April's Mission: Journaling

My mission for April is something I have been meaning to do for YEARS - I am going to write in my journal every. single. day. Yikes! The thought makes me freak out a little. I don't know why but all of my attempts to keep an updated journal over the past decade have failed miserably. I didn't always used to be this way. In fact when I was a teenager I was so good at keeping a journal I had four, yes four. Maybe I overdid it a little bit. :) One was my day to day journal, one was my spiritual journal, one was a quote journal filled with sage bits of wisdom, and finally my "guy" journal filled with the day to day angst of teenage romance. Sadly, once I got married, my journal writing habit fell to the wayside and I only have snippets of moments from the past eleven years. And it breaks my heart because the past eleven years have been the most eventful years of my life. I have had four babies, moved thirteen times, endured some hard trials, and learned more than I thought possible. The past year and a half, I have improved at writing but it is sporadic and is never more often than once a week, if that.
I am hoping that this months' challenge will kick start me into learning to love journaling again. I am a little freaked out at the thought of trying to write something intersting about my life every day. Sometimes as a stay at home mom it seems like I am doing the same things over and over and over. But now that I know I am going to be writing about my life, I am going to keep my eye out for experiences that may have otherwise gone unnoticed or undocumented. It should be interesting!

March's Mission Final Check In

I can't believe March has come and gone. It is crazy how quickly time goes by. I am grateful for the experience I had in March thinking about motherhood and what it truly means to me. I wish I could say I was a perfect mother, that I truly focused all my energy into my March mission, and things went swimmingly every day, but that would not be reality. The end of March was pretty crazy with family in town and a marathon spring break adventure so I am sad to say that although I had an amazing time with my kids, I am not sure how "mindful" I was. I enjoyed them so that counts right? And in hindsight although the mission did not go exactly as I had planned, it did allow me to realign many of my priorities.

Here are some of the lessons I learned...

*Motherhood is truly a joy if you take time to enjoy your children.
-That doesn't mean that every moment is bliss, far from it, but if you can enjoy the little moments, the everyday annoyances do not seem so bad.

*Being a mindful mother does not mean spending every waking hour entertaining your children.
-When I first started this challenge I felt guilty when I was not spending every free moment doting on my kids. As the month went on I realized that a little investment of quality time with them each day allowed us to grow closer. The key is consistency. Spending time with them each day and making sure that time is well spent.

*How I act as a mother impacts the entire family environment.
-You know the saying, "If momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy"? As much as I cringe at the grammar of that statement, it is so true! When I am calm my kids are calm. When I am happy, my kids are happy (for the most part). When I am anxious, irritable, or just plain grumpy...you guessed it, my kids are too. That lesson was reinforced to me this month as I made the effort to be serene. Our home was truly a more peaceful place to be.

I know I have a lot to work on in the parenting department, but I am grateful for children who are quick to forgive and are full of love. I am also grateful for this past month and the opportunity it gave me to ponder on the wonder of my kids and how grateful I am to be their mother.