Insta Friday

Hello Friday!!!! 

I love you Friday. 

You are my best friend Friday.

I need you Friday.

I think being stay-at-home is one of the most challenging jobs out there.

A year ago I would have been singing a different tune.

I know now how truly challenging it is.

 

I was a full time working mom with multiple kids last May.

I felt like I couldn't be a good mom, a good wife, and a good teacher all at the same time.

I am still exhausted.  The laundry is still not caught up. 
It is still challenging to be good at everything.
But the job of being a stay-at-home mom couldn't be anymore rewarding.

I get both sides.

Balance is hard.

No matter what job you have.

And Friday is always fabulous.  

No matter what different titles you hold.

 
Last week I read a blog post about being a hands free mom.
About putting the iphone away so as not to be distracted when with your kids.

I put my iphone away.  I didn't bring it inside when I picked up Abby from preschool.
And I didn't get a picture or video of her singing the ABC's
or counting to 10

or presenting me with her end of year book.

And I was sad I didn't get those pictures or video.

So I got my iphone back out again.

 Everything in moderation.

The kiddos were grounded from screens for 5 days last week.

no TV, no ipad, no computer, no iphones

I know.  They are 3 and 5.

But they are old enough to understand consequences.

Not having screens made them think about making better choices next time.

A lot.

It also made them think about how to entertain themselves.

It was a good 5 days.

We did a lot more together as a family.

We were more creative in our activities.

We visited more, listened to each other more.

It felt good.  It felt authentic. 

Again I found myself facing the internal debate...

technology...helping or hurting?

We played board games this week.

AJ graduated preschool.

We had crab legs and a giant chocolate chip cookie to celebrate Mother's Day for dinner.

Andy and AJ went fishing.

Abby and I painted our nails together.

We went to Jamba Juice.

We nurtured our seedlings.

AJ took this picture of Andy and me.

We drank grape soda on the patio.

It's always fun trying to get a picture of homegirl smiling.

We had dinner at Five Guys one night.

Brody is as cute as ever and starting to work on his army crawl.

We did a science experiment.

We built another small garden box.

I was spoiled with Mother's Day gifts.

It was a good week, and I'm glad I captured it.