Where do leaves come from?

And street signs?  And the best yet came last night, where do babies come from?  Thank goodness Sydney asked my husband all of these questions.  Yesterday, between dropping off and bedtime, he had his hands full coming up with answers.  Of course, I love asking him what he said.  He skipped a few parts in the "where do babies come from" answer, but did a great job explaining everything in her 4-year-old terms.  Of course, this is coming up for her because her sister is in my belly and we have begun kissing her good night and talking about her a lot, so Sydney is somewhat prepared for her arrival in March. 

I love these questions.  They make you realize just how much kids are learning every day and how their minds work.  And I'm telling you, they have great memories!  She remembers everything we tell her.  Yes, their questions can also be annoying sometimes, but I just think, before we know it, she won't be asking us any questions, she'll be telling us what to do (or trying to)! 

What's the best question your child has asked you lately?

Oh, and BTW, anyone have a recommendation for a good book about having a new sister?

OMG...when did I become my mother?!

Do we all fear this? I know I do and have feared it since becoming a mother myself. Funny though, my Mom is really not that bad. In fact, I turned out okay. But realistically, it's the things we don't like about our mothers that we fear "inheriting" the most, we forget all the good traits we probably don't mind.

For me, what I don't like the most is her tardiness (she's been known to be an hour or more late!); last minute wrapping of gifts, especially at Christmas; her constant movement, never resting or napping; her inability to plan in advance and well, that's good for now.

Yesterday, on my child's 4th birthday I turned into my mother. I ran around all day trying to make the day (and the planning for two additional birthday parties this weekend) perfect. I was wrapping presents at the last minute, late to get to my daughter's school and really crabby by that time because I ran around all day with no time for anything else.

But guess what? It all ended up fine. I didn't wrap two of the presents and Sydney could have cared less, her class at school wasn't ready for the party for 30 minutes once I got there, we didn't sign her card but she only wanted to play with the castle it turned into anyway.

My lesson and something I continue to work on: my idea of perfection and need to create it typically do not matter to those I love or who love me. They just want my time and energy spent on being with them. I was so exhausted last night that I had to go to bed right after Sydney, not being able to spend anytime with my hubby.

You know what, being a mom, wife, employee and so many other things each day is exhausting, we don't need to add more pressure to be perfect. I bet my mom would agree! And by the way, I do have to give my mom credit for coming a long way on working on the things I mentioned above. And from one mom to another, we have to give each other a break sometimes, right? Because we don't often enough give ourselves a break.

Here's to not being perfect, just present every day with those who matter most!

The All Important "Girl Time"

How is it November? I think I start each month this way and say it here on this blog. It must be when it hits me about how fast the days, weeks, months, are flying by.

Anyway, I did lots of traveling in October…good traveling. The kind associated with lots and lots of mommy guilt. My husband and I went to the beach with friends (no kids) in the middle of the month and kind of celebrated our nine year anniversary and then selfish me headed to Kauai, HI to meet up with my friend, Anna. Now, I think I have not mentioned here that we are expecting Baby Spoeth #2 in early March. Yes, life is about to change again. But, the cool part is Anna is pregnant, too, just a few weeks behind me, and so it really was a true pregnant girls trip. Once in a lifetime, in my mind.

And guess what…Jason and Sydney survived. In fact, they did great without me. Even though I worried some and called every day, they did so great. I am still beaming with pride at how great they did. My mother in law and her husband came to help out the second part of the week, which was so great, and everyone survived.

What this says to me…deep breath, all the little things aren’t that important, Sydney and Jason are capable and happy and life does go on when I’m gone. Now, I’m not saying I’m going anywhere soon because I sure did miss them, but it was a great trip.

And now, on to November and December, which includes Sydney’s 4th birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas and the New Year. Exciting times to come, but what a great fall so far!

Last thought and my lesson, be sure to take care of yourself and build in some “alone” or “girl” fun every now and then, it is so good for everyone!

Including some fun pics from the trips and a link to the sappy anniversary e-card I did for Jason (wow, how we have changed in nine years).  Total eye candy. Anniversary e-card

Scenes from Hawaii

St. George Island, FL

Kill Your TV...or Be Thankful for It?

Yeah, so for the second time this week my child is up early and ready to go and we are not. In fact, on Tuesday when her daddy was traveling (of course) she thought it would be great to get up at 4, 5 and 6 a.m. After the second time, she ended up in bed with me (which is totally against everything we've ever done, but I was just too tired to care). That morning, I think she ended up watching a few hours of TV, PBS Kids, of course, but still the guilt after I was finally awake was terrible. Especially since someone recently told me that even PBS Kids isn't good for them. Really?

Sydney seems to be learning words from Sesame Street (last week she used the word of the day in a sentence--exquisite), I was impressed. She also loves Curious George, Super Why and Dinosaur Train and I want to believe she has learned a lot.  We learned all about how dinosaur babies come out of eggs.  And, I have to say that the new Cat in the Hat is pretty great, too.  Today, we learned all about different tails. 

I admit when she was little we totally kept her away from the TV, but now I feel like she gets it and really does learn. Am I kidding myself? Not sure, but let me tell you how much extra sleep I have gotten and really needed. But, is all the guilt worth it? What are your experiences and thoughts, I would love to know. Maybe it will alleviate some of my guilt, thanks, moms!

Doing Good in this World

As some of you know, I'm on the board of Men Stopping Violence, an organization that works with men to end violence against women and girls.  For three years, I have learned things about violence that have been heart-breaking, eye-opening and ultimately, life-changing. 

The most exciting part is that this year, we will be honoring Tim McGraw at our annual fundraiser and awards dinner! On Saturday, October 2, at the Ritz Carlton, Atlanta, MSV will be honoring Tim with the True Ally Award for his work in raising money for and being involved in stopping violence.  He has even stopped his concerts to have men escorted out who were mistreating the women they were with.  Now that's my kind of guy.  And, Faith is confirmed to be there, too (yeah!). 

Please consider joining us that evening for a rare and important opportunity to stop violence.  I know that tickets are expensive ($225 per ticket purchase tickets here), so if you only want to or can give a small donation to the organization you can go to my fundraising page at http://www.firstgiving.com/shellyspoeth.  I'm hoping to raise $2,000 by the dinner. Every dollar counts and is so much appreciated! 

We hear about it everyday (again with Mel on the Today show), but now we need to do something.  I do this because I have a daughter who I hope will never experience violence against her or anyone she knows.  I plan to teach her what respect is, for herself and others.  But above all, I hope she may live in a world without violence against women one day.  That is my hope.

Thank you.

See more info here:
CMT Story

The Four Words That Made My Day

My budding artist's latest picture for mommy.  Another joy in life..kid art.

Whew, sigh!  I can't believe it is the last day of August and I have not posted all month long.  Do you know how many nights I thought of these great posts as I fell asleep...if only I could somehow capture them and write them from my thoughts.  Oh, well.  I had to jump back in with this one though.  It made my day.

Yesterday, sitting at the dining room table for breakfast with tossled hair, baggie eyes and way too tired to care about much yet, my daugther looks over at me and stares at me intently and says, "Mommy, you look pretty."  All I could do was giggle (really laugh out loud) and tell her "thank you."  At one of my worst moments, looking ragged and lame, my daugther tells me I am pretty.  It really, truly made my day.  Do you know why?  Because it reminded me that not only is beauty in the eye of the beholder, but more importantly beauty is less about the outside and so much more about what's inside.  Leave it to my 3-year-old to remind me of that. 

What reminds you of the important things in life each day? 

A blooming artist...

Art can bring us together, well, and it can tear some apart, I guess.  But, Friday, I was able to see how art can make children laugh, grin in sheer pride, express themselves (even if they can't talk), share, respect each other and just plain teach us all that every now and then (even when it's really hot) you need to stop and smell the roses.  I hope you'll smell some roses today and enjoy something beautiful!