra hand or more support, open you mouth and ask for it. If your budget permits, PAY for it. Get a babysitter once a week for two hours or so and recharge your batteries. Hire a maid to come in once a month. Ask your parents or sister or brother or cousin or best friend if they could watch the little one for a couple hours/a day/overnight. You’ll be surprised at who is happy to help you.

If it’s your husband or significant other you’re trying to get more support from – ask them. Directly. Instead of saying, “Can you please give me a hand with this?” get specific. I don’t want to say men are dumb, but they for damn sure can’t give you help that you don’t ask for. They are not very good at predicting your needs or filling in when the moment calls for it. (If you do have a guy like that, kudos to you.)

I used to feel like I was drowning every day at home until I threw my hands up. I walked right over to where my husband was sitting watching TV, picked up the remote,  turned off the TV and said:

“I need you to load the dishwasher. It is easier for me to cook when I don’t have dirty dishes in my way. I also need to you go downstairs and put some clothes in the washer. That pile of dirty clothes is big enough to eat the kids and I need you to take that over. I appreciate you doing that.”

Then I leaned over, gave him a kiss and went back to doing what I was doing. Did he get up and immediately do what I asked? No. (ARGH!) But he did them and every morning for the next week I woke up to a clean kitchen and clothes piles. Does he forget that I need him to do those things? Of course.

That’s when I walk over to him and say:

“I need you to load the dishwasher. It is easier for me to cook when I don’t have dirty dishes in my way. I also need to you go downstairs and put some clothes in the washer. That pile of dirty clothes is big enough to eat the kids and I need you to take that over. I appreciate you doing that.”

Yes, I’m repeating myself. Yes, I hate that. But you know what I hate more? Washing dishes and folding clothes. So I have to ask three, four times, it is STILL preferable to me doing it myself. I know it is extremely frustrating to have a partner who you feel isn’t pulling their weight. It almost makes things twice as hard for you, because not only are you doing it yourself, but you’re resentful because you feel you shouldn’t have to.

When you go to talk to your husband/boyfriend/fiance/whatever, be specific. Don’t start with what he doesn’t do. Start with what needs to be done. If he opens his mouth to object, just stay the course!

When I started to let people in, I noticed that I stressed less and I smiled more.

I NEED a supporting cast like I NEED oxygen. It’s really that simple.

Do you feel like you have enough support in your life? What would you need to do to get more support?

A reader sent me an email a couple days ago, asking me basically, how in the hell I manage to do everything I talk about: writing books, going to school, blogging, being a mommy and wife, working from home with two kids (and no babysitter….really, I can’t stress it enough. Someone please come help me.).

(Incidentally, Erykah Badu’s “Window Seat” just came on my Pandora radio station. Great timing.)

I get asked that question a lot or some variation of it. “How do you do it all?”, “Wow – how much sleep do you get?” etc. I know I’m not the only mom who has 233 jobs and a real need to get more sleep. I’m afraid these bags under my eyes are permanent.

Since I became a mom 4.5 years ago, I’ve been trying to come up with an answer to that whole “balance” question. Because, if I can be real honest for a second, I have no balance. Nope, not I. Look elsewhere for your “Oh, she’s got it all together” inspiration.

It’s like all my responsibilities and duties are on a Ferris Wheel. My kids come first, then some days, this blog is at the top. The next day, homework is screaming out for some attention. Then my house is a mess and I spend the day in “domestic goddess” mode. Only to have my kids destroy the house an hour later. Grr…

Where was I? Oh, balance. Right.

I think the best we can hope for is that we go to bed happy. I mean, if you really think about it, we don’t have much control over things that happen to us in this life. But if we can go to bed feeling like we did the best we could with what was thrown our way, then I’d consider that a successful day.

I usually want to be kicking ass in every area of my life on the same day. A perfect day for me would be playing with the kids on the floor, getting all my work done, and having my husband come home to a sparkling clean house and a hot, homecooked meal. With enough energy left over for nighttime activities. #YouKnowWhatItIs

But most days, it doesn’t go down like that. Rarely ever. I used to kick myself, spending hours wondering what I wasn’t doing right or why I just couldn’t get my @#$* together. Today I’m more realistic. And I shoot for being upbeat and optimistic most days, even when everything goes craptastically wrong.

So as a long answer to a quick question, I have no balance. Do I think it’s something moms should strive for? In an ideal world, yeah. Balance is less about each area of your life getting equal attention every day of week, but rather, being able to identify your priorities and act in a way that honors them.

Just my two cents.

Ladies, what do you think? Are you good at balancing everything or do you have more of a “take it as it comes” approach?

Last week, I found myself sitting in my room, crying, angry, sad, lonely. Four adjectives that don’t really make sense for a supposedly happy married mama of two.

But I was sad. Deeply, deeply sad and confused about where my life was headed. I constantly feel this pressure on me, at times it gets so heavy that I literally can’t breathe and find myself  hunched over with my hands on my knees, sucking in air as hard as I can so I can feel normal. Uncertainty makes me crazy and it’s taken all my energy lately to get with the program, with the new reality that is being self-employed.

I write a lot about stress and resentment and the drudgery of motherhood. But I decided that a new outlook, a positive outlook, is what’s needed.

I wrote briefly about it in my “I’m Grateful” post but my new daily gratitude exercise is a simple one. Every morning, before my feet hit the floor, before my eyes open fully, I take a minute to tell myself, “Something good is going to happen to me today.”

The key to this exercise is recognizing that the “something good” doesn’t have to be something big. It doesn’t have to be a magical $500 deposit in my bank account. It doesn’t have to be my husband coming home with dinner, flowers and rose-scented massage oil.

It’s the small things I’m learning to appreciate. Like having my son say, “I love you,” unprompted. Like being able to keep up with the mess my kids’ create all day long and having a clean living room at 8:07 p.m. Hearing my favorite song on the radio. Getting a better-than-usual dish at my favorite Chinese restaurant.

Does the one “something good” I experience every day cancel out the bad things that happen? Nope, not at all. But by forcing myself to acknowledge the daily blessings that often slip my attention, I’m learning to refocus my energies on the things that give me joy. I’m learning to be one of those “glass half full” people when by my very nature I’m pissed if the water isn’t spilling over the top.

I had to learn to take control of my happiness – it’s not something that just happens or that other people can grant you. Happiness is a decision. Making the choice to be happy is something we all must do or we run the risk of being unnecessarily burdened with challenges that don’t belong to us.

I chose to be happy. From now on, my first reaction to the stress in my life will not be despair but patience in knowing the storm is temporary.

Are you happy? Do you know how you can get there?

I’ve been in a bit of a slump lately. Well, that’s sugar-coating things. Quite a bit.

Since I was laid off, my self-esteem took a hit. At first, things were good because my kids didn’t immediately come out of daycare.

I had a few weeks where I was able to get up and do whatever I wanted to occupy my mind and distract me from the fact that I was let go from a job where I thought I was making a difference. Plus, I was still getting paid.

But then the kids came out of daycare.

I received my last severance check.

And suddenly it felt like I was on my own. For real, this time.

The fear of not being able to provide for my family, to not have a sense of direction anymore, to be overwhelmed by the tasks I assumed as a work-at-home mom with no babysitter – it was getting to me. Big time. And I didn’t like it.

So I decided to take a cue from Denise and begin to look at my blessings. At first, I was reluctant. “I don’t feel like smiling, don’t feel like being positive,” I told myself. Can’t I just wallow in this self-pity for a minute? Damn.

But wallowing in self-pity gets me feeling unproductive and for me, THAT’S the worst feeling I can have. So I began to list everything I felt I should be grateful for:

• My kids. They are beyond a doubt the best little people in whole world. I love them more than anything and being home with them is challenging, but I won’t ever get to do this again. My daughter starts school in the fall and from there? They just continue to get older. So this is my “last chance” for full-on involvement in their daily lives. Gotta be grateful for that.
• My husband. He’s here, ain’t he? LOL. He’s a great support system and he’s getting better at determining when I need to be counseled or when I just need to be held.
• My family. On days when I’m feeling particularly low, like I’m not doing anything particularly well, they come to my rescue. What every (young) mom needs.
• My bank account. I stress about money every single minute of every single day, but the fact is, our bills somehow get paid. Sometimes I check my balance and I swear my money is multiplying because there’s no way I should have that much. Seriously. I’ve done my budget a bunch of times and we should be just squeaking by. But we’re not. Which is miraculous.
• My choices. I have choices right now. I could apply for jobs, or I could focus on school, or I could just be a stay-at-home mom. All of these choices are stressing me out because I want to make sure I make the right ones. I am terrified that my decisions might  negatively affect my family. But my future is mine. It’s what I choose. That should make anyone rejoice.

This little exercise comforted me and gave me confidence that I am on the right path, my life is GOOD, and whatever fear I’m feeling right now is the prelude to something magnificent. Every morning I wake up and say to myself, “Something good, something positive is on its way to my life.” I feel it and I am ready.

Go ahead and share – what are you grateful for?

Why did I choose this photo to illustrate this post? A couple reasons, but this one in particular:

This photo was taken last year on a lazy Saturday. I decided to lay down for a minute, give them a few precious moments to play together before I had to separate them for naptime.

I flip through a magazine, proud of myself for taking a moment to relax before the inevitable fight that is the daily naptime battle. I get up a few minutes later and I see the scene you see in front of you.

Because I am a social media junkie, I immediately snapped a picture and uploaded it to Facebook. “Look what my kids did,” was the intent.

But in looking at that picture now, I see something different. Yes, I still see a crazy messy room, but in examining the picture more closely, I see books. Lots and lots of books. The 30 or so books strewn around the room are actually only a fraction of the books they have.

One of the lessons I want to teach my kids is the love of reading for pleasure, not just because a teacher assigned something. By surrounding my babies with tons of books, allowing them to see me reading, taking them to the library – all that is getting us toward the goal. It’s one of the reasons I’m able to look at that photo and see success, not just another mess for me to clean up.

We all need to step back occasionally and feel like we are making some type of headway with our kids. Because we worry and we wonder: Are we teaching them the right things? Am I focusing on them enough? Are they happy? Because really, how can you tell?

I think I might have an answer for you. Check out self-checks below:

1. Your kid smiles. A lot. Kids are naturally happy, boisterous little people. But as they go through different phases, they can become moody and cranky (especially if certain needs aren’t met). But for the most part, if you’re doing your job as a mom, all the reassurance you need is right there on your kids’ lips. I have one friend Alex whose daughter is forever smiling. Every picture I see, I can count all her teeth. Alex might wonder if she’s doing a great job, but I don’t even have to ask. The proof is there.

2. You catch them mastering the lessons you taught them when they don’t think you’re listening. Ask any mom and one of the best “perks” of this gig is when your kid first says “Thank you” unprompted. Or when they call you out for using words like “stupid” or “shut up.” They are absorbing what you say and spitting it back out into the world. Your little lumps of clay are taking form.

3. Your instincts don’t lie. Take a few minutes and just be honest with yourself. Do you feel like a good mother? Do you shower your kids with love and affection? Do you go to bed most nights feeling like you’ve done your best? You know better than anyone whether you are doing a great job and more than likely, the answer is going to be “Yes.”

How do you know if you’re doing a great job? Share your comments below!

It’s a question I used to ask myself all the time. Why did other mothers seem so much better at anticipating their kids’ needs? Keeping their cool when their little ones were throwing a tantrum?  Why couldn’t I…?

It’s a dumb question. They’re all dumb questions.

We all fall into our groove in this motherhood thing at our own pace. It’s normal.

You know that warm feeling that’s supposed to wash over you when you first see your baby?

Didn’t happen for me.

Not with the first kid. Not with the second.

I kind of looked at them, in awe, like, “Wow, dang, I made him/her.” But the feeling definitely wasn’t love. It was curiosity…and fear.

So when I hear moms gush about how much they loved their babies from the first moment they laid eyes on them, yeah, it made me feel just a teeny bit inadequate.

When I cried out from sleep exhaustion and raw nipples and postpartum depression (common among young moms, by the way) in the first few months, I wanted relief. I wanted someone to watch my kids, for a day, a week, a month, until I could recover and feel like “me.”

So when I hear moms talk about how their babies were SUCH great sleepers and breastfeeding was easy and motherhood is the greatest thing to ever happen to them and they feel that way every day, well, it made me feel inadequate.

When I was working a full-time job because I thought it was the best way to provide financial security to my family, I secretly wished I was at home with my kids, spending much more than the two hours a day I got to see them before they went to bed. So the chorus stay-at-home moms seemed to sing (“Your kids need more love than money!”) made me feel…you got it, inadequate.

I’m four years in on this motherhood thing and I’ve finally stopped comparing my experiences. All I know is I’m being the best mother I know how to be (and I’m in graduate school to learn more). And I work HARD.

Being the best mother I know how to be? It takes work. I am not a nurturer by nature. I don’t get off on people calling my name 40 times a minute and having 43 different requests by the time I’ve got my eyes open fully in the morning. I’m a loner in the biggest sense of the word. But every day I serve as their mother, I get better.

So I write this to tell you: Stop comparing yourself to other mothers. You have your own set of circumstances that dictates why you do things the way you do. You know what matters most to you and your family. You are not inadequate. You are more than capable of being everything your family needs. Period.

Thought this post was fitting for all the changes I’ve been making lately. I’ll be back Friday with an awesome original post (let’s hope…lol):

I’ve been living in a constant state of stress since 2006, when my daughter was born.

I freak out about everything and it seems like I can’t make it through the day without getting overwhelmed.

But it stops now. Life isn’t meant to be super-stressful all the time. It’s meant to be enjoyed and lived to the fullest. I love my kids and I love my husband and although things can pile up at times, I need to be more in control of my feelings.

I decided to write down my triggers, those little things that happen and inevitably make me feel like screaming for some relief. I figure if I know what my triggers are, I’ll be able to work around them and make it to bedtime without being exhausted and at my wits’ end.

My list looks a little like this (please tell me I’m not alone!):

When I’m overly tired

When the kids are too loud

When my husband is relaxing (lol)

When I know I’m going to bed late

When I have a big deadline at work

When my bank account is low or I get hit with an overdraft fee or something stupid

When I have a plan for the whole day and by 8:30 a.m., it’s shot to shit.

For the most part, I think I can handle these.

When I’m overly tired – Take my butt to bed

When the kids are too loud – Calmly tell them to quiet down, leave the area if I need to

When my husband is relaxing (lol) – Take time to relax myself

When I know I’m going to bed late – Take my butt to bed

When I have a big deadline at work – Take a mental health day if it’s getting too stressful

When my bank account is low or I get hit with an overdraft fee or something stupid – Set up automatic bill pay and monitor my bank account daily.

When I have a plan for the whole day and by 8:30 a.m., it’s shot to shit. – Quit trying to plan the whole day because things inevitably change. I just gotta learn to go with the flow.

Crazy how long it’s taken me to get to this point. But I’ll tell you what, therapy is incredibly helpful in this regard. It’s helping me see why I react the way I react (I suffer from a classic case of “Gotta control everything all the time”) and giving me ways to adjust my behavior in order to get the end result I want. I’m loving it.

Last week was incredibly busy. It was one of those weeks where I cursed being a work-at-home mom with two kids under 5 and no friggin’ babysitter.

I was interviewing people all over the country, keeping my fingers crossed that they would be able to fit the interview in during my kids’ naptime, and that I would be coherent enough to ask meaningful questions. I was a participant in this distance-learning program for high schoolers (broadcast on TV!), and that required three days of planning to get someone to watch the kids.

As I was leaving the TV studio, a warning light in my car’s dashboard came on: CHECK TIRE PRESSURE. Apparently one or more of my tires were dangerously low. Just great.

I know little to nothing about putting air in my tires. I was downtown and no gas stations were around. I call my dad, who’s watching the little ones for me. I hear them shrieking in the background.

“Well….um….you can…” I hear him struggling to tend to the kids’ needs AND help me with my problem. This must be what I sound like to everyone when they call me, I think to myself.

He told me about a Bridgestone tire service two blocks from where I was. I hung up and pulled in the parking lot.

Within a few minutes, they had air in my tires and I was ready to go.

I called my dad back to say that I was on the way and they put air in the tires. “Great,” he said. “Just drive slow coming home.”

This whole experience got to me thinking about how lately, I’ve been feeling like my emotions have been dangerously low. Since starting my own business two months ago, I’ve been going nonstop and my only “break” from the daily grind is the six minutes of Netflix I watch before I pass out at night.

My “tire pressure” sure is low. I find myself nodding in agreement to posts like these way too often. Like my girl Sheena and so many other moms I know, we know something needs to change. Hell, I just said that last week. So I made some changes.

I was taking three classes this semester and it was running me ragged. So I dropped one. A hard choice, yes, because it means that I might have to push graduation back a semester, but it came down to having some sanity left.

But I didn’t stop there. Nope. I dropped my Tuesday night class (from 5:30-8:15) and I told my husband I would still be gone on Tuesday nights. Don’t look for me ’cause I ain’t gonna be around, dude. Mama needs this break and she’s taking it. Plain and simple.

This feels so much better.