Hello! My name is Laura. I have a 4-year-old daughter named Emily and every day is a new surprise! She is my heart and my life and I love being a mom, but it certainly does come with its challenges. I work full-time and before I had Emily I was obsessed with fashion. These days it’s extremely hard to find the money or time to spend on myself. A friend of mine introduced me to this online show called “Jen and Barb, Mom Life” and in the show they mentioned that blogs can be a great place to meet other mothers and discuss issues so just thought I’d try it out!

By Cat on Tuesday, December 30, 2008 - 09:45 am:

Hey, Laura. My boys are much older than your dd (13 and 15), but BOY do I remember no having time for anything when they were that age! It's SO much easier now to find time for myself than it was then, but it can be done. Does your hubby help? Let him be the dad! Leaving her with a babysitter in the evening or on the weekends for a couple of hours will give you both a great break, too. Or find a child care provider that you trust to leave her with every now and then. You'll enjoy the break and she'll enjoy the other kids. Are there playgroups around you? Those are great places to socialize for both of you.

I notice you're in CO. Where? I'm near the Springs. It's nice to meet another CO mom!

By Angellew on Tuesday, December 30, 2008 - 07:15 pm:

Hi Laura! Nice to "meet" you!

I know what you mean. My DD is 6 and I had her relatively late... I was 37. I always worked full-time and can't imagine not working, but it is hard to balance work, home, family and self. It seems like the "self" in the equation is the one thing I always let slide! It's all I can do to put on a pair of jeans and go to work, let alone actually thinking about an outfit! I've had a gift certificate for a spa in my drawer for almost a year and can't seem to find the time to actually go. Me time is actually one on my resolutions this year.

In finding this group, I've found a lot of moms who share my thoughts, fears, and laughs. They share their lives, their advise, and the caring and loving nature! I really don't know where I'd be without them. I hope you love it here as much as I do.

Welcome! Hope to get to know you better

By ~harlena on Tuesday, December 30, 2008 - 10:54 pm:

hi Laura ..... I have four myself, and I have to admit, I no longer present myself the way I used to ..... "silver hair" (not gray, mind you !) and yucky looking fingernails are NOT something I ever thought I'd sport ... but we find our priorities don't we ?

If dad's not available to give you a break, maybe you could find another mom and just switch out childcare with her, it doesn't even have to be weekly (although, with 4 myself a weekly break sounds GREAT !) but if you watch the other mom's munchkin this week so she can go get her hair done/go grocery shopping in peace/take a nap for crying out loud and next week she watches your munchkin, then at least every other week you'd get a break.

Unfortunately I know how you're feeling, we don't have family close by to watch ours, and my best friend is an hour away too .... SO, I don't get a break much either, but on those rare occassions, BOY do I take advantage of it !

There's some saying, something about when you continuously give and give of yourself, you've got to get replenished so you can continue to give (a metaphor about a pitcher of water needing to get replenished or something like that, I forget, ofcourse !) .... it's not selfish, it's self-preservation !

By Northcountrymom on Tuesday, January 13, 2009 - 08:14 am:

Hi Laura,
The no time thing is hard to understand if people don't have kids especially the kids and work part. One of the things that has helped is the partnering with other moms. We've pooled babysitting to do special things. We've done things with kids together that you'd never try alone with kids. We've bartered and traded - I'll take yours for this if you take mine for that. Don't forget those relatives (especially single) and the single friends. We draft and bribe (dinner etc).

I am also a fan of any store that provides kid friendly activities and anyone with a legitimately good children's menu. You get my money if you respect and value my life as a family woman with children. Hence I love IKEA, Stop N Shop with children's services, Barnes and Nobles with kids corners etc. I also boycott you if you ban children (like DirectBuy did in New York when they started) or don't let children use restrooms (love Mobil, Exxon and Hess). Using kid friendly places means that I can do more of what I want to do for me and not have to pay for child care or eliminate it from my life. With the right mindset you can make children portable.

Happy risk taking.
Linda

By ~harlena on Tuesday, January 13, 2009 - 10:54 am:

amen to that Linda !

I don't get to the mall very often, and not the one closest to me, but one in a neighboring town (probably about an hour away) has an indoor area for kids in the center of the mall. Completely blew me away ! I would rather drive to THAT mall where in the middle of the shopping "adventure" we can sit down and let the little ones (with some help from older ones even) blow off a little steam than go to the close mall which has nothing for the little guys.

You frequent the places that suit your needs, I'm a mom with little (and bigger) people with me, so I'm going to go for the places, restaurants, malls, etc ... that cater my needs !